Bridging Ability, Disability, and Cognitive Growth
Diagnostic Teaching in Special Education and Early Childhood
- Textbook
Bridging Ability, Disability, and Cognitive Growth
Diagnostic Teaching in Special Education and Early Childhood
- Textbook
Available for purchase via Bloomsbury etextbooks on publication date
Description
Teachers are rarely given what they truly need: a comprehensive framework for understanding how young learners think, process, and develop-and how to support those who struggle. Bridging Ability, Disability, and Cognitive Growth addresses this need by placing cognitive development directly in educators' hands through the Unified Development Continuum (UDC).
Dr. Myung-Sook Koh presents child development as an interconnected hierarchy of cognitive systems rather than a collection of symptom-based profiles. Moving from foundational processes-sensory integration, attention, and perception-through advanced competencies such as abstract reasoning and executive function, and into integrated domains including social-emotional cognition, language, and literacy, the UDC demonstrates how cognitive systems build upon one another to form functional intelligence. Each continuum is paired with sequenced, classroom-ready diagnostic instruction, enabling educators to identify cognitive barriers early and respond with targeted, developmentally aligned strategies.
Essential for early childhood and special education professionals, this book equips pre-service and in-service teachers, learning coaches, and caregivers to shift from static testing toward responsive diagnostic teaching that supports diverse learners.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Ability and Disability: Unravelling Paradoxes in Cognitive Development
2. Sensory Systems: The Gateway to Developmental Milestones
3. Attention Systems: Foundations of Mental Performance and Efficiency
4. Perceptual Systems: The Foundation for Concrete Learning
5. Advanced Perceptual Reasoning: Bridging Concrete to Abstract Reasoning
6. Conceptual Systems and Higher-Order Thinking: From Abstract Reasoning to Action
7. Interconnected Social, Emotional, and Language Cognition: Development and Challenges
8. Bridging Home Development and School Readiness
9. Sensory Proficiency: Strengthening the Brain-Body Connection
10. Attention Proficiency: Building Blocks for Cognitive and Perceptual Learning
11. Perceptual Proficiency for Concrete Reasoning
12. From Language to Thought: Building Abstract Reasoning and Conceptual Literacy
13. Unified Social – Emotional – Communication Development Continuum
Index
Product details
| Published | 25 Jun 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 336 |
| ISBN | 9798216375753 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 56 b/w figures, 65 textboxes |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |

























