Author Description

"The idea for this book originated in a workshop on treatment-relevant, differential diagnosis of specific learning disabilities. I presented this workshop at the 2010 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), and APA subsequently translated the workshop into an online continuing education course. Although course materials were available online, both APA and I received requests for related hard-copy materials that educational professionals could use. Recognizing the potential of such a resource that could be used by interdisciplinary teams in schools and in the community, APA invited me to prepare such a book and to put related materials on a companion website, and I agreed to do so with input and feedback from an interdisciplinary advisory panel. The full list of advisory panel members appears at the end of this preface. Of this panel, three members also contributed chapters, which appear in Part V. These chapters illustrate the following key ideas: Diversity among students poses challenges for teachers and parents but can be served well by interdisciplinary teams involving community-school partnerships focusing on the whole student (see Chapter 13). Educators are empowered to advocate proactively for the educational needs of all students, whether or not they qualify for pullout services (see Chapter 14). Educators can create more positive school-family relationships and serve the students who struggle with challenging family issues that may affect their ability to learn and behave at school (see Chapter 15)"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).