Abstract
Most people would agree that, although learning disabilities (LD) have existed for hundreds of years (Hallahan & Mercer, 2001; Wiederholt, 1974), present day LD can be traced back to August 1963, when a group of parents convened for a conference in Chicago titled, “The Conference on Exploration Into Problems of the Perceptually Handicapped Child.” Largely resulting from the gathering and the keynote address of Dr. Samuel Kirk, where he popularized the term specific learning disabilities (first introduced in the literature by Dr. Emmett A. Betts in 1936), a group of parents formed the Association for Children With Learning Disabilities (ACLD), now the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA). Since that time, parents have influenced policy and legislation, and LDA remains the primary parental voice advocating for children and adults with LD.
Recognizing the importance of parental activism and advocacy, we were pleased when Drs. Wendy Cavendish and David Connor approached us with the idea of editing a special series on parental involvement in LD. We are appreciative of their recruiting papers and spearheading this special series. They introduce the series in the forthcoming pages. We also want to express our sincere appreciation to the authors whose work supports the series. In addition to Cavendish’s and Connor’s introduction, three papers are presented in the current issue, followed by two papers in the next issue. We hope the articles will encourage our readers to further explore the complex relationships that exist among parents, their children (both young and old), teachers, and administrators. We encourage parents to continue to be a strong voice on behalf of our field, and for those of us who serve students’ needs, we should continue to recognize and support the important and ongoing contributions of dedicated and caring parents.
Following the special issue papers, readers will find, Teaching Children With Language-Learning Disabilities to Plan and Revise Compare–Contrast Texts, by Mei Shen and Gary Troia. These researchers present the results of a multiple-probe, multiple-baseline, single-case study that examines the efficacy of using self-regulated strategy development on the writing performance of three upper elementary students who have language-learning disabilities. Their results contribute to the growing body of evidence for effective writing instruction for students with LD, particularly for those students who have language impairments.