An investigation explored the use of Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) by 185 readers and 152 non-readers (ages 14-21) with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation. The SDS was reliable for both readers and non-readers, able to validly measure preferences, and sensitive to preferences with respect to disability group membership.…

This article describes implementation of a Sharing Chair as part of literacy program in a third and fourth grade special education learning disabilities class. Following free writing in their personal journals, students could share and receive feedback from a peer/teacher audience. The article presents results of analysis of videotape recordings…

Describes a year-long study of five fifth grade students with learning disabilities with written language deficits that used a specially designed computer program, ROBO-Writer, as a writing tool to assist them in a weekly writing curriculum. Discusses effects on the students' behavior, attitudes, and their written products. (Contains 32…

Presents a sociocultural view of inclusion, highlighting a student with learning disabilities who was successfully included in a diverse classroom. The study analyzes segments of instructional discourse, illustrating how the general educator enacted interactional inclusion to build an inclusional culture that repositioned the student and her…

The Autism Research Institute says autism-like disorders affect 15 out of 10,000 children. Cases are climbing in schools, partly due to expanded diagnostic codes (see sidebar). Autistic children are often misdiagnosed as having attention-deficit, learning, or emotional disorders. Schools can help by providing good teachers and early intervention.…

Self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) is presented as way that middle school students with learning disabilities can learn task-specific strategies for composing. A strategy for planning expository essays is discussed, along with the PLAN and WRITE strategies for teaching basic parts of an essay, different types of sentences, synonyms, and…

Discusses the difficulty children with learning disabilities have in making friends and describes a strategy for incorporating children's literature into teaching friendship skills. A practice lesson that used this strategy with five elementary children with disabilities is described and found to be effective in promoting friendship skills. (CR)

Because of the universal, phonological nature of writing systems, functional proficiency in decoding is essential if a child is to become literate. This is the heart of the problem for many dyslexics and many other disabled readers. The whole-language approach that eschews decoding is inappropriate in light of this fact. (MSE)

This tribute to Samuel Kirk, an early leader in the field of learning disabilities, describes his prominent achievements in reading instruction, including research in remedial reading and identification of reading instruction principles such as stages of reading development, importance of prereading abilities, and the need for explicit, systematic…

Discusses use of "mediated texts" as a classroom practice which meets requirements of "accommodation" for alternative demonstrations of competency in academic writing. Defines mediated texts, describes case studies which use these texts with deaf students who are basic writers; and shows connection between this heuristic and…

Describes collaborative strategic reading (CSR), a technique for teaching students, such as those with learning disabilities, reading comprehension and vocabulary skills in a cooperative setting. Covers teaching the four strategies of CSR (preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap up), as well as teaching students cooperative learning group…

Teachers' reasons for referral to special education and evaluations of the referral process were studied in a suburban elementary school of about 500 students where prereferral and inclusion were being implemented. Promising impacts of prereferral and inclusion practices are found, and issues surrounding learning disabilities are highlighted. (SLD)

The role of executive control in the revising problems of 12 eighth graders with writing and learning difficulties was studied by providing students with executive support in the process. Compared with revising under normal conditions, executive support made the revision process easier for students and improved their revising behavior. (SLD)

Examines predictive relationships between assessed functional limitations and vocational rehabilitation (VR) services provided for five homogeneous client groups. Results indicate that specific functional limitations were determinants of some VR services but were largely irrelevant to provision of other services. Predictive relationships between…

Discusses problems encountered when identifying, assessing, and deciding the language of instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse preschool children with disabilities and suggests some directions for practice in the context of the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986. (SLD)