Forty children (ages 9-12) identified as having dyslexia on the basis of intelligence and achievement tests were evaluated. Results imply that a test of phonological sensitivity and another of nonsense word decoding identified children who were dysphonetic. Nondysphonetic disabled readers were older and had higher verbal intelligence quotients…

This study of 640 twins with reading disability and 436 controls (mean age 12) examined external validity of the distinction between specific reading retardation and reading backwardness, in 3 domains: genetic etiology, sex ratio and clinical correlates, and neuropsychological profiles. There was no evidence of differential genetic etiology of the…

Discusses the dualism of literacy and education as an individual possession and communally embedded commodity within many segments of the African-American community, drawing on information from 25 adults. Literacy is an ever-changing continuous activity shaped by cultural and community beliefs about the price of education and rewards of learning.…

Ethnographic assessment is recommended in the language evaluation of Asian-Pacific American students. Procedures are outlined for collecting data representative of the student's repertoire; for determining how cultural, linguistic, and experiential factors affect student behavior; and for taking the perspective of the student as well as that of…

This article describes requirements for developing Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) under Part H of the Education of the Handicapped Act. Components of the IFSP document are reviewed and process considerations are discussed. State-level and local-level strategies for implementing family-centered IFSP processes are highlighted. (Author/PB)

Two key concepts in diagnosing learning disabilities ("severe discrepancy" and "process dysfunction") are reviewed, and their relationship to the habilitation of learning is discussed. Guidelines are given for calculating a severe discrepancy, and the evaluation of processing skills is discussed. Strength models of remediation…

This paper describes the efforts of a psychological consultation center in Israel to develop a psychological profile, a reading profile, and a learning method profile for students with dyslexia. The three profiles are described, and involvement of the regular classroom teacher in the consultation process is emphasized. (Author/JDD)

Estimates the number of infants exposed to legal and illegal substances before birth, drawing on 27 published reports and National Institute on Drug Abuse data. The following are estimated exposure levels: (1) cocaine, 2-3 percent; (2) marijuana, 3-12 percent; (3) cigarettes, 38 percent; and (4) alcohol, 73 percent. (SLD)

African-American children are minimally represented in gifted programs due to misconceptions of giftedness, problems associated with standardized testing, perceptions of African-American students' low achievement, and lack of awareness of characteristics of African-American achievers. Individually focused identification of gifted African-American…

This review and commentary on research on signs of giftedness in preschool children focuses on feats and failures of child prodigies, development and measurement of early giftedness (including acceleration through developmental stages and early predictors of giftedness), and effects of caretaker child interaction on precocious development. (JDD)

This literature review examines the role of the educational setting in determining the self-perceptions and identity of hearing-impaired adolescents. The paper addresses social relationships in educational settings, perceptions of the social environment by hearing-impaired adolescents, factors influencing self-perceptions and identity, and…

Systems for classifying speakers' communicative intents are typically limited in scope, in applicability across the full developmental range of language abilities and disabilities, and in their theoretical foundations. Criteria for an adequate system for analyzing communicative intents are discussed, and a system is proposed which meets those…

Children (ages 9 and 14) with mild mental retardation and matched controls without mental retardation were given a test of their ability to perceive relations among different stimuli and transfer learned behavior from familiar to less familiar environments. Results showed that subjects with retardation relied only on prototype information, whereas…

Analysis of the discrepancy between performance of 121 tenth-grade students in reading aloud from English and science texts resulted in a group of 33 students with general deficits and 6 students with content-specific deficits. Students in the content-specific group benefited more from study of the text than did students in the general deficit…

A review of literature suggests three major challenges for colleges and universities in serving students with learning disabilities: modification of admissions policies in compliance with federal legislation concerning disabilities; helping students adjust to college life; and helping students prepare for exit from college. Four specific areas for…