Psychoeducational Testing for Specific Learning Disorders

Psychoeducational testing can be helpful when your child is experiencing difficulty learning basic academic skills. If your child demonstrates problems in one or more of the following areas, psychoeducational testing may be warranted.

• Reading – has slow and effortful reading, difficulty sounding out words, guesses at words
• Reading comprehension – does not understand inferences or deeper meaning of what is read
• Spelling – may omit, add or substitute vowels or consonants
• Written expression – makes multiple grammatical or punctuation errors, has poor paragraph organization, ideas lack clarity
• Mathematics – difficulty mastering number sense, number facts or calculating; counts on fingers to add single digits; gets lost in the middle of an arithmetic procedure
• Mathematic reasoning – has difficulty applying mathematical concepts, facts or procedures to solve word problems

Learning problems usually can be attributed to weaknesses in information processing skills, such as auditory memory, auditory discrimination, auditory processing, visual memory, visual discrimination, visual processing, visual sequencing, visual-motor integration, perceptual motor speed, and phonological processing.

Testing involves a comprehensive evaluation of your child's cognitive and academic skills to provide a thorough understanding of his or her abilities.

How is a specific learning disorder diagnosed?

A specific learning disorder is diagnosed when there is evidence of significant difficulties in one or more academic area that has persisted for at least six months. These difficulties result in a substantial and quantifiable discrepancy between a child's ability and achievement scores on standardized assessment measures.

What does psychoeducational testing include?

• Clinical interviews (with you and your child/adolescent)
• Intelligence testing (IQ test)
• Neuropsychological testing (memory, visuospatial, auditory, motor, fluency)
• Achievement testing (reading, writing, math, oral language)

What can psychoeducational testing tell me about my child?

Psychoeducational testing is helpful to better understand your child's learning style as indicated by his/her information processing strengths and weaknesses.

For example, your child may have a strength in visual processing but a weakness in auditory processing. This would indicate that he or she likely will learn better when information is presented in writing or pictures.

Testing also can tell you how your child is progressing academically and if there are gaps in his/her academic skills. This type of information is invaluable for educational planning.

Additional information on evaluations for learning disorders

Review this information packet for details on evaluations for learning disorders at Inova Kellar Center