Presentation:

There has been an increasing understanding in Vietnam about learning disability as a specific impairment that negatively impacts students’ performance in school in spite their backgrounds, attitudes or effort in learning. However, belief and perception related to specific learning disability continues to be limited and uneven among university faculty in special education and psychology departments in Vietnam. This limitation, therefore, may adversely affect the training especially future teachers and psychologists. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine these trainers' knowledge about nature and characteristics, assessment and diagnosis, services delivery and intervention of specific learning disability. Knowledge gap analysis was conducted to identify areas that need improvements.

Speaker’s Background: 

Dr. Phuong N. Le received his M.A in Educational and School Psychology from California State University, Long Beach and his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Le has over 18 years of experience as an educational psychologist for major school districts in California, USA, where he was responsible for evaluation, counseling, and delivering interventions for students with disorders and disabilities from K-12 students. He was also an adjunct faculty in the graduate school psychology and counseling programs at California State University, Long Beach and Chapman University. In private practice, Dr. Le provides counseling and psychotherapy services to clients at all ages with mood disorders, which include stress, anxiety, depression, and especially complex trauma. He spphecializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Brief Solution-Focused Therapy, and Somatic Experiencing.

Dr. Le was also the co-founder and later the President of the Consortium to Advance School Psychology - International (CASP-I), of which aim is to bring school psychology as both a discipline and profession to Vietnam. For this effort, he received the inaugural Outstanding International School Psychology Practice Award from the International School Psychology Association in 2011 and later became a Fulbright Specialist of the U.S. State Department from 2014 to 2019. The organization was successful to campaign for the issuance of the MOET’s 31/2017 and later for the graduate school psychology program at the Hanoi National University of Education and school counseling program at the University of Education of the Vietnam National University.

In 2017, Dr. Le chose to come back to Vietnam to actively participate in the beginning but dynamic field of psychology in the country. Dr. Le’s two-volume “Raising Children in Confusion” was the best seller and he was the recipient of the Best Book Award in Vietnam in the year 2018. Currently he works as freelanced public speaker, trainer, and writer in psychology and education.