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The academic needs of adolescent students with learning disabilities (LDs) have received prominent attention in recent years, while their psychological needs have received less notice. Huestis and Ryland (1986) maintain that the paucity of research examining the use of psychotherapeutic interventions with adolescents who have been identified as having learning disabilities has led to misunderstandings about these adolescents by counselors and therapists.
Several studies indicate that students identified as having LDs experience more personal problems than students without LDs (Cohen, 1985; Fahey, 1984; Pearl, Bryan, & Donahue, 1980; Swanson & Malone, 1992). If adolescents with LD problems are not treated, possible future outcomes for these individuals may be increased risk of divorce, job failure, and suicide (Smith, 1986). Some adolescents with LDs seem to be more prone toward delinquent behavior than peers who are not learning disabled. When compared to peers who are not learning disabled, adolescents with LDs are more likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes (Murphy, 1986). Because adolescents with learning disabilities are at increased risk, school counselors are challenged to be prepared to address the needs of these students. Faced with addressing the needs of students with LDs, school counselors appear to have primarily used traditional child or family counseling-interventions that are difficult to employ in the school because of their time and energy requirements (Amatea & Sherrard, 1991). It would seem that school counselors need effective and efficient strategies to meet the time and energy demands placed on them.
Recently, some school counselors have turned to brief counseling as an efficient means of dealing with this challenge (Metcalf, 1995; Molnar & Lindquist, 1989). Brief counseling is an effective approach with primary and middle school students (Amatea, 1989). At the upper grades of the K-12 system, single-session brief counseling is an effective method for counseling high school students (Littrell, Malia, & Vanderwood, 1995).
Brief counseling approaches are consistent with the recommendations for working with students identified as having LDs (Adelman & Taylor, 1982; Lowenthal, 1986; Schunk, 1989; Schunk & Cox, 1986) and for using appropriate strategies when counseling these same adolescents (Huestis & Ryland, 1986; Kish 1991). While there appears to be no research that specifically investigates the use of brief counseling with students with learning disabilities, other authors have...