More children than ever before are being labeled as learning disabled (LD), including some who in the past would have been labeled mentally retarded. At the same time, the category of gifted learning disabled has become widely accepted, and some parents as well as teachers are trying to have their children labeled as LD in order to render them eligible for special services. But despite the reliance on the term, few agree on its definition or origins.This edited volume attempts to bridge that knowledge gap by bringing together experts from a variety of perspectivesbiological, cognitive,...

The identification of poor readers as learning disabled can be the first of many steps toward consigning students to a lifetime of reading failure. The very label that is meant to help children often becomes a burden that works against effective learning throughout their schooling.In this book, the authors identify the dangers of labeling children as reading or learning disabled, contending that a reading disability is not a unitary phenomenon. In order to diagnose and help children, educators and parents need to understand the multiple sources of reading difficulty before they can choose...