Training the Helpers

In reflecting on training, respondents to the future survey called for higher standards in preparing practitioners and researchers and zeroed in on deficiencies in training program content. On a broader level, they stressed the importance of education and consultation programs for the general public and for those professionals who come into contact with the LD population. Picking up on several themes raised in the survey, Selma Sapir shares ideas based on her scholarly activity and personal experiences related to improving the field's approach to training. She argues for preparing personnel to have a broad theoretical understanding of individual differences; she stresses the training implications of interdisciplinary collaboration and of working with families. In keeping with these perspectives, she opts for generic training programs with specialization only in terms of severity of learning impairment. To illustrate her points, she offers an outline for such a core program. Because of the importance and complexity of the topic, Sapir's paper is followed by a presentation intended to broaden the discussion of staffing the field effectively for the future. The thrust of the second paper is on highlighting basic staffing concerns beyond training and offering thoughts about fundamental changes that must be made in order to recruit, train, and retain the type of high quality professionals needed if the field is to make significant advances. Since the papers in this series are meant to stimulate ideas to help shape the field's future, we look forward to receiving a diverse range of ideas and commentaries regarding how the field can deal with its major staffing issues and problems.‐Howard S. Adelman, PhD, and Linda Taylor, PhD, Guest Editors