Globalization,Human Capital,and Learning Disabilities

Abstract

In my commentary on the articles in this special international issue, I argue that attention to the phenomenon of learning disability arises inevitably as a policy concern, despite differences in history, cultural traditions, and political circumstances. Refinements in scientific knowledge alone cannot account for the observed similarities across nations. Instead, I argue that it is the universal recognition of and response to the high social cost of underachievement that naturally leads to the construct of learning disability. Despite differences, nations respond to economic challenges similarly with policies that promote universal education and, thereafter, create the inevitable collision of limitations in their ability to provide universally effective schooling in the face of human differences.