Learning Disabilities: Appropriate Practices for a Diverse Population (Suny Series, Youth Social Services, Schooling and Public Policy)

This book addresses issues in teacher preparation and parental roles in the education of children with learning disabilities. It provides a variety of instructional approaches that recognize the cultural and linguistic diversity found in students classified as learning disabled. There is a critical need to incorporate a sensitivity to issues of diversity into educational assessment, curriculum planning, teacher training, and interactions with parents, especially in large urban areas which are characterized by cultural and linguistic diversity. Significant changes in traditional special education assessment and instruction are needed to effectively deal with the overrepresentation of minority students classified as learning disabled, and resolve the inherent problems with the definition and diagnosis of learning disabilities.