title: Specific learning disability and its newest definition: which is comprehensive? And which is insufficient?
abstract: The American Psychiatric Association's proposed definition of specific learning disability ("specific learning disorder") for the DSM-5 reflects current thinking and best practice in learning disabilities. It continues the core conceptualization of learning disability (LD) as well as proposes identification criteria to supplant the discredited aptitude-achievement discrepancy formula. Improvements can be found along with long-standing and new controversies about the nature of LD. The proposed definition both provides a model of a currently acceptable definition and reflects critical issues in the operationalization of LD that the field continues to neglect.
authors.affiliation: Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA. scanloda@bc.edu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scanlon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*