Assessment of potential learning disabled children has proved difficult for the relevant professional diagnosticians, even in optimum multidisciplinary situations. Assumptions about the nature of the learning disabled population, about the adequacy of ordinary assessment practices, and about the nature of assessment itself tend to mislead professionals to unwarranted conclusions. The various purposes of assessment affect not only the types of assessment used, but also the interpretation of results. The instruments used, and their interpretive criteria, have generated a wide array of inconclusive results, requiring more controlled replication. As information on the cognitive functioning of learning disabled children emerges, a parallel, independent body of knowledge suggests investigating the cognitive complexity of learning disabled children, both to improve the conceptual understanding of learning disability and to support guidelines for relevant educational recommendations.
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