A learning disability (LD) evaluation is designed to look into specific processing deficits which are not due to intelligence, motivation problems, or other diagnosable factors such as ADHD/ADD, depression or anxiety. An LD evaluation may look into a variety of reading disorders, with dyslexia being the most recognizable kind of reading disability. But there are other kinds as well, such as decoding problems and other visual-spatial problems which can affect reading.

There are also other LD problems such as math learning disabilities, spelling disabilities, and other central processing problems such as auditory, visual, even tactile processing deficits.

A good LD evaluation starts with a comprehensive diagnostic interview by a licensed clinical psychologist. The purpose of this interview is to make sure that other problems, which can look like learning disabilities are not present. Problems such as ADHD/ADD, depression, anxiety, psychotic disorders, and low intelligence can make it look like learning disabilities are present. If ADD/ADHD is present, this must be treated before formal LD testing can commence. This is because if an ADD/ADHD child is given LD testing while still symptomatic for ADD/ADHD, there really is no way to tell if deficits that show up on the LD tests are due to the inattention caused by the ADD/ADHD or because of true, underlying processing deficits.

Assuming that other problems (such as ADD/ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc) are ruled out, the next step is to have a comprehensive IQ test individually administered to the student. This is critical as it establishes what a person should be capable or learning.

From there, an individual achievement test battery is administered. This then tells us what the student has actually learned in areas such as reading, math, oral and written language. We then look for significant discrepancies between the IQ test findings and the achievement test results. Such discrepancies are suggestive of a learning disability.

If such a discrepancy is present, we then refer out to reputable learning disability evaluators in the area. Presently, we do not have LD specialists on staff at Heritage. We coordinate our efforts with these specialists to establish if a learning disability is present or not, and work with the parents and school to establish an effective remediation plan.