Symptoms of a learning disability can seriously disrupt a student’s academic progress. However, correct identification of the disability, along with adequate accommodations, can allow students to succeed both in school and after completing school.
Psychological testing for learning disabilities is critical to:
- identify the presence and severity of learning disabilities
- identify signs of visual, hearing or motor disabilities which may interfere with learning
- rule out any neurodevelopmental disorders such as PDD, ADHD, or Autism Spectrum
- identify any emotional disturbances which could interfere with cognitive or academic functioning
- provide recommendations about how to adequately address any identified issue whether through school accommodations, occupational therapy, neurotherapy, psychotherapy, family therapy, additional testing, or some combination
About Specific Learning Disabilities
“Specific learning disability” means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia and developmental aphasia.
Specific learning disabilities commonly affect skills in the areas of:
- Reading (called dyslexia)
- Writing (called dysgraphia)
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reasoning
- Math (called dyscalculia)
Signs that a student might have a learning disability tend to appear in elementary school. For example, difficulty learning the alphabet, problems with following directions, trouble transforming thoughts into written words and misreading math problems are all possible indicators of a specific learning disability.
Testing for Learning Disabilities — also called “Psychoeducational Testing”
Psychoeducational testing includes:
- Structured clinical interviews designed to assess personal and developmental history
- Cognitive/Intellectual testing to identify areas of relative intellectual strength and weakness
- Academic achievement testing to compare the student’s intellectual ability against their actual performance on education-related tasks
Schedule an appointment
To discuss psychological testing for learning disabilities, reach out to my practice group Psych Lab at (562) 684-1300