Evaluation

 

Initial Assessment

Prior to starting, students are assessed in order to develop a program that meets their individual needs. 

An initial assessment can range from one to four hours.  There is a written report with the test scores and an explanation of the student’s strengths and weaknesses. There is a program prescribed that uses the student’s strengths, interests and creativity. The student’s academic and processing needs are specifically targeted for Educational Therapy. 

 

 

If there are indications of a Learning Disability, Dyslexia, or ADD , we refer for further testing by the Public School or a private Psychologist that would enable public school accommodations and services

 

Reading

If there is a reading difficulty we assess from the following:

• Reading – phonics, sight vocabulary, fluency, comprehension (factual details, main idea, drawing an inference, sequencing, analogies,  relationships).

• Verbal Comprehension and reasoning (synonyms, antonyms, analogies)

• Phonemic awareness – an awareness of the number and order of sounds in a word. This is important for word attack skills and phonetic spelling.

• Symbol imagery – the ability to visualize and recall a sequence of letters. This is important for sight word recognition and spelling.

• Sound-blending

• Left/right discrimination

• Visual-Auditory Association - the ability to associate the written word with the spoken word.

• Story Recall

• Visual Processing (Scanning, Speed, Perception)

• Auditory Processing

 

Math

If there is a math difficulty we assess according to grade level from the following:

• Logic development – a young child may not yet be developmentally ready to understand math. The child must be able to arrange a series from smallest to biggest (seriation) and to recognize a number as being the same regardless of what is being counted or whether it is spread out or close together (conservation)

• Numerical reasoning

• Math facts

• Computation – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages, solving algebraic equations

• Memory – long-term, short-term, retrieval fluency, working memory

• Spatial Awareness

• Word problems – 1 and 2 step

• Error analysis – are errors due not knowing the math facts, not knowing the procedure, or a processing problem, (reversals, poor spatial organization, a sequencing difficulty, poor fine motor). These can be indicated by such errors as carrying the wrong number, poor setting up of a problem, misreading numbers because they are poorly formed, not remembering the sequence in long division.

 

 

Written Language

If there is a difficulty with written language we assess:

• Spelling

• Handwriting - manuscript and cursive

• Punctuation

• Paragraph development

• Outlining