Health disparities in ASD detection affect children's access to subsequent interventions. We examined potential disparities in implementation of a multi-stage ASD screening and diagnostic evaluation protocol in Part C Early Intervention with 4943 children ages 14-36 months (mean 22.0 months; 62.9% boys, 73.3% children of color, 34.9%…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups; however, children from culturally and linguistically diverse groups are, on average, misdiagnosed more often and identified later than White children. Understanding current practices and procedures is important for ensuring the use of evidence-based…

This article is an overview of identification of intellectual disabilities (ID), with a focus on meeting legal and ethical requirements when assessing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and those living in poverty. Specific procedures and recommended instruments will be reviewed.

Two studies used a scaling approach to measure components of modifiability in children. Modifiability differentiated between children having low language ability and typically developing children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, the individual components of modifiability, with the exception of motivation,…

This symposium proceedings reports on the background, purpose, and implementation of meetings held on May 19-21, 1997 that focused on race, language, and special education. Participants from school districts in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont formed teams that included two or more of the following: local…

This article argues that the education system in Aotearoa/New Zealand relegates children with disabilities, along with Maori and children of minority groups, to the margins of education. It stresses the need for teachers to focus on ways in which inclusion practices are reinforcing the marginal position of many students. (Contains references.)…

A study found four measures that would discriminate 31 predominantly Spanish-speaking children (ages 5 to 7) with normal language from 31 children with language impairments. The measures were: parental report of the child's speech and language skills, number of errors per terminable units, mean length per terminable units, and family history of…

The syntax of 14 child speakers of African American English (AAE) with and without language disorders were compared. Findings suggested that shared features between AAE and Standard American English may be more diagnostically salient than features not shared when identifying children of AAE language backgrounds with language disorders. (DB)

A study involving 4,141 schools investigated gender and race/ethnicity disproportionality among students identified as having learning disabilities. There was a clear association between ethnicity and gender and the odds of being identified as a student with learning disabilities. School sociodemographic factors also associated with the proportion…

Two studies compared the performance of Puerto Rican and African American Head Start children (total n=134) on familiar (description) and unfamiliar (one word labeling) test tasks. Results indicated children performed better on the familiar test task, which was also more sensitive in differentiating typically developing children from those with…

This study examined dynamic assessment as a less biased evaluation procedure for assessing the language-learning ability of Native American young children (N=23) identified as either stronger or weaker language learners. Through a test-teach-test protocol, participants were taught principles of categorization. Results supported the further…

Recent national studies show that nearly 2 million children have preventable learning "disabilities," and the number of students classified as learning disabled could be reduced by as much as 70 percent with rigorous early reading instruction. In predominantly white school districts, minority students are classified as learning disabled…

A sample of 150 children referred to child-study teams were administered intelligence tests. One-third of White students and slightly over half of Black and Hispanic students scored in the borderline IQ range (71-85). Of those borderline students who subsequently received special education, the majority were served as learning disabled. (Author/CR)

A review of 6,036 learning disabilities eligibility reports found the application of a regression equation to a standard score formula and the use of two different low-achievement cut-off criteria significantly increased the number of eligible white and African-American students, but neither alternative equalized the proportion of white to…

This digest discusses the problem of overrepresentation of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in special education and provides examples of strategies created by researchers and practitioners to reduce overrepresentation. Strategies include: (1) promote family involvement and respect diverse backgrounds by taking time…