NYU Silver Faculty Member Demystifies Specific Learning Disabilities in New Book

Dr. Yitzchak Frank, an adjunct faculty member at the NYU Silver School of Social Work, has had a new book published by Oxford University Press. Specific Learning Disabilities provides a comprehensive review of a category of learning disorders, including clinical conditions such as dyslexia and dyscalculia, with a special focus on the biology of these complex disorders. Frank’s book provides the reader with a concise but thorough review of most aspects of SLD, including accepted treatment modalities, the neurological anatomy of dyslexia and dyscalculia, and the physiology and genetics at play in these conditions.

The advent of modern neuro-imaging studies has made it possible to identify the neurological locations and anatomy of disorders such as dyslexia and dyscalculia, and has led to many important discoveries about the nature of SLD. Frank’s book uses evidence from neuro-imaging to show how dyslexia and dyscalculia may be the result of abnormal brain connections.

Frank’s text stands apart from many other publications on SLD because of its focus on SLD’s largely unrecognized emotional impacts, and the psychosocial effects these conditions have on the lives of affected individuals and their family systems. In addition to a comprehensive and graspable overview of SLD and its various conditions, the book concludes with a section on treatment options and outcomes of specific learning disabilities.

Dr. Frank is a pediatric neurologist and professor of clinical neurology, psychiatry, and pediatrics at Mt. Sinai Medical Center. He has served as an adjunct lecturer for the Silver School since 2013. In the spring 2014 semester, he taught the elective course Neurobehavioral Disorders in Children.

His wife, Claudia Oberweger Frank, MSW ’88, is a licensed psychotherapist who received the 2013 Making a Difference Award from the School for her longstanding support of social work students through the Claudia Mann Oberweger Scholarship and her service on the NYU Silver Dean’s Council.

For more information, or to order a copy of Specific Learning Disabilities, visit http://global.oup.com/academic/product/specific-learning-disabilities-9780199862955;jsessionid=A43C45D011A138AB1E28F8EB1C7E3D1B?cc=us&lang=en&