The disproportionality of African American male students diagnosed with disabilities and placed in special education services compared to their White counterparts raises questions about how students are identified for testing, assessed, and placed into special education in public schools. This study explores the special education placement…

Early identification of young children at developmental risk is important for linkage to needed services. Yet, despite guidelines for developmental screening, many pediatricians do not systematically use screening tools. Because many young children spend time in childcare settings, conducting screening in these settings may improve rates of early…

Background: Evidence from international studies suggests that ward culture, staff attitudes, and knowledge are crucial to ensuring that hospitals adopt "reasonable adjustments" to guarantee equity of access to vulnerable patients. Among the major barriers to providing reasonable adjustments highlighted in the literature is the lack of…

The present study explored the psychometric properties of ratings made using the Scales for Assessing Emotional Disturbance--Third Edition: Rating Scale (SAED-3 RS), a scale developed for use in identifying school-age students with emotional and behavioral problems. The purposes of the study were to assess differential item functioning (DIF) for…

Two studies were conducted to examine the use of the Taiwanese version of the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds for detecting autism spectrum disorder in toddlers aged 18-24 months. Study 1 used receiver operating characteristics to select a cutoff score for the Taiwanese version of the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds. It…

Background: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have deficits in fundamental motor skills (e.g. catching, flinging, jumping and running) and complex motor skills (related to the contexts of sports, games and leisure) when compared to their typically developing peers. These deficits may compromise motor performance, impacting…

This UK study aimed to elicit parental voices and school Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) views, to work towards a better understanding of sex-specific symptomology in females with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and identify the special educational needs of these girls. SENCos in a small local authority (LA) were sent questionnaires…

This chapter summarizes issues related to the accurate and timely identification of students with emotional and/or behavioral disorders (EBDs) as well as identifying need, planning interventions, and monitoring outcomes. First, we describe ongoing issues and concerns with accurate (e.g., minimization of false positives and false negatives) and…

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends using an autism-specific screening tool for all young children at primary care well visits. Screening can detect risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in young children whose parents and pediatrician may not otherwise have developmental concerns. The identification of children with or at-risk for ASD…

Our team was awarded a grant by a private organization in partnership with a local research network to examine disparities in the special education referrals and services provided to young children in New York City (NYC). Our convergent mixed-methods study is exploring how the NYC preschool ecology--consisting of "process,"…

Community mental health centers (CMHCs) offer invaluable, publicly-funded treatment for serious mental illness (SMI). Unfortunately, evidence-based psychological treatments are often not delivered at CMHCs, in part due to implementation barriers, such as limited time, high caseloads, and complex clinical presentations. Transdiagnostic treatments…

Black males are being identified in special education in urban elementary school districts at a disproportionate rate. The problem addressed in this study was that inconsistent use of multitiered systems of support leads to the disproportionate identification of urban elementary-school-aged Black males in special education. The purpose of this…

This study provides a systematic review of previous research about teachers' gendered perceptions of pupils with diagnoses or symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This review was conducted using the databases Scopus, Web of Science and ERIC. Nineteen articles were selected after narrowing down a total of 121 articles, in…

An early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can improve outcomes for children and assist families in accessing services. Part C providers are often tasked with screening for ASD. The purpose of this study was to survey Part C providers nationwide to understand their ASD screening practices and training needs and extend a survey conducted…

Epidemiologic research suggests a gap between prevalence estimates of students with emotional or behavioral problems and the actual number of students identified under the federal category of emotional disturbance (ED). To better understand issues related to the identification gap, we investigated the academic and behavioral functioning,…