Science and Practice of Identifying Specific Learning Disabilities: Kind Conversations About a Wicked Problem

Although specific learning disabilities (SLD) represent the largest category for which school-age children receive special education services, the science and practice of SLD identification continues to evade consensus. Our goal is to bring together trainers and researchers with different perspectives on SLD identification to help spur a move toward a potential consensus, discuss agreements and disagreements on SLD identification in the field including amongst ourselves, and work toward productive discussion that may help move the field forward. We review essential conceptual questions that require greater scrutiny and thought to build a stronger understanding of SLD. We then discuss current assessment and identification practices, focusing on the not-so-controversial and the controversial issues in the field. Finally, we conclude with questions and considerations that challenge many of the established assumptions and systems currently in place. The aim of this article is to support constructive discussion on the topic of SLD that may have profound effects on the perennial issues the field continues to face.