Compares drawings of English children with mild learning difficulties (M.L.D.) with those of children of the same chronological age and of the same mental age. Reports that drawings by M.L.D. children are similar to those of children at the same mental age. Suggests that M.L.D. children follow a normal rather than deviant developmental pattern.…

Measures of sensory integration were applied to 32 learning-disabled and 35 nondisabled elementary students. Sensory integration was significantly related to school achievement both concurrently and predictively over a four-year period, even when controlling for intelligence. A particularly strong link between praxis and arithmetic achievement is…

Explores the nature of images created by Paleolithic artists and autistic artists in regard to drawing techniques and image function. Explains the commonalities based on a discussion of the role of the early vision process and the construction of meaning. Notes the importance of this research for understanding autistic artists. (DSK)

The psychometric properties of the Hopelessness Scale for Children (A. Kazdin et al., 1983) were examined for children and adolescents with mental retardation or a learning disability. Analyses of scores from 261 students shows a factor structure almost identical to the original structure and scale scores of adequate validity. (SLD)

Reviews research results from 14 studies that focus on the intervention methods practiced to enhance academic intrinsic motivation for students with learning disabilities (LD) and measures used to assess academic intrinsic motivation in students with LD. Data analysis shows that intrinsic motivation strongly relates to academic achievement in…

Describes Marie Clay's word boxes that help children attend to phonological and orthographic features of words, developing phonemic awareness and improving word recognition and spelling. Describes a study showing that the use of word boxes with several elementary school students with learning disabilities was effective for improving and…

This study of 174 children meeting criteria for learning disabilities revealed that the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III) factors accounted for a large portion of the achievement variance during hierarchical regression analyses. Proposes that the practitioner should refrain from focusing on global scores and…

A study involving 75 elementary students, 51 with high-incidence disabilities, investigated variables associated with learning in an inquiry-oriented approach to the study of density and buoyancy. Preconceptions, scientific predictions, and academic achievement measures were not predictive of task performance. However, grade level and IQ were…

This study investigated the perceived loneliness, social competence, and social status of 15 sixth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD). Comparison with 68 peers without disabilities found students with LD reported more loneliness, were less popular, and more controversial in their social status than non-disabled peers. Implications for…

This article summarizes goals for mathematics achievement for all students and proposes a key model for teaching math to students at-risk of failure. The six teeth of the key are labeled: meaningful, explicit, informal, (de)situational, social, and teacher-specific. The lock pins are engagement, foundations, institutions, transfer, cultural…

A study investigated effects of a graduated instructional strategy on solution of algebra problems involving subtraction of integers for three adolescents with learning disabilities. Students successfully moved through three levels of instruction: concrete, semi-concrete, and abstract and applied a first letter acronym, STAR, to help them…

This article identifies and discusses principles of prevention and intervention in the area of mathematics. Three levels of prevention and intervention are addressed: primary prevention focusing on universal design, secondary prevention focusing on adaptations, and tertiary prevention focusing on intensive and explicit contextualization of…

Describes a survey of microcomputer use for adults with learning disability within The Home Farm Trust, a United Kingdom national organization for people with learning disability that was carried out in light of a planned organization-wide initiative to introduce modern information and communications technology to service users. (Author/LRW)

Reviews research published in the past 15 years on the use of technology to teach or support literacy among students with mild disabilities. Addresses research on computer-assisted instruction and synthesized speech feedback to improve phonemic awareness and decoding skills; use of electronic texts to enhance comprehension by compensating for…

Details meta-analysis of 64 intervention studies measuring the effect of school-based interventions for students with learning disabilities. Discusses findings that middle school students benefited most from interventions and that the type of interventions that were most effective differed by grade levels. (JPB)