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Handbook of Mental Health in African American Youth pp 261–270Cite as

Learning Disabilities

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Part of the book series: Springer Series on Child and Family Studies ((SSCFS))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the current state of African American children diagnosed with a specific learning disability (SLD). Our goal is to provide an historical overview of the learning disability diagnosis in addition to discussing the current methods for clinical and school-based indication of this disorder. Given that two different criteria are used for the identification of learning disabilities, we provide an overview of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In addition, we discuss the controversy surrounding the overrepresentation of African Americans in special education and future research regarding African American children diagnosed with SLDs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Psychology and Special Education, School of Education, G3A Canevin Hall, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA

    Scott L. Graves Jr. & Kayla D. Nichols

Authors
  1. Scott L. Graves Jr.
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  2. Kayla D. Nichols
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Correspondence to Scott L. Graves Jr. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Georgetown University Medical Cente, Department of Psychiatry, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Alfiee M. Breland-Noble

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School, RICHMOND, Virginia, USA

    Cheryl S. Al-Mateen

  3. Medical College of Georgia, Augusta Univ, Dept of Psychiatry & Health Behavior, Augusta, GA, Georgia, USA

    Nirbhay N. Singh

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Graves, S.L., Nichols, K.D. (2016). Learning Disabilities. In: Breland-Noble, A., Al-Mateen, C., Singh, N. (eds) Handbook of Mental Health in African American Youth. Springer Series on Child and Family Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25501-9_16

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