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.
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