Preface<br >FOR PARENTS OF LEARNING-DISABLED CHIL-<br >dren， there are five kinds of books on the market:<br > 1. Inspirational books. Famous men of tremendous talent<br >who succeeded despite their learning disabilities are held up as<br >examples. These biographies are designed to encourage the LD<br >child and his parents to take heart.<br > z. Teach-him-yourself-at-home books. These sell like those<br >well-known hot cakes. The parents of LD children are des-<br >perate--they ll try anything! A lot of authors (most of them<br >well-meaning， some of them out-and-out quacks) make a great<br >deal of money writing workbooks and home reading-improve-<br >ment courses that are of no help to LD children.<br > 3" Scholarly presentations by highly trained professionals.<br >Some of these would be helpful if parents could only under-<br >stand them. Most of these books， however， present findings and<br >theories of such a highly technical<br >value to parents.<br >nature that they are of little<br > 4. Success stories. Usually these are biographies written by<br >LD teachers or mothers of LD children. "My son didn t learn<br >to read until he was twelve years old and now he s a brain sur-<br >geon." It s never "My son the plumber... "or "My son the drug<br >store clerk... "The main character is invariably a great success.<br >Such stories are an inspiration to others. And that s good. But<br >not all LD children grow up to be great successes. Most will<br >blend into society as just average people.<br > 5. Dire-warnings-of-what-can-happen books. Prisons and<br >welfare roles are filled with the learning-disabled. It s important<br >to hear their stories. It s frightening to see the figures that tell<br ><br >