The population of American schools has continually become more diverse over time and so too have the needs of the students as well as the responsibilities of teachers. One must include in this multicultural amalgam those who have learning disabilities (LD). Arguably, nowhere else in society are disabilities so openly recognized and acknowledged as…

The link between learning problems and social-emotional difficulties is well documented and both are associated with temperamental risk factors. Whereas temperament refers to individual differences in biologically based dispositions for responding to and engaging with one's surroundings, developmental outcomes are the products of experiences as…

Social skill deficits have become a defining characteristic of students with specific learning disability (SLD). Attempts have been made to enhance social functioning through structured training approaches. The effectiveness of these efforts was evaluated in a quantitative research synthesis (meta-analysis), which revealed a "small" effect with…

This article presents a synthesis of articles discussed as part of the research symposium at the 25th international conference on learning disabilities by the Council for Learning Disabilities, October 11, 2003. Educators attempting to keep up with the most recent research readily acknowledge that there is too much to read and too little time for…

Most past research findings suggest that phonological deficit is unique to developmental dyslexia insofar as alphabetic languages are concerned. The present study investigated the existence of any similar unique reading-related cognitive deficits associated with developmental dyslexia in a nonalphabetic script, Chinese. The pattern of comorbidity…

This study examined the nature of student talk and the teacher's role during book discussions. The participants were 17 first- and second-graders with and without disabilities in an inner-city inclusion classroom. Applied conversation analysis techniques were employed to analyze two videotaped book discussions. Results indicated that…

The population of children in the United States who require English as a second language (ESL) instruction increases every year. Among this diverse group of learners, which now exceeds four million, are learning disabled students. Their evaluation for special education services presents significant challenges to ESL, general education, and special…

Encouraging students' interest in science has never been more important. Science plays a greater role in everyones lives than ever before, and students who have a solid foundation in science are prepared to pursue a wide range of opportunities in high school, college, and the workplace. Yet many students--particularly girls and students from…

The study examines the coping strategies among 130 undergraduate college and university students with learning disabilities (LD) and 146 students without learning disabilities (NLD). Students completed self-reported instruments designed to measure stress, support and strategies. The findings revealed that students without LD reported higher work…

This article addresses ways in which speech-language pathologists can play a proactive and substantive part in schoolwide reading disability prevention and intervention efforts within the responsiveness to intervention framework. First, the driving forces that led Congress to alter how schools may operationalize learning disabilities are…

Recently, talk of a new type of learning disability (LD)--a foreign language learning disability, or FLLD--has made its way into the LD and foreign language (FL) literature. However, no empirical evidence has been published to support the concept of a "disability" for FL learning by those professionals who use the term. In this article, the author…

The use of high-probability (high-p) request sequences has enjoyed support in the applied behavioral literature as a method to increase compliance. Based on the theory of behavioral momentum, high-probability sequences increase the rate of responding, and subsequent rate of reinforcement, within a response class. This increase in density of…

The renewal, modification, and ratification of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA; 2004) produced a number of changes in legislation, particularly in the identification for children with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). In particular, the requirement that a child must evidence a severe discrepancy…

The purpose of this article is to underscore why we need to maintain the presence of comprehensive evaluations in the identification of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Response to intervention (RTI) models hold great hope for early instruction, and the reduction of the overrepresentation of students in special education who…

Response to intervention (RTI) has little application to the identification of and access to accommodations for adults with learning disabilities (LD). However, the critical topics raised during the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA; 2004) pertaining to LD eligibility criteria are similar…