Overview
There is an increased awareness that learning disorders affect many areas of both child and adult functioning. It is of utmost importance, therefore, that professionals have the most up-to-date information on how learning disabilities are being identified, the effectiveness of current treatments, and their long-term outlook.
Although more people have been identified as having a learning disabilities in the past 20 years, there is no agreement as to how widespread the disorders actually are. This is due to the fact that there is still no agreed on definition of learning disabilities, or objective criteria with which to identify them.
The contributors to Learning Disabilities: Implications for Psychiatric Treatment, all experts in the field, go a long way toward mapping out the current terrain. The authors highlight the shortcomings of certain definitions of learning disability; they illuminate the connections between disorders; they point out the suspected biological underpinnings; and they direct our attention to some of the most significant studies on the long-term consequences of these disabilities. With all of the chapters extensively referenced, this book serves as an important resource for those interested in exploring in greater depth this critical subject.
The contributors present clear and irrefutable evidence as to the role learning disabilities play in the lives of people who have been diagnosed with them. Over and over again, we are shown the importance of early identification and intervention in preventing long-term failure and demoralization that can be associated with these disorders.
Edited by Laurence L. Greenhill, M.D., a distinguished authority in the field, Learning Disabilities: Implications for Psychiatric Treatment will prove useful to professionals of many backgrounds, and provides practical guidance to psychiatrists, psychologists, students and residents, and to individuals and families whose lives have been touched by the presence of these disabilities.
American Psychiatric Publishing
The book contains predominantly black-and-white illustrations, with some color illustrations.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer: Ozlem Dubauskas, MD(Rush University Medical Center)Description: This entry in a psychiatry review series is a multidimensional approach to learning disabilities with a detailed overview.
Purpose: The purpose is to bring all the available information about the subject together to enlighten the reader. The editor also aims to prevent incorrect diagnosis of learning disabilities as well as enhance possible treatment options.
Audience: The book is suitable for physicians who want to have basic information about learning disabilities. Clinicians, including child psychiatrists or psychiatry residents, can benefit from the book in terms of understanding their patients and improving their own clinical skills.
Features: A foreword and an afterword from the editor are included. In the first chapter, the longitudinal study of children with uncomplicated reading disorders and the outcome as adults is presented. In the second chapter contributors review the co-occurrence of learning disabilities and mental health problems in children and adults. In the third chapter they focus on dyslexia and their functional magnetic resonance imaging findings. Another chapter contributor addresses the difficulties of defining learning disabilities and uses Multimodal Treatment Study for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an example. The last chapter contains information about ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders frequently seen in children with ADHD.
Assessment: This is a nice book about learning disorders. It is easy to read, the references are up-to-date, and it is a useful contribution to the field.
Ozlem Dubauskas
This entry in a psychiatry review series is a multidimensional approach to learning disabilities with a detailed overview. The purpose is to bring all the available information about the subject together to enlighten the reader. The editor also aims to prevent incorrect diagnosis of learning disabilities as well as enhance possible treatment options. The book is suitable for physicians who want to have basic information about learning disabilities. Clinicians, including child psychiatrists or psychiatry residents, can benefit from the book in terms of understanding their patients and improving their own clinical skills. A foreword and an afterword from the editor are included. In the first chapter, the longitudinal study of children with uncomplicated reading disorders and the outcome as adults is presented. In the second chapter contributors review the co-occurrence of learning disabilities and mental health problems in children and adults. In the third chapter they focus on dyslexia and their functional magnetic resonance imaging findings. Another chapter contributor addresses the difficulties of defining learning disabilities and uses Multimodal Treatment Study for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as an example. The last chapter contains information about ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders frequently seen in children with ADHD. This is a nice book about learning disorders. It is easy to read, the references are up-to-date, and it is a useful contribution to the field.3 Stars from Doody