On December 3, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA, 2004). The revised law is different from the previous version in at least one important respect. Whereas practitioners were previously encouraged to use IQ-achievement discrepancy to identify children with learning disabilities…

This paper opposes the use of discrepancy formulas to identify students with learning disabilities (LD) and stresses the importance of clinical judgment by members of the multidisciplinary evaluation team (MDT). It presents the LD identification procedures required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, examines why formulas are not…

Although school counselors have more contact with children and adolescents than most other human service professionals, they are frequently left out of discussions on diagnostic coding. Ways in which school counselors can use the codes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) are explored in this text. The book…

Thirty-three college students with learning disabilities responded to a request to identify their learning disability. The responses were then coded and a summary of the professional diagnoses of the learning disabilities was added to the students' self-descriptions. Five authorities in the field of learning disabilities were asked to use a…

A multidimensional clinical assessment project was conducted on an at-risk adolescent population (n=78) in a public school setting. The focus of the project was on the identification of specific learning disabilities (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as they relate to mental health problems and scholastic difficulties.…

This paper examines characteristics of American Indian children, focusing on their similarities with children with learning disabilities. These similarities include: heterogeneity, language problems, concept of time, learned helplessness, locus of control, and discrepancy between potential and achievement. Culturally sensitive prereferral…

This handbook is designed to address teachers' most common concerns about learning disabilities (LDs) and teaching adults with LDs. Section 1 defines LDs by describing traits that adults with LDs share. Section 2 focuses on identification of students with LDs. LD characteristics are divided into eight categories: academics, speech/language, motor…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) has a long history, dating back to the 1930s, when it was devised specifically for measuring the intelligence of children through verbal and performance subtests. Intelligence quotients (IQs) are developed for verbal and performance skills. The subtests, their factors, indices derived from them,…

This document discusses legal considerations in the identification of Michigan students with learning disabilities and suggests guidelines for meeting legal requirements in a systematic and consistent manner. An introduction outlines issues and problems related to the assessment of learning disabilities and provides a rationale for the importance…

The purpose of this booklet is to provide literacy instructors and tutors with information on adults with learning disabilities and their needs within literacy programs. It defines learning disabilities and describes characteristics of adults with learning disabilities, emphasizing that, for tutors, the issue is how to determine whether the…

This annotated bibliography was prepared as a resource to help institutions of higher education create an institutional climate conducive to the academic success of students with learning disabilities (LD) on their campuses. The entries were compiled from searches of three computerized databases as well as a manual library search. The selected…

The guidelines define procedures outlined by state (Kansas) and federal laws and regulations concerning the identification of students with specific learning disabilities. The first chapter gives the Kansas definition of a learning disability and then outlines the identification process. Chapter 2 provides guidelines for carrying out…

The Children's Language Institute Preschool Placement Test (CLIPPT) identifies children, aged 2.6 to 4 years, with mild to moderate language/learning deficits, to determine which children would benefit from a language intervention preschool program. The test is presented in three sections: (1) the Informational Manual which provides theoretical…

The resource paper for regular and special teachers of learning disabled students on cooperative initiatives between regular and special education is presented in a question and answer format. The following questions are discussed: How can I recognize children with learning disabilities in my classroom? If I suspect a student to have a learning…

The paper reports on a national survey which included data on handicapped students in U.S. high schools, as part of a longitudinal study of 58,270 high school students. Findings are described from student self reports and teacher checklists on the existence of specific conditions (for students, learning disability, hearing impairment, speech…