The recorded history of disability is long yet, apart from the past 50 years, sparse. There is anthropological evidence that early man may on occasion have cared and protected persons with disabilities. For example Hadingham (1979) cites evidence of formal burial, around 45 thousand BC, of an individual (40 years plus) with long standing physical disabilities, but in later records there is also evidence of exploitation. In more recent times the records of the American Mental Deficiency Society - A Century of Concern (Sloan and Stevens, 1976) - indicate that a variety of both benign and restrictive approaches have been tried. The ideas of normalization, vocational employment, sterilization, incarceration were all proposed though sometimes not under these headings.

Developments during the past 50 years have been rapid and have been directed to scientific, practical and, more recently, societal approaches to disability. Yet, as I have indicated, these changes had their roots in earlier developments in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Itard and Seguin developed learning strategies which forecast modern learning and behavioural management techniques. Binet’s (1916) concern with disadvantaged students paved the way for intelligence testing, but also added fuel to the development of the nature-nurture controversy which was influenced by the views of Galton and Darwin.

The paper reviews various conditions which are associated with learning difficulties such as attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity, and developmental language disorders, contending that many of these processes are developmental in nature and hence can be traced to early childhood years. The significance of “potential”; academic learning difficulties is stressed and role of preventive intervention as a model of ongoing practice for early childhood educators is proposed.

Teachers, including special educators, are generally not aware of ways of evaluating the oral language competence of their students. This research study developed and trialled a sentence repetition test containing various syntactic loadings in order to determine if this is a useful screening procedure. Results indicate that sentence repetition can discriminate developmental maturity and is useful as a screening device. Results also indicate that the oral language competence of children with mild intellectual disability is lower than that of younger children of the same intellectual age.

This paper documents the educational placements of 22 children with Down Syndrome who were born between 1976 and 1981. While all but one child started her/his preschool education in inclusive settings, only five children remain in inclusive school settings in 1993. It is suggested that schools need to address the disabling factors in their contexts rather than focus on the child’s perceived inability to cope in inclusive classrooms as she/he matures.

Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is a relatively common disorder affecting mainly male children and which may seriously impact on the life of the individual and produce wider negative social effects. Despite being identified for the greater part of this century, many aspects of its major characteristics, aetiology, assessment and treatment are unresolved, and some, especially the medication treatment option, are highly controversial. The anticipated publication of the DSMIV with altered categorisation and diagnostic criteria may initially lead to further confusion. This paper reviews and consolidates the research currently available, describes the DSM IV classifications and indicates best practice procedures for assessment and treatment

The present study compared the attitudes and concerns of regular school teachers towards the integration of children with physical versus multiple disabilities. Teachers were generally positive towards integration for students with physical disabilities and only slightly less favourable towards the integration of students with multiple disabilities. Concerns about integration often depended on the child’s individual needs and degree of disability. Teachers were also concerned that integration might disrupt the classroom and indicated the need for more time and support. Educating children with special needs in the regular classroom was often said to be stressful. While the potential social benefits of integration were recognised, many teachers had observed a lack of positive peer interaction. Specific strategies to facilitate the integration of children with special needs emerged from these data and these are discussed.