Risk Factor Articles: Early Intervention for Young Children At-Risk for Learning Disabilities

Early Intervention for Young Children At-Risk for Learning Disabilities (2006). Coleman, Mary Ruth, Buysse, Virginia, Neitzel, Jennifer Retrieved on February 15, 2012 from http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CAT=none&TEMPLATE=/

This article looks at what is being done to improve the ways that learning disabilities are identified and to better the intervention programs for children. According to this article "a new system, Recognition and Response, is being developed that will help teachers and parents identify young children ages 3-5 who may be at risk for learning disabilities." This article points out the benefits of the Recognition and Response program and explains how it works. The Recognition and Response system builds on the works of another program called Response-to-Intervention. The basis for both of these programs is that "parents and teachers recognize that a young child may not be learning in an expected manner, they can take steps to enhance the child's early learning success." (Coleman, Buysse,Neitzel) The Recognition and Response system involves four elements: an intervention hierarchy entailing three tiers of instruction and intervention, screening, assessment, and progress monitoring to guide the teacher's decision to move a child from one tier to the next, research-based curriculum, instruction, and intervention, and also collaborative problem-solving.

Each four of these elements are explained in detail as well as the criteria for the three tiers that teachers must use in assessing children. "The Recognition & Response system is based on the RTI model for identifying learning disabilities, which allows for early and intensive interventions for struggling students." (Coleman, Buysse, Neitzel) This article strongly supports the use of the Recognition and Response system as well as the RTI system because it aims to provide help to children as soon as a problem is suspected or identified. Although the RTI method has many positive aspects there are issues about how the method is implemented that have not been addressed. "While researchers generally agree on RTI's key components and tiered implementation, there is less consensus about the nature and focus of interventions, the duration and intensity of the interventions, and the benchmarks used to determine when more intensive interventions are needed." (Coleman, Buysse, Neitzel) This article also expresses why services for young children are important and also lists recommendations for developing an early intervention system for them.

This article would be beneficial to parents and teachers because it explains and helps them understand the  Recognition and Response system. It explains for parents how instruction, screening, assessment, and progress monitoring is done to identify what type of intervention is needed for the child. For teachers this article is beneficial because it explains why research-based curriculum, instruction, and focused interventions can help children with or without disabilities. As a future teacher it gives an idea of why teachers must pay a keen attention to their students to pick up on any developmental problems children may exhibit in the classroom.