Individual authors discuss definitions and evaluation procedures related to identification of the learning disabled, examining the role played by members of the professions concerned, and theories concerning learning disabilities -- their causes and their relationship to the young offender. Other essays discuss the Young Offenders Act, which represents a shift from a treatment-oriented approach to a rights-responsibility model, and which requires the court and its officers to consider the particular problems of learning disabled young prisoners. The final paper draws upon the Learning Disabled Young Offender in Ontario Training Schools Project Report, 1985, to discuss the question of provision of appropriate alternative placements.