Blog
Must See the Neurologist
Even though schools will tell parents that they need to see a neurologist to diagnose dyslexia, the following are essentials that must be considered in an assessment: Reading aloud from a graded word list to determine word identification skills and how automatically...
“The Decoding Hurdle”
Young children face many hurdles that they need to overcome. They come in succession. Getting over one leads to another. Some hurdles are more important than others and are not all equal in their level of importance. One particular hurdle I have been consistently...
“The Number In Your Child’s Head”
Probably not a week goes by where I don’t hear stories of parents frustrated that their struggling child is not receiving any services. At least in New Jersey, this is often because of the child’s overall FSIQ (i.e., Full Scale Intelligence Quotient). Without being...
“Just Use Spell Check…”
For a whole host of reasons that won’t be raised at the moment, writing is difficult to adequately assess, even though there are standardized measures that practitioners and education specialists use in the assessment of writing. I would be willing to go out on a...
Bewildering Treatment Options
Treatment options and the range of professional recommendations can be bewildering, not to mention all of the “on the street” opinions. Just like the parable of "The Blind Men and the Elephant, different professionals will identify a part of the “elephant” and...
Impact of Dyslexia
Not sure how many cases of reading disability (dyslexia) I’ve seen over the years, but it’s safe to assume it’s a pretty big number. You would think that assessing another child with significant dyslexia would be pretty, “ho hum” or humdrum, as in "been there done...
Like Giving the Kid the Keys to the Car
It’s pretty safe to assume that most of you out there in parent-land would agree that giving a 10- year- old the keys to the car and letting him/her drive would not be too wise. What about giving a 7 or 8 year old her own cell phone? While it may not be as reckless as...
“Got My Kid On Medication”
Once parents have gotten the “diagnosis” of ADHD, typically medication is offered as the next step. Parents will think the medication will do more than it can do in reality. The goal of the medication is to help the child pay attention and focus better. That’s it! A...
Just Not Smart Enough
When children are assessed for special education typically they are given a test called the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – V (WISC –V). Within the WISC-V there are seven subtests that comprise an overall score called the Full Scale Intelligence Quotient...
Screen Addictions Part II: Young Jake Sets Us Straight
Following up on last week’s discussion of “screen addictions, I had an informative conversation with young Jake, a recently turned 9 year old. Schooling me on how screen usage goes in his house, Jake offered me a few pointers. “My mom sets a strict limit,” Jake said....
Screen Addictions: Part I
Is it OK for 7 or 8 year-olds to have their own phone? At the risk of sounding like an old-head, when I see kids younger than high school in possession of phones I notice myself questioning it. Recently, a 7-year old girl talked to me about wanting to have her own...