Three papers present the positions of national organizations on full inclusion of students with learning disabilities in regular education classrooms, including the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Council for Learning Disabilities, and National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. All three papers call for a continuum of…

The author reviews problems in mainstreaming exceptional children and discusses conditions necessary for success. The importance of highly individualized teaching methods and use of special instructional materials is stressed. (CL)

A special education administrator raises questions about separating learning-disabled students from the regular education classroom for specialized instruction, proposes strategies to accommodate learning difference and address specific learning needs in the regular instructional program, and suggests the need to reevaluate the benefits derived…

Special education programs and support services for individuals with learning disabilities must be part of an education agency's total instructional program and must not be regarded as a separate and parallel system. Recommendations regarding program and service planning and implementation and service options are presented. (CB)

This position statement of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities identifies factors necessary for effective educational services for students with learning disabilities in general education classrooms; problems related to providing these services; and recommendations for actions required at the state, school district, and school…

An elementary school principal and mother of a son with learning disabilities (LD) offers a personal perspective on educational trends such as resource rooms, content mastery, and inclusion. The paper argues that regular classroom teachers are not trained to teach LD students and that adequate support for mainstreamed LD students would be…

This paper reviews the implications of definitions of learning disabilities for the Regular Education Initiative. Since heterogeneity (i.e., developmental imbalances, intraindividual gaps) is characteristic of this population, regular classroom modifications alone are unlikely to meet these students' needs and thus special services will continue…

This article compares the ideals of the regular education initiative to provide services for learning-disabled students within the regular classroom to the ideals and resulting negative effects (e.g., homelessness) of the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill during the 1960s. Resistance to efforts to decrease or eliminate special education…

This response to an article by Bruce Taylor on inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classes argues that it is not possible to meet the needs of all children in the general education classroom and points out that inclusion is generally favored by advocacy groups for low-incidence disabilities and policymakers wanting to cut costs. (DB)

The author considers the future of learning disabilities, particularly in relation to mainstreaming, the perceptual deficit hypothesis, and the psychoneurology of learning. (SBH)

The author expresses concerns regarding three issues in the field of learning disabilities: (1) the nature and quality of research in this field; (2) the divisive actions of leaders in the field; and (3) issues of mainstreaming resulting in both parental and professional backlashes. (Author)

The author examines current issues in the field of learning disabilities and notes the absence of national leadership, difficulties with the definition issue, ineffective and inconsequential research, thoughtless approaches to mainstreaming, and ill-advised noncategorical teacher education. (CL)

This introductory article considers the impact of homework requirements on students with learning disabilities in light of increased mainstreaming of these students and rising academic demands. Noted are three recent projects examining the impact of school reform on students with disabilities and their families. (DB)

Current advocacy efforts in learning disabilities (LD) are critiqued and alternatives to traditional special education such as implementing the effective schools research are reviewed. Five objectives of an advocacy blueprint for a pluralist school include increasing public awareness of the LD experience and making integration the centerpiece of…

The article examines the General Education Initiative of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in light of (1) the failure of past major reform efforts to help students with learning problems, and (2) questionable assumptions about how such students learn. The expansion of special education support to other at-risk students…