This practicum sought to reduce the delays in referral to otologists for medical care to alleviate hearing losses and reduce risk of delays in language and academic performance. The practicum conducted inservice training programs to improve the identification of conductive pathologies in preschool and school-age children by 34 speech pathologists.…

Ninety-three indigenous Hawaiian or part-Hawaiian preschoolers were screened for hearing dysfunction; approximately 85 percent of the children failed the screening, which included pure-tone audiometry, tympanometry, and otoscopy. The research literature indicates that from 30 to 35% of all children experience recurring episodes of…

Special education professionals in Illinois were surveyed regarding case study procedures for use with mentally retarded students, rating usefulness of procedure, modifications desired for use with different age groups and severity of retardation, and what professional should hold primary responsibility for component completion. Processes rated…

Elementary-aged students (n=106) who had been referred for evaluation as possibly mildly/educably mentally handicapped were administered audiometric and visual acuity tests. Discriminant function analysis found no relationship between test results and classification/placement as mildly handicapped. Alternate testing procedures are recommended for…

Techniques to assess the vision, hearing, and speech and language of multihandicapped children are briefly described. Interferences in normal vision functioning and development during infancy can be identified and intervention initiated early in the child's life. Obtaining an in-depth history from the parents is the first step. It is essential…

This screening and diagnostic procedure is intended to identify Level 1 adults with specific learning problems. The adults not meeting criteria on the assessments for visual and auditory functions should be referred to proper medical services for full evaluations. A prescriptive teaching program should be specifically designed to meet needs of…

This guide, written to assist child study teams in New Jersey, reviews legal and other requirements in evaluating students with hearing impairments. Implications of hearing impairment for the evaluation process include its impact on syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of language; environmental interaction; and social interaction.…

The four issues contain articles on the diagnosis and treatment of learning disabilities (LDs). Article titles and authors include: "Learning Disability Specialist Looks at Foreign Language Instruction" (Elissa Fisher); "Physician Questions Reliability of Central Auditory Processing Tests in Diagnosing LD" (Daniel Schwartz); "Educator Urges…