These are ‘hot’ topics of interest

stress in children

Three Ways to Help Children Manage Stress

/in /by

Today’s children feel the pressure of standards based testing, high performance expectations, social media pressure, and complicated family dynamics. It’s no wonder why doctors and psychologists report an uptick in stress and anxiety.

Stress occurs because of a stressor which is simply a thing that causes a stress response.  For example, going to a party where your child might not know anyone is a often a stressful event.  Your child’s body reacts to this and it causes a stressful reaction like an increased heart rate and difficulty focusing.  Anxiety often follows which is the unpleasant feeling of worry that alerts your child to a threat. In this case, “What if other kids laugh at me and think I’m a loner?”

Parents stress to so consider your own stress level.  When you are stressed it can carry over to increase your child’s stress. Do you stress about his grades more than he does?  Doing homework is a stressor for many parents and kids.  Furthermore, there’s a genetic link to anxiety and it often runs in families.  This implies you might be part of the cause of your child’s stress so taking care of your own stress might also help your child’s stress.

Three Ways to Help Children Manage Stress

If you want to help your child decrease his or her stress, try reading children’s books, practicing mindfulness, and limit how much news your child views.  It’s called bibliotherapy when you read your child a children’s literature book about dealing with stress.  Children relate to characters in kids’ books.  What To Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety is a great book for you to read to your child because it uses some of the same techniques professional counselors.

Mindfulness is teaching children to be relaxed and focused by calming their mind and becoming aware of their body.  It helps kids with focus, listening, slowing down, and remaining calm under stress.  You can practice with your child by searching YouTube for kids mindfulness videos.

Limit TV and showing your child the daily news.  Kids are observant and pay attention to more than what you might realize.  Even if they are not watching the news, they are usually listening!  Melissa’s child stressed over the smallest of stories like a dog that was lost and found far away so she obsessed on her family dog getting lost.  Her daughter’s anxiety reached a point that Melissa stopped watching TV news and now gets news online.

I coauthored a book on helping children manage stress that has many other practical ideas you can use right away.  It’s available on Amazon.

About 30% of kids with stress need professional help.  If you’ve tried the above strategies, consider contacting our office to help your child with stress and anxiety.  Another source to find a professional counselor is the South Florida Association of Christian Counselors. You can reach us at (561) 625-4125.

College Learning Disability ADHD Testing in Florida

/in /by

Your child may have had accommodations in high school and many of those same accommodations are available in college.  Most universities require updated testing for college learning disability ADHD accommodations which means testing within the last three years.  The most common college accommodations are extended time on tests, distraction reduced testing, small group or individual testing, copies of notes, and preferential seating.  Other college accommodations include using technology such as a tablet or computer to take notes during class.

Less frequent accommodations include having a course substituted or waived, a single dorm room without a roommate, and extended time to complete your degree. Each school’s office for students with disabilities can give you the specific accommodations they provide.  If you had a 504 Plan or IEP in high school it can be helpful to bring that with you to show the types of accommodations you previously received. Colleges do not honor your previous IEP or 504 Plan nor do they write an IEP or 504 Plan but they provide accommodations as part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

We do college learning disability ADHD testing for high school and college students so that your paperwork is updated and ready to submit for accommodations.  Testing can be done in one day and your written report with results and specific college recommendations is ready in less than a week.

Florida Universities with College Learning Disability ADHD Accommodations

Below are some of the links to Florida universities so you can obtain additional information directly from the university.

University of Florida Disability Testing

The University of Florida offers accommodations through their Disability Resource Center. According to their website, if you think you need accommodations call the office to set up an intake appointment with one of the learning specialists. https://disability.ufl.edu

Florida State University Disability Testing

Florida State University has a Student Disability Resource Center and according to their website 2100 FSU students receive accommodations. They provide, “academic accommodations, testing support, assistive technologies, and a space for students to feel part of the FSU community.”  Learn more at https://dos.fsu.edu/sdrc/.

University of Central Florida Disability Testing

The University of Central Florida calls their office Student Accessibility Services.  They recommend students set up an appointment to meet with an advisor. Learn more at https://sas.sdes.ucf.edu.

University of South Florida Disability Testing

The University of South Florida has a Students with Disabilities Services office. Once admitted, students can apply for services. According to their website, “Students are responsible for identifying themselves to SDS and present proper medical documentation to receive academic accommodations.” Learn more at https://www.usf.edu/student-affairs/student-disabilities-services/

Florida Gulf Coast University Disability Testing

Florida Gulf Coast University has an Office of Adaptive Services to provide college learning disability ADHD accommodations. Their goal is “To enhance access for students, faculty, staff and guests with disabilities by providing effective reasonable accommodations through educating the campus community and promoting equal access and opportunity”. https://www2.fgcu.edu/Adaptive/.

University of North Florida Disability Testing

The University of North Florida is in Jacksonville, Florida and offers accommodations to students through their Disability Resource Center.  Bring your paperwork into their office and register for accommodations.  You can learn more at http://www.unf.edu/drc/.

University of West Florida Disability Testing

The University of West Florida has a Student Accessibility Resources office. According to their website they “Offer a variety of accommodations and services for students with documented disabilities including learning disabilities, deaf/hard of hearing, blind/low vision, mobility limitations, ADHD, psychiatric and medical conditions.” Find additional information at:  https://uwf.edu/offices/emerald-coast/student-services-resources/student-accessibility-resources/

Palm Beach Atlantic University Disability Testing

Palm Beach Atlantic University has “Disability Services Office.” They offer a guide book and application on their website. https://www.pba.edu/disability-services

Atlantic University Disability Testing

Florida Atlantic University offers Student Accessibility Resources offers resources “Include advocacy, academic accommodations, Assistive Technology equipment/software training, Assistive Technology Computer Lab, Learning Strategies training, and an active student organization.”  They offer services across all campuses. Learn more at http://www.fau.edu/sas/

We can still do college learning disability ADHD testing for other universities even if your university was not listed above.  Call our office (561) 625-4125

Three Reasons to Test Your Child’s IQ

/in /by

Have you ever wondered what your child’s IQ score is?  The Mensa high IQ society entrance requirement is an IQ score of 130 or above which means your child’s IQ is above at least 98 out of 100 same age children.  This is also the IQ score required to enter a gifted class.  Here are three reasons to test your child’s IQ.

First, the IQ score provides information about how your child processes information when presented with new challenges.  An IQ test does not have any reading, math, or written expression on it so it measures your child’s new problem solving ability to process information verbally, logically, quickly, and using memory.  You’ll learn about your child’s processing.

A second reason to test your child’s IQ is to establish a baseline for determining his or her ability. Accidents, illnesses, and head trauma may occur at any time during your child’s life and could significantly affect your child’s daily functioning and future earning potential.  If you test your child’s IQ when young, you have a reference for making future comparisons which could be useful in case of a lawsuit.

Third, understanding your child’s IQ may help you with establishing expectations for your child’s performance.  Perhaps you feel like learning should come easier to your child or that you have to push too hard.  Knowing your child’s IQ can help you understand how to guide your child.

Contact us if you’d like to schedule IQ testing for your child (561) 625-4125.

Something Is Wrong But I Don’t Know What

/in /by

Laura sits across the desk from me explaining that her seven year old son is struggling to learn to read despite being read to every night before bed, despite her working with at home, despite going to preschool since age three, and despite having a decent kindergarten teacher.  She knows something is wrong because learning to read should not be this hard. Furthermore, she has a five year old who is learning to read much easier than his older brother.

When she shared her concerns with the first grade teacher, the teacher did not believe it was critical to have testing but she did not think it would hurt either.  See, this boy was not the lowest reader in his class. Although she had concerns, the teacher thought it would all work out because, in her experience, boys can learn to read slower than girls.

Thankfully Laura trusted her motherly instincts and decided to have her son tested.  The school neuropsychological battery of tests showed this boy had a cognitive processing problem that interferes with his ability to learn to read.  Testing showed it was not the boy’s fault or Laura’s fault.  It was a wiring issue within the boy that showed this boy needed to be taught how to read differently than traditional instruction. The right instruction could fix this problem.  The testing provided relief for Laura because she knew something was wrong but did not know what. She went from feeling helpless to hopeful.

Laura’s son now works with a highly specialized reading tutor.  Laura reinforces what he learns in tutoring at home. Testing her son provided answers, confirmation, and direction for the future.  In Laura’s case, she did not waste a year of first grade instruction hoping her son matured.  This was not a maturity issue so he would still have the problems at the end of the year if she took a wait and see approach.

Testing can help you too. Call or email to discuss the concerns you have with your child’s learning. Through our unique battery of tests we can figure it out for you too.

Palm City dyslexia testing

Port St. Lucie and Palm City Dyslexia Testing

/in /by

Dyslexia testing for children in Port St. Lucie and Palm City dyslexia testing is as close as our Stuart office. Dyslexia is a type of a learning disability.   Up to twenty percent of individuals have dyslexia and dyslexia occurs from mild to severe.  All children with dyslexia can read some.  Many kids with dyslexia compensate because they are smart or have a strong memory.

Young children who struggle to read often feel they are not as smart as other children.  Many parents tell me they worry about their child’s self-esteem because their child makes comments like, “I’m bad at reading.” According to the International Dyslexia Association, a child’s feelings of inferiority develops by age ten and after this age it becomes extremely difficult to help the child develop positive self-esteem.

Children as young as age 5 ½ and half way through kindergarten can be evaluated for dyslexia.  Warning signs of dyslexia in elementary students include: family history, slow choppy reading, difficulty sounding out words quickly, and poor spelling in everyday writing.  Many dyslexics can pass school spelling tests but spell the same words wrong in daily writing.  Warning signs of dyslexia in older students include: disliking reading, poor reading comprehension, and slow reading speed.

If your child has dyslexia there are specific reading programs that can help your child overcome it.  You don’t want to simple give your child more practice.  You have to use a different reading program that is based on the work of Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham.  There is a huge difference in the way to teach a dyslexic reader.  The best reading programs to help children with dyslexia are Orton-Gillingham based and two of the most effective programs are the Wilson Reading System and the Barton Reading and Spelling System.  Contact us for Port St. Lucie and Palm City dyslexia testing. (561) 625-4125