Identification Criteria for Learning Disabilities: A Survey of the Research Literature

Abstract

A survey of 307 research studies in learning disabilities (LD) was conducted to determine the nature and characteristics of the LD identification criteria used. Five categories of LD identification criteria were found; however, in one half of the studies LD subjects were selected on the basis of previous classification or diagnosis. Besides the identification criteria categories, research studies were also surveyed for the actual identification criteria included. Six criteria were identified with exclusion, discrepancy, process, and neurological components being the primary ones. It was concluded that the learning disabilities research literature presents a divergent picture of the nature and characteristics of learning disabilities and reflects a lack of consensus regarding standard identification criteria. Consequently, the LD research literature does not present narrowly fo-cussed subject samples suggesting continued difficulties with generalization and replication of results.