Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 22(3), 170–175 C  2007 The Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children Learning Disabilities in Taiwan: A Case of Cultural Constraints on the Education of Students with Disabilities Shih-Jay Tzeng National Taitung University Learning disabilities (LD) has been recognized as a category of special education in Taiwanese law since 1984, and policies ensure educational services for children and youth who have LD. The official definition and identification criteria established in Taiwan’s laws closely corre- spond with those of the United States, but practice differs, largely influenced by the people’s cultural and linguistic background. I discuss these legal and cultural features as well as other matters (e.g., growth and change in professional literature on LD). Compared to economically developed countries such as the United States, the educators in Taiwan implement identification procedures, placement, and services at a lower cost. Contents of implementation are introduced in detail. The prevalence rate of LD has been very low (<1 percent). I examine culture- and/or society-specific reasons for low prevalence, such as Chinese orthography, regular teachers’ compliance with referral procedures, the education-first belief of parents, and problems with identification procedures. Although a lot of progress has been made on the neurobi- ological foundation of learning disabilities (LD) in recent decades, the construct of LD continues to be the result of an interaction between the individual and the society. “If a soci- ety views a certain set of skills, such as reading or math skills, as essential, then individuals with low levels of proficiency in these skills may be labeled as having a specific disability” (Sternberg & Grigorenko, 1999, p. 4). Thus, it is interesting to explore the impact different countries’ cultural and social characteristics have on the construct, education, and research base of LD. Taiwan’s case is of interest for at least four rea- sons. First, people in Taiwan have viewed education with deep respect for centuries. Parents are extremely concerned about children’s academic performance. Thus, to come up with a system to help children with LD is no easy task and worthy of attention. Second, compared with economically developed countries, the financial and professional resources of Taiwan’s educational system are limited. A description of how Taiwan provides services to students with LD may be insightful to the international audiences. Third, the Chinese orthography is considered very different from an alphabetic writing sys- tem. Because a majority of children with LD have a reading disability (RD), the LD prevalence rate in a Chinese-reading society would be an interesting contrast to the ones using an alphabetic writing system. Lastly, the ethnic diversity of Taiwan provides an opportunity to examine whether cultural and economical disadvantages result in an overidentification of LD in minority groups. To make the following discussion more sensible, I start with an introduction about the cultural context in Taiwan, followed by history and other important issues of LD. Requests for reprints should be sent to Shih-Jay Tzeng, Ph.D., Professor, National Taitung University, Department of Special Education, NTTU 684, Sec. 1, Chung-hwa Road, 950 Taitung, Taiwan. Electronic inquiries may be sent to tjeng@nttu.edu.tw. CULTURAL BACKGROUND Taiwanese people value education, as illustrated in an old say- ing, “All are low caste, only learning is superior.” In a survey, 77 percent of parents agreed with the statement “We shall support our children going to advanced schools as high as they can, and as long as we can afford it” (Ho, 2006). In Tai- wan, education itself is a major determinant of social status, whereas in the United States education plays only an instru- mental role that allows people to access better-paid jobs in social stratification (Blau & Duncan, 1967; Hwang & Chen, 2005). Traditionally, young Taiwanese are under pressure be- cause of the strong competition that persists throughout their education. Because the best jobs always go to graduates of top-ranked universities, anxious parents begin to reinforce the children’s academic capabilities when they are very young. Children in Taiwan spend a good deal more time doing home- work than do their American counterparts (Lee, Stigler, & Stevenson, 1986). Compulsory education from first to ninth grade is free. Approximately 48 percent of the parents, how- ever, spend extra money, averaging NT$6,000 per month, or about 10 percent of family income, sending their fourth- to sixth-grade children to private “cram” schools on weekday evenings and weekends (Ho, 2006). Although approaches to recruitment in high school and college entrance have been diversified in recent years, the most important criterion for admission to better schools is still scores on nationally admin- istered tests. On college-entrance examination days, the first stories on the front pages of major newspapers often are about the examinations. Extraordinary measures are taken to ensure that test items are secret. Under this cultural atmosphere, imagine how stressed students with LD and their parents would be, and how laudably tolerant it would be for society to accept different paths of school advancement for students with LD.