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Implications of the Learning Disabilities Definition for the Regular Education Initiative

Tanis Bryan is a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her PhD from Northwetern University in Evanston, Illinois. Address: Tank Bryan, P.O. Bar 4348, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60680.

Mary Bay

Mary Bay received her PhD degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in educational policy analysis. Currently, she is a visiting assistant professor of special education at that institution.

Mavis Donahue

Mavis Donahue is an arrociate professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her doctorate in special education from Boston University.

This paper reviews the implications of definitions of learning disabilities for the Regular Education Initiative. The review finds that each definition includes reference to minimal brain dysfunction and assumes that children so labeled would show heterogeneous problems. While it is clear that professionals in the field intend for this category to describe children whose learning and behavioral problems are the result of central nervous system involvement, it is also clear that we lack the technology to verify the nature of such involvement. At the same time, however, an empirical data base is being established showing that learning disabled persons differ from normally achieving individuals on brain-related information processes delineated in the definition (e.g., working memory, learning complex rule systems, metacognition). We propose that this heterogeneity (i.e., "developmental imbalances, intraindividual gaps") makes it unlikely that classroom modifications alone, regardless of a teacher's pedagogical skill, will suffice to meet the complex needs of this population of children. Reflections upon the interface between the complexities of learning disabilities and the dynamics of the classroom environment suggest that there is a great deal more to be learned before we can replace special services by the Regular Education Initiative.

Journal of Learning Disabilities, Vol. 21, No. 1, 23-28 (1988)
DOI: 10.1177/002221948802100105


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