An emerging focus of elementary and secondary mathematics instruction is on problem solving. This study examined an instructional approach for teaching children with learning disabilities how to solve arithmetic word problems. The study was conducted with 60 fifth and sixth grade students who had previously been identified as learning disabled. The experimental group was taught using an instructional design which involved the teaching of problem solving steps and the use of "prompts" to help students think through the problem. Both the experimental group and the control were permitted the use of calculators. Results indicated that students in the experimental group outperformed the control group. Implications of the study are discussed, stressing that learning disabled students who have exhibited very poor arithmetic word problem solving skills can be taught to be proficient problem solvers. An example of a prompt outline card used with the experimental group is included. (TW)