An Interview with Janet W. Lerner: Observations on a Career and the Evolving Field of Learning Disabilities

Overview & Synopsis

This article presents an interview with Janet W. Lerner, professor emerita of special education at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Lerner also serves as an adjunct professor in the Professional Assistant Center for Education (PACE) for Young Adults with Multiple Learning Disabilities at National Louis University and as an online professor in the PhD program in special education at Walden University. In addition, she is coeditor of the Learning Disabilities Association journal, "Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal." Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Lerner was a classroom teacher in the public school system, serving as a general education teacher, a special education teacher, and a reading specialist at the elementary, middle, and secondary levels. She holds a PhD from New York University, an MEd from National Louis University in elementary education and reading, and a BA in special education and elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also took advanced studies at the University of Chicago. Dr. Lerner's landmark textbook, "Learning Disabilities: Theories, Diagnosis, and Teaching Strategies," was first published in 1971 and has become a seminal text used in college classrooms across the United States and in other countries. The 12th edition, "Learning Disabilities and Related Mild Disorders: Teaching Strategies and New Directions" (2012), has recently been published. In this interview, Dr. Lerner discusses her career in the field of learning disabilities and her broader historical observations about the field. (Contains 1 note.)