Early identification of ASD allows for clinical intervention through mental and behavioral health supports, potentially providing individualized services in the educational setting. This article highlights the research-to-practice gap that exists within evaluations for ASD in schools. Lack of training, variability in assessment guidelines,…

Although Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects approximately 5% of children, the disorder is more frequently seen in males than in females, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 2:1 in children (APA 2013). This discrepancy in prevalence is suggested to lie in the differences in ADHD symptomatology between girls and boys.…

Systematic screening for behavioral and social-emotional concerns at school is one way to ensure that at-risk children are identified and provided services. School psychologists play a critical role in creating multitiered systems of support that consider universal screening, early intervention, and ongoing progress monitoring to help support…

According to the 2010 "Gallaudet Research Institute Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth," districts reported that over 75% of students who are D/HH were educated within regular school facilities, and 67% of those students spent at least part of their day within a general education classroom (GRI, 2011).…

In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued two documents to clarify and provide guidance on Federal obligations of school districts to students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) under Section 504. This action was in response to numerous complaints (approximately 2,000 over 5 years)…

As professionals who often know the most about psychology in school settings and education in clinical settings and because of the importance of addressing both academic and mental health needs in anxious youth, school psychologists are uniquely positioned to assist anxious students. School psychologists possess a dynamic skill set that can be…

The incidence of brain injuries, as well as their impact on individuals who sustain them, has received growing attention from American media in recent years. This attention is likely the result of high profile individuals suffering brain injuries. Greater public awareness of traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) has also been promoted by sources such as…

Increasingly, schools have been adopting comprehensive, three-tiered response to intervention (RTI) systems to support students in both academics and social behavior. But with each new systems change initiative comes separate teams, data, and training and coaching systems. Given the intensity of resources required to implement and sustain such…

School psychologists in this country are fed up. The authors are both fortunate enough to consult with school districts all over the country about implementing response to intervention (RTI), and they consistently hear frustration resulting from using the "wait to fail" discrepancy model for learning disability identification. Many school…

This article is one in a series developed by members of NASP's African American Subcommittee of the Multicultural Affairs Committee for school psychologists and other educators working with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) student populations. Last month, we introduced the problem of disproportionality in special education in part one…

There is great controversy in the field of learning disabilities (LD) regarding the establishment of criteria for LD identification. The traditional approach to LD identification is to use the IQ-discrepancy. Lyon and colleagues (2001) point out the numerous problems with such an approach, including faulty assumptions about the adequacy of an IQ…