The investigation involved a comprehensive descriptive analysis of the reading and writing behavior of 13 upper elementary level learning disabled students. Data were collected on student responses to 11 language tasks, including drawing; forming letters, numbers, and their names; being read to; reading; and answering questions about reading and writing. Other tasks focused on the student's book handling knowledge and on specific reading abilities. Interviews and surveys were conducted to ascertain students' attitudes and concepts of reading and writing, parental attitudes and models of reading, students' developmental and educational histories, and home environments. Students' miscue analysis (i.e., deviations from print) of their oral reading and subsequent story retelling revealed how effectively they utilized the syntactic, semantic, and graphophonemic language systems in relation to reading comprehension. The results indicated that these students' responses to written language could be analyzed, categorized, and qualitatively measured within a particular information processing, psycholinguistic paradigm. The implications focused on the practical implementation of whole language instruction and integrated activities into the urban elementary school special education curriculum and the learning disabled students' home environment. Appendixes include: The Parent Questionnaire; Parent Individual Questionnaire; Book Handling Knowledge Inventory; Concepts of Reading Inventory; Concepts of Writing Inventory; Reading Interview; Reading Miscue Inventory; Evaluation and Worksheet; summary and Profile Sheet of Reader's Strengths; and Sample Lesson Plans for Comprehension. (Author/CL)