This article describes the inclusion model implemented in one Washington elementary school and the educational experiences of two children, both with learning disabilities. The building-level model included the following components: university-based assistance, cooperative integrated reading and composition, cross-age tutoring, in-class specialist…

This article notes the failures of traditional deficit models of learning disabilities and considers, instead, possibilities of Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. It summarizes findings on talents of students labeled learning disabled, evidence of their abilities, implications of these for schools, and preliminary recommendations…

Ways to facilitate communication between parents and teachers of students with learning disabilities are discussed, along with communicating with culturally diverse parents. In addition, basic communication principles are addressed, including: being accepting, listening, asking the right questions, and providing encouragement. (SW)

In a study of social class influences on schooling, adolescents from high-income families and low-income families were interviewed about various aspects of special education. Responses indicated that lower income students had ambivalent or negative feelings about special education, whereas high-income students, with few exceptions, regarded…

The development of a positive relationship between a teacher and a sixth grader with a learning disability (LD) is described, based on interviews and observations over a school year. Insights that the teacher developed into education of LD students, based on the student's attitudes, family relationships, and earlier experiences, are offered. (SW)

This study evaluated a computer-assisted instructional program employing a constant time delay prompting procedure to teach spelling of abbreviations to four adolescents with mild learning disabilities. The program was found effective, and training generalized to hand-written performance in both a special and general education setting. (Author/DB)

The I CAN (Independence, Completion, Accuracy, and Neatness) program is a motivational tool for elementary grade students with learning disabilities. Each student contracts for specific achievements in the four program areas, and parents and teachers contract for specific rewards. Daily review of goals as well as daily documentation of progress…

Oakland School, near Charlottesville, Virginia, is a boarding and day school for children (ages 8-17) with learning disabilities and other academic problems. This paper describes the school's history, philosophy, academic calendar, student characteristics, teaching staff, curriculum, residential program, and additional services. (JDD)

The personal perspectives and reflections of individuals with learning disabilities are presented, showing how these individuals were affected by educational and community systems and subsequently helped and/or hindered in their development. The observations provide insight into childhood influences, individual characteristics, and coping…

This case study of a 30-year-old woman with a developmental learning disability (including anomia, auditory processing problems, difficulty in learning reading and spelling skills, and a poor sense of number) suggests that all these impairments may be explained in terms of a sequential processing deficit. (Author/DB)

This study compared the object naming, object recognition, reading, and spelling abilities of 22 adults, half with written language difficulties and half without. Significant positive relationships were obtained between object naming ability and reading ability, object naming and spelling, and reading and spelling performance. Results suggest that…

Asserting that schools often label students who do not learn quickly enough as "learning disabled," this personal account of one young man's determination to overcome the label demonstrates the effect of a trusting teacher-student relationship and the need to reevaluate educational practices for these students. (SK)

The Regression Discrepancy Model, intended to increase accuracy in assessing severe discrepancy between IQ and achievement scores in students with learning disabilities, is examined. The model's initial equation is shown to produce results which bias the detection of severe discrepancy at lower IQ levels. Methods to minimize or remove this bias…

This article introduces a series of papers on cognitive process-based instruction for students with learning disabilities. Cognitive process-based instruction is defined and differentiated from the process training advocated by S. Kirk in the 1970s. The method's basis of sound theory and academic tasks is stressed. (DB)

Reanalyzed test scores of 153 referred students who received inconsistent placements according to California's discrepancy criterion, which does not take regression into account (standard score distribution procedure). Reanalysis used procedure accounting for regression. Findings revealed that regression "accounted" for significant proportion of…