Read complete books and articles on: Reading Disabilities

Learning Disabilities - in education, any of various disorders involved in understanding or using spoken or written language, including difficulties in listening, thinking, talking, reading, writing, spelling, or arithmetic. They may affect people of average or above-average intelligence. Learning disabilities include conditions referred to as perceptual handicaps, minimal brain dysfunction (MBD), dyslexia, developmental aphasia, and attentional deficit disorder (ADD); they do not include learning problems due to physical handicaps (e.g., impaired sight or hearing, or orthopedic disabilities), mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or cultural or environmental disadvantage. Techniques for remediation are highly individualized, including the simultaneous use of several senses (sight, hearing, touch), slow-paced instruction, and repetitive exercises to help make perceptual distinctions. Students are also assisted in compensating for their disabilities; for example, one with a writing disability may use a tape recorder for taking notes or answering essay questions. Behavior often associated with learning disabilities includes hyperactivity (hyperkinesis), short attention span, and impulsiveness. School programs for learning-disabled students range from a modified or supplemental program in regular classes to placement in a special school, depending upon the severity of the disability. The field of learning disabilities is considered to have emerged as a separate discipline in 1947 with the publication of the book Psychopathology and Education of the Brain-Injured Child by neuropsychiatrist Alfred A. Strauss and Laura E. Lehtinen. The need to help students with these disabilities was first recognized on the federal level in 1958, when Congress appropriated $1 million to train teachers for the mentally retarded. Famous people considered to have had a learning disability include Winston Churchill, Thomas Edison, and Nelson Rockefeller.

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15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Reading Disabilities

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Our Labeled Children: What Every Parent and Teacher Needs to Know about Learning Disabilities (Part II "The Science of Reading Disabilities") » Read Now
by Elena L. Grigorenko, Robert J. Sternberg. 290 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

Twenty percent of all school-aged children in this country have been labeled Learning Disabled. But what is a genuine learning disability? How does it differ from garden-variety poor learning? How can we more accurately assess and then teach to individual learning strengths instead of merely...
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Twenty percent of all school-aged children in this country have been labeled Learning Disabled. But what is a genuine learning disability? How does it differ from garden-variety poor learning? How can we more accurately assess and then teach to individual learning strengths instead of merely pinpointing learning weaknesses? In this passionately argued yet clear-headed book, internationally acclaimed cognitive psychologist Robert Sternberg and research scientist Elena Grigorenko tackle these controversial issues, urging that we understand the full range of factors that contribute to learning disabilities (and sometimes to their misdiagnosis) in order to improve the American educational and diagnostic systems.
From the biological bases of dyslexia and other disabilities, to the tests that do and do not accurately assess learning abilities, to the social and educational pressures that contribute to misdiagnosis, Our Labeled Children clearly outlines the issues that concern both parents and teachers, ultimately pointing to clear strategies for improving our system to help children with all manner of learning problems.
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2.

Perspectives on Learning Disabilities: Biological, Cognitive, Contextual (Chap. 1 "Genes, Environment, and Reading Disabilities," Chap. 5 "Phonologically Based Reading Disabilities: Toward a Coherent Theory of One Kind of Learning Disability," and Chap. 6 "Reading Disabilities and the Interventionist") » Read Now
by Louise Spear-Swerling, Robert J. Sternberg. 296 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

Although the term learning disabled (LD) is widely used, few agree on its definition or origins. This edited volume attempts to bridge that knowledge gap by bringing together experts from a variety of perspectives-biological, cognitive, educational, sociological, & interactive-to discuss the nature...
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Although the term learning disabled (LD) is widely used, few agree on its definition or origins. This edited volume attempts to bridge that knowledge gap by bringing together experts from a variety of perspectives-biological, cognitive, educational, sociological, & interactive-to discuss the nature of LD, its origins, its diagnosis, & effective remediation. Framing the discussion are introductory & concluding chapters written by the editors.
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3.

The Connections between Language and Reading Disabilities » Read Now
by Hugh W. Catts, Alan G. Kamhi. 227 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

This book is based on papers presented at a 2003 invitee-only conference. The participants were prominent scholars in the areas of language and reading. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss theoretical issues and research findings concerning the relationship between developmental language and...
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This book is based on papers presented at a 2003 invitee-only conference. The participants were prominent scholars in the areas of language and reading. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss theoretical issues and research findings concerning the relationship between developmental language and reading disabilities, specifically looking at neurological, behavioural, and genetic factors.
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4.

Visual Processes in Reading and Reading Disabilities » Read Now
by Dale M. Willows, Richard S. Kruk, Evelyne M. Corcos. 506 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
5.

Developmental Perspectives on Children with High-Incidence Disabilities (Chap. 8 "Reading Disabilities") » Read Now
by Lucinda P. Bernheimer, Ronald Gallimore, Donald L. MacMillan, Deborah L. Speece, Sharon Vaughn. 312 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
6.

Reading Comprehension Difficulties: Processes and Intervention » Read Now
by Cesare Cornoldi, Jane Oakhill. 365 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library
7.

Off Track: When Poor Readers Become "Learning Disabled" » Read Now
by Louise Spear-Swerling, Robert J. Sternberg. 336 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

"There is no more definitive, and readable, account of why we have witnessed a huge increase of reading-disabled studentsand why we are mostly wrong in framing this and many other academic problems as a disability. Spear-Swerling and Sternberg masterfully demonstrate the disconnects between...
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"There is no more definitive, and readable, account of why we have witnessed a huge increase of reading-disabled studentsand why we are mostly wrong in framing this and many other academic problems as a disability. Spear-Swerling and Sternberg masterfully demonstrate the disconnects between scientific evidence about poor reading and the views pushed by large parts of the learning disabiliyt industry. . . . A must-read for educators and a should-read for everyone interested in education".Albert Shanker, President, American Federation of Teachers.
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8.

Speaking, Reading, and Writing in Children with Language Learning Disabilities: New Paradigms in Research and Practice (Chap. 3 "The Language Basis of Reading: Implications for Classification and Treatment of Children with Reading Disabilities") » Read Now
by Katharine G. Butler, Elaine R. Silliman. 363 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library

The ability to use language in more literate ways has always been a central outcome of education. Today, however, "being literate" requires more than functional literacy, the recognition of printed words as meaningful. It requires the knowledge of how to use language as a tool for analyzing...
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The ability to use language in more literate ways has always been a central outcome of education. Today, however, "being literate" requires more than functional literacy, the recognition of printed words as meaningful. It requires the knowledge of how to use language as a tool for analyzing, synthesizing, and integrating what is heard or read in order to arrive at new interpretations. Specialists in education, cognitive psychology, learning disabilities, communication sciences and disorders, and other fields have studied the language learning problems of school age children from their own perspectives. All have tended to emphasize either the oral language component or phonemic awareness. The major influence of phonemic awareness on learning to read and spell is well-researched, but it is not the only relevant focus for efforts in intervention and instruction. An issue is that applications are usually the products of a single discipline or profession, and few integrate an understanding of phonemic awareness with an understanding of the ways in which oral language comprehension and expression support reading, writing, and spelling. Thus, what we have learned about language remains disconnected from what we have learned about literacy; interrelationships between language and literacy are not appreciated; and educational services for students with language and learning disabilities are fragmented as a result. This unique book, a multidisciplinary collaboration, bridges research, practice, and the development of new technologies. It offers the first comprehensive and integrated overview of the multiple factors involved in language learning from late preschool through post high school that must be considered if problems are to be effectively addressed. Practitioners, researchers, and students professionally concerned with these problems will find the book an invaluable resource.
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9.

Subtypes of Learning Disabilities: Theoretical Perspectives and Research (Chap. 5 "Genetic Etiology of Individual Differences in Reading Disability") » Read Now
by Lynne V. Feagans, Lynn J. Meltzer, Elizabeth J. Short. 268 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
10.

Phonological Processing, Speech Perception, and Reading Disability: An Integrative Review, in Educational Psychologist » Read Now
by Catherine McBride-Chang. 13 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
11.

The Relationships among Phonological Processing, Orthographic Processing and Lexical Development in Children with Reading Disabilities, in Journal of Special Education » Read Now
by Donald L. Compton. 10 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library
12.

The Role of Speech Processes and Memory in Reading Disability, in Journal of General Psychology » Read Now
by J. P. Das, Marion Mok, Rama K. Mishra. 16 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library
13.

Children with Reading Disabilities: Does Dynamic Assessment Help in the Classification?, in Learning Disability Quarterly » Read Now
by Crystal B. Howard, H. Lee Swanson. 18 pgs.

Collections: Education, Psychology, Entire Library
14.

Reading and Spelling: Development and Disorders » Read Now
by Charles Hulme, R. Malatesha Joshi. 504 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library
15.

The Causes of High and Low Reading Achievement » Read Now
by Ronald P. Carver. 446 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

This book describes all of the important factors that cause some students to have low reading achievement and others to have high reading achievement. It concentrates on the main factors that influence how much a student gains in reading achievement during a year of school, or a calendar year. An...
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This book describes all of the important factors that cause some students to have low reading achievement and others to have high reading achievement. It concentrates on the main factors that influence how much a student gains in reading achievement during a year of school, or a calendar year. An attempt is made to answer the following questions: what can educators do to increase reading achievement, and what is beyond their influence? The author is directly concerned with achievement associated with normal or typical reading. The focus of the book is on things teachers can do during an entire school year that are likely to improve the reading level and reading rate of students, which in turn, will increase their reading achievement. This effort to specify the most important causes of high and low reading achievement represents an integration of two disciplines of scientific psychology--experimental psychology and psychometrics. A glossary at the end of the book contains definitions of terms and concepts. Helpful appendices explain rauding theory, the three laws of rauding theory, and the equations that can be used to predict the accuracy of reading comprehension, provide conversions among units of rauding rate, and list the numbered equations presented in the book.
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