Describes how a small Texas rural school district provided services to a high school student who had learning disabilities and was also academically gifted. Recommendations for providing services to twice exceptional students are given, including the need for open and flexible educational plans. (CR)

Examines the diagnostic utility of subtest variability for identifying students with learning disabilities (LD) by surveying students (n=2,200) in a normative sample and students (n=684) identified as LD. Results indicated that LD students did not differ from normative sample students at levels above chance. Concludes that deviation of individual…

Examines special issues surrounding foreign language (FL) requirements for students classified as learning disabled (LD). Focuses on why students experience FL learning problems, the problems with the definition of and diagnosis of LD, whether research supports traditional assumptions about LD and FL learning, whether students classified as LD…

A study of Hans Christian Andersen's diaries from age 20 to age 70 found that his mean error spelling percentages are equal to contemporaries, but between 2 and 15 times lower than individuals with dyslexia. A structural analysis indicates that the proportion of plausible/implausible errors match those of normal achievers. (Contains references.)…

A survey of 218 learning disabilities experts found only 30 percent believed IQ-reading achievement discrepancy should be a marker of reading disability. Over two thirds selected three markers: reading achievement, phonemic awareness, and treatment validity. Over 75 percent believed exclusion criteria should remain part of the definition with…

This article discusses the inclusion of high functioning individuals in the learning disability category. It argues that extending services to individuals without significant academic impairments may deplete resources for others in greater need, distort the normal processes by which individuals select careers, and diminish the credibility of the…

In the context of legal requirements that postsecondary students provide documentation of any learning disability, this article discusses components of a comprehensive learning disability evaluation at the postsecondary level with examples of actual documentation submitted to two institutions. Emphasis is on diagnosis based on multiple data…

Simulated data were used to demonstrate that groups formed by imposing cut-points based on either discrepancy or low-achievement definitions of learning disabilities (LD) are unstable over time. Similar problems were demonstrated in longitudinal data from the Connecticut Longitudinal Study, where 39% of the children designated as having LD in…

This study examined the use of story-mapping to improve the reading comprehension of six third- and fourth-grade students with specific learning disabilities who exhibited reading deficits. Also of interest was whether the effects would maintain once the intervention was discontinued. Using a descriptive, three-phased, single-subject design, the…

The reauthorization of IDEA (the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004) includes potential use of a response to intervention (RTI) model for the identification of learning disabilities. Using this model, a variety of academic interventions may be implemented with a low-achieving student, with the results monitored to…

Significant limitations in research on learning disability (LD) have included failure to incorporate well-validated guiding theories, use of vague or nonspecific operational definitions, and lack of a systematic framework and common terminology for LD identification. Difficulties in communication among researchers continue to limit theoretical…

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act; IDEIA, 2004) has been reauthorized, and new parameters for defining learning disabilities (LD) have been established that provide more flexibility for corresponding state and local regulations. The field now has a unique opportunity to shape the…

The new Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) offers local education agencies the choice of using a student's response to intervention (RTI) as a major component to determine eligibility for special education under the category of specific learning disabilities (SLD). Using a RTI model, it is not expected that different…

This booklet presents a screening device to identify quickly those students who may qualify for special help but who have not been referred for testing, identification, and receiving of special education resources. The booklet notes that the original test consisted of 20 sentences, but that only one sentence gave students known to have severe…

One hundred and sixty male high school students, half of them Mexican-American and half Anglo, were administered the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), and Bender Gestalt. Half of each ethnic group was classified by the public schools as learning disabled and half were in regular classes. The WAIS Verbal,…