Learning Disabilities
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Abstract
Mass media have triumphed! The word is out. The name of the game (depending upon your own personal preference) may be dyslexia, learning disability, perceptual handicap, specific language disability, primary reading disability, vulnerable child, or interjacent child. And, if these are unsuitable, there are many more labels to choose from. (With the recent success of the lunar landing perhaps it would be appropriate to label the hyperactive child outerspacent since he appears to be in orbit most of the time anyway!) While all the current publicity certainly contains plus factors, it is unfortunately true that magazines, Sunday Supplements, and TV Specials have spread a wake of confusion. "Authorities" have left impressions which range from the idea that we are in the midst of a raging epidemic of exotic learning disabilities, to the notion that there is no need for concern since the self-contained classroom can adequately handle all problems. In addition to reflecting the spectrum of opinion that exists concerning the fact or fiction surrounding learning disabilities, massive publicity has also tended to create a climate which is favorable for glib opportunists, cultists, and assorted camp followers to set up shop and sell their "services" to concerned parents. There is little doubt that there is a r a p i d l y g r o w i n g p o p u l a t i o n o f