Benjamin Spock: A Two-Century Man

1TWAS a great honor for me to be invited to give the keynote talk at this symposium honoring Benjamin Spock and celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Baby and Child Care. I am delighted to have this chance to pay homage to a man who has done so much for children and parents everywhere and who has awarded his friendship freely to those fortunate enough to have come into his orbit. Ben Spock the human being is a unique gestalt-that is, his total legacy is more than the sum ofhis clinical care, his writings, his teaching, and his demonstrations. He is one of those rare human beings whose life adds up to more than 100 percent

THE HOME ENVIRONMENT IN THE ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING DISABILITIES ® at PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV on

Abstract. The purpose of the present article is to advocate that in view of the difficulty involved in predicting learning disability by looking at the early behavior of the child, serious consideration must be given to early assessment of home environmental processes as a supplement to child-focused preschool screening and research. The article contains a review of home environmental issues, findings, and instruments as they have arisen in the field of general cognitive development and as they are applicable to preschool prediction of learning disabilities. The authors conclude that in the area of learning disabilities, 'environmental disadvantage' should not be conceptualized in gross, structural terms. Within some middleand upper-class homes, children with actual or potential learning disabilities may be 'environmentally disadvantaged' as regards interactions with their parents. During the early childhood period, there is a special need to look within the traditional LD exclusion category of low socioeconomic status for potential subgroups of inefficient learners who are at risk for subsequent learning and social disabilities. When not appropriately identified and intervened with in early childhood, these subgroups may later be misdiagnosed as cultural familial retardates. There is a great deal of interest in early identification of children with learning disabilities. By and large most attempts involve measuring some aspect of the child's own performance. While this is undoubtedly valuable, it overlooks the assessment of home and family variables which also make an important contribution to the manifestations of a child's learning disabilities. The main purpose of the present article is to advocate that in view of the difficulty involved in predicting learning disability by looking at the early behavior of the child, we should give serious consideration to early assessment of home environmental processes as a supplement to child-focused preschool screening and research. This approach is compatible with Hardin's (1978) model for ecological assessment and intervention for learning disabled students. The present article contains a review of home environmental issues, findings, and methods as they have arisen in the field of general cognitive development and as they are applicable to preschool prediction of learning disabilities