The Literature on the effects of segregated vs. integrated school experience for mildly intellectually handicapped children is considered in the light of four questions: (1) What is the effect upon the person of being labelled and segregated? (2) Does segregation provide a better learning experience? (3) Does segregation provide for better social and emotional adjustment? and (4) What alternatives are available? In general, the literature supports the view that integration is more desirable both in terms of intellectual and emotional gain.

This paper describes the programme of an open area learning centre for children with specific learning disabilities. Ninety-five regular school children between the ages of seven and eleven attend the part time remedial centre. An overview of innovative developments within the programme, centre services, modular scheduling, learning stations and programme procedures are discussed. Also mentioned is the implementation of co-operative community efforts and interaction and an interdisciplinary approach designed to provide maximal impact on the education of the children enrolled in the learning centre.

The Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test was administered to secondary school students, and experimental group teachers were informed of results. A dyadic interaction analysis of teacher questions, categorized on the operations dimension of Guilford’s Structure of the Intellect, was recorded in experimental and control classes. Analysis, using ANOVA, suggests teachers interact differently with students who have visual motor difficulties (despite not having these children explicitly identified) than they do with ‘normal’ children. The data further suggest teacher knowledge of the prescence of some children with visual motor difficulties affects the type of question teachers ask of all students in their classroom.

This paper examines a number of studies from England, America and Australia, that deal with the attainment of literacy. Methods of stimulating literacy interest of mildly and moderately retarded children have been developed by the author. The paper concludes with a statement of the author’s belief that the road to literacy is achieved through the manipulation of a number of task dimensions.