Global Disability: Empowering Children of all Abilities.

Worldwide, children are often not meeting their developmental potential owing to malnutrition, infection, lack of stimulation, and toxic stress. Children with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, neglect, and abuse, and are less likely to have adequate access to education and medical care. Early childhood developmental stimulation can improve language, learning, and future participation in communities. Therapeutic supports and endeavors to reduce stigma for people of all abilities strengthen communities and allow for human thriving.

Prevalence of LD From Parental and Professional Perspectives: A Comparison of the Data From the National Survey of Children's Health and the Office of Special Education Programs' Reports to Congress.

Since the emergence of the field of learning disabilities (LD) in the late 1960s and early 1970s, controversy has surrounded issues regarding methods used for identification. The prevalence of students identified as LD increased steadily from the 1970s until the beginning of the 21st century, at which time it has decreased until at least 2011 (the most current data available from the U.S. Office of Education). In this article, I compare the prevalence rates of children aged 6 to 17 years being served in schools according to the Office of Special Education Programs with the prevalence rates as reported by parents on the National Survey of Children's Health. To date, no such comparison has been made that takes into account parents' knowledge of their children's disabilities. Results of the analyses reveal that parents report that their children have LD at a significantly higher rate than what is reported by schools of students receiving LD services. Most important, the longitudinal trend from 2001 to 2011 indicates that parents are reporting a slight increase whereas the Office of Special Education Programs is reporting a dramatic decrease in LD.

Influence of verbal and nonverbal references to print on preschoolers' visual attention to print during storybook reading.

How much do preschool children look at print within storybooks when adults read to them? This study sought to answer this question as well as to examine the effects of adult verbal and nonverbal references to print on children's visual attention to print during storybook reading. Forty-four preschool-aged children participated in this study designed to determine the amount of visual attention children paid to print in 4 planned variations of storybook reading. Children's visual attention to print was examined when adults commented and questioned about print (verbal print condition) or pointed to and tracked the print (nonverbal print condition), relative to 2 comparison conditions (verbatim reading and verbal picture conditions). Results showed that children rarely look at print, with about 5%-6% of their fixations allocated to print in verbatim and verbal picture reading conditions. However, preschoolers' visual attention to print increases significantly when adults verbally and nonverbally reference print; both reading styles exerted similar effects. The authors conclude that explicit referencing of print is 1 way to increase young children's contacts with print during shared storybook reading.