We provided a multicomponent academic vocabulary intervention to six English learners with learning difficulties in a fifth-grade general education setting. A multiple probe design across word sets and replicated across students evaluated the effects of the intervention on students' use of expressive language to read and define content-specific…

Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) are specialised teachers who work in regular schools to help facilitate the presence, participation and learning of students who experience difficulties with learning and behaviour. In focusing upon the RTLB principle of a "collaborative and seamless model of service" (Ministry of…

Though the term dyslexia is familiar to the American public and is frequently seen in the media, it often is misunderstood, even in the educational setting. The International Dyslexia Association established the following definition of dyslexia: Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by…

Experts have yet to reach consensus about what a learning disability is, how to determine if a child has one, and what to do about it. Leading researcher and clinician Deborah Waber offers an alternative to the prevailing view of learning disability as a problem contained within the child. Instead, she shows how learning difficulties are best…

In this 10-part series, which will run every other month through 2008 and 2009, "EP" will explore Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is technically defined as a neurodevelopmental, biological condition characterized by three hallmark symptoms: inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity. Each of these symptoms has a special meaning…

Since the phenomenon of fossilization in interlanguage is proposed by Selinker in 1972, it has drawn much attention and commonly acknowledged at home and abroad. This paper introduces the definition, classification, presentation, and causal factors of fossilization in an attempt to help Chinese students better understand the phenomenon and avoid…

The paper on learning disability (LD) definition and subtypes considers the nature of the definition and differentiation problems, the importance of placing and keeping LD in perspective vis a vis other learning problems, and future development of a LD classification schema using dimensions of cause, severity, pervasiveness, and chronicity.…

Students with serious emotional disturbance (SED) are identified at relatively low rates, perhaps because of confusion about how to meet the federal definition's elements. One practical aspect of this problem is addressed: how to determine if emotional disturbance has adversely affected educational performance. Implications for professional…

Considers the causes of retardation in educational achievement and the consequent need for appropriately qualified teachers to provide and advise on suitable remediation programs. (Editor/RK)

Arguments supporting the conceptual validity of learning disabilities are presented against the background of current definitional problems. The need to differentiate between classification and identification and the importance of a shared attribute definition are stressed. It is argued that a taxonomy of learning disabilities and related…

Discusses the legal definition of emotional disturbance proposed by the federal government under PL 94-142. Reports how modifications in the original research definition damage the integrity of the research and the conceptual base from which the definition is drawn. Delineates problems inherent in the definition. (Author/RC)

Describes and distinguishes between symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder without (ADD) and with hyperactivity (ADHD). Notes that confusion exists in distinguishing between problems related to ADD and ADHD and problems related to other causes. A fictitious case study demonstrates problems of families with children with ADD and ADHD. A multimodal…

This paper proposes that mild learning disability may often be more the result of teaching which ignores individual differences in learning style than the result of psychological processing and/or central nervous system disorders that are characteristic of true learning disabilities. A brief overview of learning disability identification explains…

This current response to a 1968 article by Ray Barsch (EC 602 662) notes lack of progress in defining and classifying learning disabilities and in determining appropriate interventions to help students with learning disabilities. The paper distinguishes among three types of learning problems and notes the need for individualized transdisciplinary…