Assessment

Podcast Interview Released

As a changes of pace, I am excited to share a recent interview that was conducted with me by “Beautifully Complex:  Navigating Neurodiverse Parenting.”

The interview is only about 30 minutes.  Would love to get your feedback on it.

If you enjoy it, please share it with others.

Here’s the link:     (Selznick Podcast Interview)

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Feel free to make comment below. 

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To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email: shutdownlearner1@gmail.com

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2023, www.shutdownlearner.com.

 

 

 

“Pictures Telling the Story”

Largely supported by the medical model, when parents have their child assessed they are often  focused on “the diagnosis.”    Such a model embodies a, “Yes, they have it,” or “No, they don’t have it,” (whatever “it” is) perspective.

In my corner of the universe, I wish things were that straight-forward.  I am hopelessly mired in identifying a pie-chart of interacting variables.

Less important than a “diagnosis,” a good assessment should  identify major “red flags” of concern and  guide you with  “next-step thinking.”

For example if the child has a reading problem, what type is it?  Is it primarily based in decoding/fluency or is it a comprehension based problem? What are the next steps?

If the child shows inattentiveness and distractibility, can that be clarified more specifically?

Just saying a child is “ADHD” doesn’t tell us much.  What situations pull for greater inattentiveness?

If the child’s behavior can be challenging, what seems to trigger the difficulty?

More than the diagnosis, what do the snapshots in the assessment tell us about the child?

I understand that I am sadly dating myself by citing a great song by Rod Stewart, but remember, “Every Picture Tells a Story?

What are the pictures that are telling the story?

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To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email: shutdownlearner1@gmail.com

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2023, www.shutdownlearner.com.

 

 

“‘Come on, Doc. Tell It to me Straight'” (#Assessment)

Whenever I do an assessment I know that in many ways I am swimming against the tide in my approach and perspective.

Hopelessly mired in identifying the the “soup-pot” of variables interacting, I rarely see things as one way or another.

Parents are typically focused on “the “diagnosis,” largely supported by the medical model.   Such a model embodies a, “Yes, he has it,” or “No, he does not have it,” perspective. It is the belief held by many, that once one gets the diagnosis the treatment will logically follow.

While this may be true in real medicine, I wish things were that straightforward in my corner of the universe.

Apropos of that, a dad said to me recently,  “Come on, Doc,” tell it to me straight.  What’s he got,”  as I wriggled in my chair trying to side-step his statement.

From my perspective, assessment should identify major areas of need and what should be done next, ideally guiding you on what I refer to as “next-step thinking.”

If you are having your child assessed more than a reductionistic diagnosis, important questions to ask include:

What are the identified strengths and the the areas of greatest need?  How mild, moderate or severe are the areas of need?    How much direct instruction (i.e., tutoring)  is needed?  What is realistic to expect from the school in terms of direct instruction?  What type of accommodations would be helpful in addition to any direct instruction?  If no direct instruction is offered by school, how do we deal with that? 

Notice, the questions are focused on the practicality of the skill needs and the consideration (ratio) of direct instruction to support and accommodation.

Takeaway Point

Let me tell it to you straight.

Assessment drives “next-step thinking.”  Ask the right questions!


Feel free to make comment below.  To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email – rselznick615@gmail.com

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2023, www.shutdownlearner.com.

Follow-Up to “ADHD? Perhaps”

In last week’s post we noted that there were many factors that can lead to erroneously hypothesizing that a child has ADHD/ADD. https://shutdownlearner.com/adhd-perhaps/

There were  a number of  comments posted.

Dr. M., a developmental pediatrician, reminded us to remember an important variable:

“Perhaps the child has an auditory or language processing disorder and therefore doesn’t pay attention to non-meaningful information.”

Kathryn A., a former teacher, stated:

“Great list of possibilities, Dr. Selznick!
As a former teacher, I know that anxiety about anything will present like some ADD symptoms and everyone at some time does something ADD-like. I wasn’t diagnosed until age 52! The real deciding factor, as I learned, was do these symptoms happen everywhere, not just at school, not just at home, but at swimming lessons, Boy Scouts, class trips…does it consistently impact negatively no matter the setting.”

Stanley S., also a former teacher, cautioned to remember effects of fear of embarrassment:

“One of the great obstacles in all of education… for each individual student… is the fear of embarrassment. We are all capable of convincing ourselves… with areas where we are weak… that EVERYONE ELSE “gets it” and we don’t… which will often lead to NOT asking for help, or not asking questions in class. A great challenge to teachers is to try to create a safe environment in their classrooms … so that each child feels “protected” in some way. A teacher I knew, once told a “shy” student that each time she asked a question in class, at least half the class was grateful, since they didn’t understand it either!!”

Adina B.,  also voiced her frustration with the  ADHD diagnosis (***Note she references the Vanderbilt, which is a checklist typically used in pediatric practices.)

“OMG! If I see one more “evaluation” written up in an EMR (i.e., electronic medical record) format of course and conducted by a neurodevelopmental pediatrician (and sometimes by a nurse practitioner) with “results” from the Vanderbilt (because it’s free), I am going to lose it!”

Takeaway Point

Thrilled that the comment section of the website is back in action.  (Your comments help to take the pressure off of me for new content!!!!  Keep ’em coming!!!


Feel free to make comment below.  To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email – rselznick615@gmail.com

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2023, www.shutdownlearner.com.

Green-Yellow-Red Zone

Liana’s mom has seen a great deal of struggling in her 4th grade daughter.

After I evaluated Liana, the mom asked me, “Was this a problem that could have been averted?”

As I explained to her there are valid and reliable screening measures that can be given early on in kindergarten or first grade that take about 15 minutes. From such a screening, there are three general groups that can be identified.

These are:

  • Green Zone Kids: That is, those who are good to go. They represent about 60% of the population within that age range.
  • Yellow Zone Kids:  Those who show some signs of red flags, representing about 25% of the population.
  • Red Zone Kids:  Those who show significant to severe signs of difficulty, roughly 10 to 15% of the population.

For the children in the lower yellow into the red zone, just giving them the regular curriculum, such as reading stories, literature and other whole language type of activities Is not sufficient.

These children require much more “bottom- up” activities using sensible, structured methods to try and build their base of skills.

My experience is that  often this is not a model that is typically followed.

If that is the case, if you  have concerns early, then I encourage you to go out on your own and have someone within your community (e.g., a reading specialist or a psychologist) to do such a screening to determine what zone your child is in within the early grades.

For the yellow and red zone children, don’t wait. Get good tutoring.

That is the only way to try and avert a child from being in a situation like Liana’s.


(***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

“Hemming & Hawing”

OK… Among other disorders that I seem to have, readers of this blog know I have confessed to my  “PBD” or “Pushback Disorder.”

PBD usually manifests whenever parents tell me something that has a hypothesis (i.e., an opinion) as to why their child is doing or not doing something.

Usually, there is some type of disorder attached to the hypothesis.

Some examples include:

  • “My child is sensory seeking.”
  • “My mother’s uncle has clear ADHD and it runs in the family, so I see it coming out with our 7-year old when she refuses to do her homework.
  • “Emotional self-regulation is challenging for William – he always demands to be first in everything.”
  • “Her dyscalculia is running rampant – she just can’t do math word problems.”
  • “George hates reading so much – all he can focus on are video games. I think his dyslexia trips him up and he escapes to video games for safety.”

While all of these hypotheses may be true to a greater or lesser degree, ultimately they are opinions, guesses as to what’s going on.

Even with decent testing, there’s still guesswork involved with “the diagnosis,” which leads to another of my numerous disorders.

I haven’t seen it in the research literature, so I may be the first person to discover it – I am calling it “Hemming and Hawing Disorder” or “HHD.”

“HHD” manifests in my corner of the universe around questions of ADHD, Dyslexia, Anxiety and Asperger’s, among others, for example.

Recognizing that  there is no definitive test for any of these commonly raised concerns, I often find myself “hemming and hawing” after I’ve done a hefty dose of pushing back.

HBD is correlated highly with “Squeamish Disorder” (SD), which I freely own.

Not being a neurologist (who must have steelier nerve than I have with much more science behind them), I am uncomfortable saying that I child has a neurological disorder.

What I am not squeamish about, however, are stating facts that emerge in an assessment: .

For example:

“The fact is your child rushes through tasks.”

“Your child has a significant reading, spelling and writing problem and is well below the norm on these skills.

“Your child has superior visual intelligence, but is much weaker with verbal skills which are likely to impact things like reading comprehension or understanding lectures.”

“Following directions is very difficult for your child which came out in many of the portions of the testing.”

“Clear deficits with reading rate, accuracy and fluency were seen on all of the tests.

Takeaway Point

I clearly need help with all of my numerous disorders, such as PBD, HHD and SD, among others, however, stating the facts clearly keeps these disorders at bay.

For statements like these, I don’t show any HBD or SD.


***Please note:  All blogs represent the opinion and perspective of Dr. Richard Selznick.  Comments and questions are welcomed, but are blocked by the hosting site.  Please email questions or comments: rselznick615@gmail.com)  

Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

“Tipping the Scales”

 

Some of you have been loyal followers of this blog for over 10 years, while others have joined more recently.

If you’ve been one of the loyalists, you know  there are some themes that cycle through the blog posts.  While I do my best to keep these fresh,  after 550 or so posts it’s hard to keep track of it all..

With that said, one of my favorite themes is to remind parents to move away from the “has it” – “doesn’t have it” mentality when it comes to things like dyslexia, learning disabilities, ADHD and practically all of your other concerns of a non-medical nature regarding your child.

I still know of no single marker, no “ADHD Test” or “Dyslexia Test” that says confidently, “yes, your child has it.”

It’s all weight of evidence that helps to reach a conclusion…

The evidence helps to tip the scales one way or another.   Even then the diagnosis can be somewhat speculative, especially when the child is falling in a range that is roughly average,  which happens to be the zone where schools typically don’t qualify a child to receive services.

Takeaway Point

Even if a practitioner has said to you the child has a disorder such as “ADHD” or dyslexia, keep in mind the fact that there is no single measure like a Covid  test  or an X-ray that yields a definitive diagnosis.

There can be numerous reasons why a child is not paying attention or reading very well, not all based in the child’s brain.


Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

To receive future blog posts, register your email: https://shutdownlearner.com.

 

Why Ask ‘Why?'” (Part II)

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Frequently, I hear from parents that they just want to know “why” something  is taking place (e.g., a behavior or a learning problem) .  As I hear their question, I understand they are seeking a “diagnosis,” such as ADHD or dyslexia.

For many parents when they get the diagnosis, they find comfort in it, believing that they have gotten to the root of the problem.

As we discussed last week, (“Why Ask ‘Why'”) the concern of of “why” is that the answer is highly speculative.

Related to this, I would like to offer a couple of quotes from Dr. William Carey, the late, renowned pediatric researcher from CHOP.

“‘I think the current diagnosis of ADHD is a mess and has been wildly overdone.  It blames a variety of symptoms entirely on the child’s brain, and ignores the child’s environment and the interaction with it.’”

The assumptions that the ADHD symptoms arise from cerebral malfunction has not been supported even after extensive investigations.  The current diagnostic system ignores the probable contributory role of the environment, presuming  the problem is supposedly all in the child.” 

“The questionnaires most commonly used to diagnose ADHD are highly subjective and impressionistic”

“The label of ADHD, which is widely thought of as being beneficial, has little practical specificity and may become harmful.”

Parents may feel a degree of comfort relative to getting a “why,” but I can’t shake Dr. Carey from ringing in my ears.


Copyright, Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  2022, www.shutdownlearner.com.

To Contact Dr. Richard Selznick for advice, consultation or other information, email rselznick615@gmail.com.

 

 

 

“Pie Chart Revisited”

As those of you who follow this blog knows there are two overriding missions that drive everything done in the blogs, books, tid-bit tips, and in interactions that take place with parents.

These are:

  • Help parents to cut through the tremendous amount of misinformation that exists children and their struggles.
  • To talk to parents in  plain, down-to-earth, non-jargon terms about the various issues.  (We like to think of this blog as a “jargon-free” zone.)

Essentially, it’s been the same mission for a number of decades (not saying how many at this point).

Here are some points to keep to keep in mind as we talk about the “pie chart.”

  • In most schools, just walking in the door, approximately 20-25% of the children will show mild, moderate to more severe problems with reading, spelling and writing. Within lower income communities the numbers soar to over 60%.
  • Of the population of struggling children not all of them will be “dyslexic,” but up to about 70%  of that group will be showing some difficulty with “decoding” and reading fluency.
  • Beside struggling in reading, spelling and writing, a significant percentage of this group (over 70%) will also have issues with things like sustained mental effort, inattentiveness, inconsistent focusing, lowered motivation, low frustration tolerance, and other related emotional/behavioral variables.
  • Probably about 85% of this group will have mild, moderate and more considerable issues with self-esteem, anxiety and insecurity..
  • Nearly 100% of the time with the struggling children, it will  always be a “pie-chart” of variables (as opposed to one-factor explanations, such as, “He has ADD.”)
  • .

The pie chart of may not have equal pieces of the pie as is illustrated in the pie chart above of a recently diagnosed 8-year old. In fact more often than not the reading, spelling, writing piece may be as large as a 70% piece of the pie, but the important point is for you as a parent to move away from “black-white” thinking as in  “has it”  – “doesn’t have it.”

It’s the pie chart that matters.

Takeaway Point

Unlike something like taking a Covid test, where the result is a “has it” – “doesn’t have it” diagnosis, in this corner of the universe, that does not exist.  There are always a mixture of variables interacting to a greater or lesser degree

To help you get perspective, it would probably be a good exercise for you to get out a few colored pencils (I know very old school) and start creating your child’s chart.

Keep focusing on your child’s  pie chart.


Copyright, 2022 www.shutdownlearner.com
Questions or comments email Dr. Selznick:  rselznick615@gmail.com.

Our Explanations & Theories of Struggling Children

While meeting with parents to discuss the concerns they have regarding their  children’s struggling, numerous theories and explanations are often offered as to why children do what they do.

Typically, the theories are linked to medical explanations or what I refer to as “disorder thinking.”

Let’s listen to some recent statements:

After starting on Concerta, George seemed to be playing better with other kids, but now no one seems to want to play with him again.  Maybe we should try Adderall.”

“My daughter is refusing to do her work –  we thought the Lexipro was working.”

We don’t understand, we adjusted the Vyvanse, but he is still aggressive with his younger sister.”

The school said Michael was very disrespectful and rude this week – maybe his Intuniv needs to be changed.  Or maybe it’s his ‘sensory’ problems again.”

“Marla’s so unmotivated.  She just wants to do nothing but go on TikTok.  It must be the medication wearing off.”

And the beat goes on.

Things I don’t hear very much:

I know my kid is manipulating us when he avoids his homework to go play video games.”

“I don’t see her showing empathy with her friends –  she can be very insensitive.”

“Maybe the school is not the problem. Perhaps we need to look at how we are dealing with him at home.”

“Even if you don’t like doing the work in school, it’s not ok to refuse to do your work and say whatever you feel like. It isn’t a choice – you don’t have to like it.”.

“Zach never shares with other children and no one wants to invite him to their house or to a birthday party.  He only wants it his way.

 Takeaway Point

The point is not that children may not have certain disorders or possibly benefit from medication when appropriate, but double-check your hypotheses and theories.

There may be other things at work.


Copyright, 2021 www.shutdownlearner.com
Questions or comments email Dr. Selznick:  rselznick615@gmail.com.

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