Using a cooperative learning approach with a twist, special needs students were paired with classroom teachers. Each person in each team of two developed functional word processing skills. Through the shared process, teachers and students learned more than the use of a computer program: they came to rely on one another for solutions and…

This article discusses results of two recent surveys in Taiwan. Survey results indicate 99 percent of preschool program directors (n=134) believe they cannot provide services to certain children because of inadequate qualified personnel or lack of appropriate facilities and parents (n=109) of young children with disabilities face many problems.…

This review provides a discussion of the following: the issues associated with appropriate identification and educational placement of gifted students with learning disabilities; the characteristics of these students; and academic strategies and counseling interventions for working with this special group in the schools. (Author)

Reviews theory and research on mastery motivation in young children. Discusses Piaget's and White's perspectives on motivation, changes in mastery motivation during early childhood, how motivation relates to cognition, how caregivers influence mastery motivation, motivation in children with disabilities, assessment of mastery motivation, and how…

This article discusses in-service training of Swedish professionals in family-centered intervention for families with children with disabilities. The training, which has been implemented on an interdisciplinary team basis in the context of ordinary habilitation services, is described as one of several options for fostering improvement within an…

In this article, a special education teacher who started a much-needed collaboration program at a mid-sized parochial school reflects on her experiences in serving students with a wide variety of disabilities and discusses several different types of service delivery models and some of the problems she encountered with each model. (Author/CR)

Describes the lack of educational success experienced by boys in some countries and girls in other countries, and lists possible reasons for these inequalities. Presents certain contributory factors: employment prospects related to levels of education; composition and attitudes of the teaching staff; attitudes of parents and society; and attitudes…

Despite public skepticism regarding steadily increasing numbers of learning-disabled students, most experts agree that 5 percent of schoolchildren suffer severe difficulties with language and other skills. There are three explanations: remediation is ineffective after second grade; identification comes too late; and federal policies overlook…

Data for 1,833 Norwegian students in grades 4, 7, and 9 show that learning disabled (LD) (n=214) and low achieving (not diagnosed as LD; n=156) attributed success in mathematics and language to ability to a greater extent than other students. LD students showed more helplessness than other low achieving students, although these students showed…

This article introduces diverse language and dialects of the Asian Pacific and describes their specific phonetic features. It also delineates the speech characteristics of the English spoken by those individuals whose English has been influenced by their local or native tongue. Clinical challenges in transcription and beyond are discussed.…

This article reviews 24 meta-analyses concerned with special education interventions and draws tentative conclusions about the relative power of interventions as determined by magnitude of mean effect size for each. Highest effect sizes were obtained for use of mnemonic strategies, reading comprehension strategies, behavior modification, and…

This article provides a critical review of empirical investigations on the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology with individuals with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. The review is presented by six topic areas: assessment, staff/family training, supports for augmented input, supports for…

The need for additional support for Indigenous children at school is well documented. Occupational therapists are well positioned to form part of this support. However, many occupational therapists report that Indigenous families do not access their services and when they do, the occupational therapist feels uncertain about how best to meet their…

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether naturalistic, interpersonal contact with persons with a severe mental illness (SMI) could reduce stigma. Participants from the agency Compeer (which pairs volunteers with people with SMI) were compared to volunteers from a control agency and to nonvolunteer participants from the community on…

In the light of continuing controversy over the role of special schools in England, this paper considers the development of special education through examination of evidence from two different geographical areas. Particular reference is made to uncovering the perspectives of those who were subject to the policies--children and their…