When academic assistance is not enough: addressing the mental health issues of adolescents and adults with learning disabilities.

This article focuses on an answer to a critical question for adolescents and adults with learning disabilities: How can professionals assist students with learning disabilities who have psychosocial issues that appear to be affecting their academic progress and life adjustment? Inherent in this inquiry are other, equally important issues, such as: How do learning disabilities service providers know when to involve other service providers? What are the steps in referring a student for further assistance with different mental health issues? When are team interventions necessary? How are team interventions conducted in either secondary or postsecondary settings? How should learning disabilities service providers establish the boundaries of their professional expertise and/or responsibilities to adequately meet the needs of individuals with learning disabilities? This article illustrates answers to these questions by providing examples of interventions and case studies from two federally funded research/demonstration projects at the University of Minnesota: the Learning Disabilities Transition Project and Project Extra. The authors describe theoretical models for mental health services that address the psychosocial issues frequently encountered in academic or vocational settings. Recommendations are also included that discuss how the models can be personalized to fit the reader's home institution or agency.