A sizable literature has demonstrated that the achievement of children in early elementary school is related to their season of birth: Those born in summer typically perform less well than those born in the fall. A small literature indicates that more children diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) are born in the summer. We have…

Given the consistent findings of theory of mind deficits in children with autism, it would be extremely beneficial to examine the profile of theory of mind abilities in other clinical groups such as fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Down syndrome (DS). The aim of the present study was to assess whether boys with FXS are impaired in simple social…

The study examined the social-information-processing skills of kindergarten children with developmental learning disabilities (LD) utilizing Crick and Dodge's (1994) model of children's social adjustment as a theoretical framework. Participants consisted of 20 kindergarten children with developmental LD who attended three integrated kindergartens…

The goal of this commentary is to focus attention on the various protective factors examined by the four studies of this special issue, in order to predict resilient functioning. These factors include internal factors (cognitive information processing, affective information processing-the attachment-proximity conceptualization) as well as external…

This study investigated changes in teachers' and students' perceptions of students' effort, strategy use, and academic difficulties when strategy instruction was infused into the classroom curriculum. The sample consisted of 201 students with learning disabilities, 210 average achievers, and 57 teachers from Grades 4-9 in two urban and suburban…

The need for effective approaches for identifying English language learners with learning disabilities is great and growing. Meeting this need is complicated by recent developments in the field of learning disabilities that are unrelated to the English language learning status, and by limitations in existing knowledge specific to the…

Nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) are characterized by weaknesses in narrative discourse. Thirty-three children (M age=11.7 years), 15 girls and 18 boys, listened to stories to evaluate their narrative comprehension and retelling abilities. Children with NLD (n=11) performed as poorly as children with verbal impairment (n=10) on all narrative…

This paper describes the findings of a survey into prescribing of psychotropic medication with adults with learning disabilities in a British city. A self-completion questionnaire was sent to staff in dispersed housing and community learning disability teams to gather information about the number of people prescribed psychoactive medication, the…

This article reviews the validity of models based on (a) aptitude--achievement discrepancies, (b) low achievement, (c) intraindividual differences, and (d) response to instruction for the classification and identification of learning disabilities (LD). Models based on aptitude--achievement discrepancies and intraindividual differences showed…

This study evaluated the effects of educational games on the performance of eight elementary school students with learning disabilities. The effects of educational games were evaluated in a multiple baseline design across students. The results indicated that each student improved their performance on reading when educational games were in effect.…

The Durham County Policy Document on Specific Learning Difficulties (dyslexia and dyspraxia) has been developed over a period of years as a countywide response to ensure that children's specific learning difficulties are identified and that schools are equipped to offer a range of appropriate interventions. The content of the policy document is…

Research findings concerning working memory impairment of children with learning disabilities, poor readers, and individuals with severe learning difficulties are examined within the framework of working memory. Results from developmental and experimental studies indicate a close link between the function of working memory and performance on…

The author is a learning support teacher and works with children at Key Stage 3 (KS3) who are struggling to keep up with their peers in most areas of the curriculum. Many of them have specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia and problems may emerge in reading, spelling, writing, mathematics, speaking or listening.…

In this paper I describe how self-advocacy has grown in the Czech Republic. First, I talk about how services for people with learning disabilities have begun to change in the last few years. This is because voluntary groups have lobbied and campaigned for change. I learned about self-advocacy during a visit to the UK in the 1990s. I went back to…

Students with learning disabilities face real reading challenges. Research into the reading performance of culturally diverse students indicates improved reading performance for culturally diverse students when text matches students' cultural perspective. This quasiexperimental research investigates whether Caucasian and African American students…