Evidence is presented that both Reading Disabled (RD) and normal reading Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) children are at high risk to become numerically incompetent adults. It is theorized that this incompetence is in many instances rooted in a failure to automatize (memorize) basic number combinations. Yet standardized arithmetic tests may fail to reveal automatization failure in younger school children because of overly generous time limits. While mathematical excellence appears to require superior spatial reasoning ability in addition to the memory and attentive abilities thought to underpin automatization, it is argued that a pubertal spurt in spatial ability is more felicitous than early exceptional spatial competence.
Innate and acquired automatic information processing was compared in non-problem students and three groups of educationally troublesome children: two normal reading groups with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), one without and one with hyperactivity, and a non-hyperactive Reading Disabled (RD) group. All groups displayed reliable, presumably innate, automatic processing on measures of temporal and frequency sensitivity, but the two ADD groups made less precise judgements than controls. Contrasted with controls, all clinical groups exhibited delayed automatization in arithmetic computation, but the handicapped groups did not differ from controls on other measures of acquired automatization (speed of writing and naming).
This article reports on the results of a telephone survey conducted with a random sample of households screenedfor eligibility to receive child support in the state of Colorado. Despite the recent enactment of ambitious child legislation at the state and federal levels, the accounts of 731 custodial parents reveal a massive level of unmet need, with child support problems being most extreme for those never married to the child's other parent. These mothers typically lack an order establishing a legal obligation to pay child support and have incomes that fall below the poverty level. Overall, women of Colorado with child support orders received only about half of the support they were due, and 73 per cent of all women due support reported thar they had experienced problems in collecting support either currently or in the past. The average amount of back due child support owed to the 6Oper cent of women in the sample who reported an arrearage was $12,000. Analysis revealed that payment behaviour tracked with the length of time since separation with payment patterns worsening over time and irregular visitation a d o r the presence of problem amund child access. Female obligors exhibited the same paymentpatterns as their male counterparts but were more apt to maintain visitation. The article documents the dramatic, negative economic consequences of irregular or missing child support payments for custodial parents, and discusses the additional legal and financial commitments needed to improve the situation. The efficacy of private child support transfers to achieve an adequate standard of living for all children is called into question.
Evidence is presented that a large number of reading disabled (RD) children, especially younger ones, exhibit impaired inferential thinking in a head-fitted word-decoding task. This weakness is theorized to be linked to a lag in the development of phonological sensitivity. Recent work is reviewed that suggests phonological sensitivity can be enhanced by direct instruction, with carry-over benefits to word-recognition skill.
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