Dr. Forgan’s articles about helping children with learning disabilities.

College FAU Disability Testing

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FAU Disability Testing provides students with up to date paperwork to submit for reasonable accommodations.  The process takes approximately four to four and a half hours.  Depending on the type of disability that is being documented, testing requires an IQ test, academic testing, and processing testing (memory, auditory processing, processing speed, etc.).

If a college student has a disability, the FAU Disability Office reviews the student’s paperwork and provides the student with a letter which the student gives to the professor.  This is all done in confidence so the student’s peers do not know he or she has a disability.  Typically the student approaches the professor after class or during office hours and simply gives him or her the letter.  The professor keeps a copy and the student takes a copy back to the FAU Disability Office to have on file.

The FAU Disability Office can provide accommodations such as extended time on tests, distraction reduced test taking, a peer note taker, course substitution, frequent breaks, use of assistive technology, and much more depending on the person’s unique needs.

Call or use the contact form above if you or your FAU student needs updated paperwork for the FAU Disability Office.

 

Learning Disability Testing and Treatment in West Palm Beach Florida‏

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Learning disability testing and treatment is available in West Palm Beach Florida‏ to help children with dyslexia, reading disorders, dysgraphia (writing learning disability) and memory difficulties.   Jim Forgan, Ph.D. and associates offers learning disability testing and treatment using a school neuropsychological approach to testing and multi sensory reading instruction using Orton-Gillingham based reading programs.  Dr. Forgan and his associates also use the Lindamood-Bell LiPs program to help children learn to read that have auditory discrimination issues.  These children often do not discriminate sounds such as the TH and F sounds and this interferes with reading. Children with learning disabilities requires specialized instruction to help them learn and, unfortunately, most public schools are not providing enough specialized reading instruction for children with learning disabilities but instead use inclusion.

Learning disability testing in West Palm Beach Florida‏

Learning disability testing is done with Dr. Jim Forgan who is a private practice school psychologist and specializes in learning disorders and testing for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and other issues. Dr. Forgan uses a multi step approach to determining if a child has a learning disability. The first step is to meet with the parents to hear their most important concerns and determine the main questions they want to get answer to the evaluation process. The next step is for the child to come in and begin the testing process which is typically done two, two hour sessions. The next step is for Dr. Forgan to talk with your child’s teacher on the telephone about what the teacher observes in the classroom. Of course, this is done only if parents give permission to contact the teacher. This helps Dr. Forgan look at the big picture of what parents see, what the teacher sees, all the child’s work, and Dr. Forgan’s clinical judgment. He then synthesizes the information to answer the parents most important questions and he writes a written report with specific recommendations. The next step is for parents to come back in without their child and they sit down with Dr. Forgan to go over the results and determine the best course of action as well as review Dr. Forgan’s specific recommendations.

If learning to read was a primary parental concern, Dr. Forgan identifies the best reading curriculum to help the child learn to read in the most efficient and effective way. This saves parents time and money because they don’t go doing a hit and miss approach but rather have a specific approach which, in the long run, is more effective.

Learning disability treatment in Jupiter Florida‏

Dr. Forgan and his team provides support to parents in their Jupiter office which is conveniently located close to I-95.  Parents often ask if learning disability testing is covered by insurance but Dr. Forgan is not on any insurance plans and most insurance companies will say that learning disability testing is educational and not medical so they don’t cover it.  Learning disability testing is more affordable than you may think so use the contact form above or call Dr. Forgan’s office for specific costs.  One-to-one specialized learning disability tutoring is provided at an hourly rate of $70/hr and is the best way to make fast progress.

Psychoeducational Testing Gives Mom Hope

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Psychoeducational testing or neuropsychological testing provides parents with answers to their child’s struggles.  Testing a child provides a ‘peek’ or window into how they process, learn, and produce. If you’ve been frustrated by your child’s struggles and have tried as many things without good results then consider psychoeducational testing.  I worked with a high school student that had been tested previously but the previous report and results were written in a way where they did not make much sense to the parents.  This is something I work hard to avoid and my testing provides you with an explanation that makes sense.  In fact, in my report I take the results and say ‘this is how this difficulty may appear in the classroom’ and then provide examples.

My recommendations are specific to your child and are presented to help.  During the results meeting I explain the results and recommendations and then we prioritize the ones that can help your child most.  You have the final decision about which recommendations to use but this gives you a starting point that is specific to your child.   A client recently emailed me her thoughts.

She said, “Thank you for the report, and your time. The school is thrilled that you recommend my son take his tests over several days, versus just recommending extra time. Thank you so much for listening and really hearing what I was telling you. This could make the difference in his future.”

She felt the hope for her son and his future.  By the way, an involved parent does make the difference between success and failure for many teens.  Even if your teen has an attitude, stay involved and don’t let him or her push you away.  A teen’s words to their parents don’t always match his or her feelings.

Are you ready to help your child?  Contact me so we can start psychoeducational testing this week.  The investment you make now will prevent problems in the future.

 

Disagree With the School District’s Testing? Request a Second Independent Evaluation For Free

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If your child was struggling in school and completed psychoeducational testing with the school district’s school psychologist and you disagree with the results, you can request a second independent evaluation for free.  This means you get to choose the psychologist outside of the school system that you want to work with to test your child.

Lets say you recognize your child has extreme difficulty with reading so you went through the school district’s process and had the school district’s psychologist test your child for dyslexia, a specific learning disability.  At the results review meeting you learn the school district’s psychologist says based on their testing nothing wrong with your child and he or she scored within typical limits so their is nothing they can do to provide special instruction.  You however, disagree because YOU know your child best and your intuition is telling you there is something wrong with your child’s reading.  You realize how much your child struggles at home and in the classroom your child seems to read because he or she can memorize how a word looks.  You just want to know what’s going on with your child and get your child the help he or she needs but the school staff say, “Nope, they don’t qualify.”

If that occurs you can immediately disagree with their results and request an outside independent educational evaluation by a psychologist of your choice.  Perhaps you learned that the school’s psychologist did not have any training in dyslexia testing and you want to come have me test your child since I’m a school psychologist and certified dyslexia testing specialist.  Or, you just have a feeling the school’s psychologist did not dig deep enough to uncover what’s really going on with your child.  When you request the unbiased second opinion (called an Independent Educational Evaluation or IEE) the school district must pay me to test your child.  I’d provide the UNBIASED second opinion through my testing process.

How to Request the School to Approve/ Pay for an Independent Educational Evaluation.

Here is the process step by step.

  1. In the school meeting ask for an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) because you disagree with their testing results.  You don’t have to provide a reason why you disagree.
  2. The school district can’t delay the approval process because you don’t give them an explanation of why you want a second opinion.
  3. The second IEE should not be a school district employee or psychologist from another area within the district.
  4. The right to an IEE is not a team decision, it is the decision of the school administrator (sometimes called local education agency representative).
  5. Get a Yes or No answer before you tell the school district who you want to use for the second testing opinion/ independent educational evaluation.
  6. If they tell you, “No.”, this automatically triggers a due process hearing (and school districts don’t really like going through these hearings because they take a lot of their time and resources.  Plus, the law is very clearly states there is a due process hearing if they deny you.
  7. Once you get the Yes to your request, ask the school staff for their criteria for the Independent Evaluator’s credentials to make sure the person you want to test your child meets the criterion.

Want to know exactly what the law says about requesting an independent evaluation?  Watch this six minute video by a special education attorney and special education advocate.  They show you step by step in a mock IEP meeting how to request the second independent evaluation.

You Know Your Child Best

Use the form above to contact me if you are considering requesting an Independent Educational Evaluation for your child.  YOU are your child’s best advocate and don’t ‘roll over’ just because a school staff member tells you they can’t help your child.

I’m looking forward to helping you and your child.

The 5 Keys for Overcoming Learning Disabilities

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keysIf you’ve had your child evaluated and found out her or she has a learning disability then you may be concerned about your child’s future and hope he or she can overcome the learning disability.  What does the future hold for kids with learning disabilities?  I believe the future for your child is promising because your child has you as an advocate.  I know this for a fact or else you would not be here reading this article.  If you want your child to overcome his or her learning issue then there are 5 key and very important steps you need to take now.

  1. First, you must use the right program with your child.  If you use the wrong program with your child then it won’t help your child overcome their learning disability.  Contact me if you need help determining the ‘right’ program to use with your child.
  2. Second, your child must work with the right teacher, tutor, or therapist.  What I mean here is that your child must have a great rapport with the tutor-teacher-therapist and want to work for him or her.  The tutor must ‘get’ your child and know how to help him or her work within what’s called the zone of proximal development.  This means the tutor must work with your child and be able to take your child to a level he or she could not obtain working on their own.  The tutor must be able to help your child reach new learning milestones as they use the right program.
  3. Third, you must use the right program for the right length of time.  Learning disabilities can be overcome or minimized if you work at them long enough. What I often find is that parents start the tutoring-therapy but don’t always continue  long enough.  I recommend you plan to continue tutoring 18-36 months of at least twice a week tutoring.
  4. Fourth, your child must be at the right age.  The younger you find out your child has a learning disability the greater the chances he or she will overcome it.  Young children can learn at a rapid rate.  If you learn your child has a learning disability in middle or high school it takes more time and effort to overcome the learning disability.
  5. Fifth, your child must have the right attitude.  A key to overcoming learning disabilities is that your child must realize his or her attitude is a primary factor in the outcome.  Your child will be working hard and may need your help to keep a positive attitude.  This means you may need to let your child earn rewards for going to tutoring-therapy.  Give your child tons of positive feedback.  Remember to make learning fun at home.  If your child goes to school and then goes to tutoring-therapy then they receive plenty of instruction.  Let the tutors teach and at home you reinforce and make it fun.

You’ll help your child overcome his or her learning disabilities by applying these 5 keys.  I know they work because I’ve use them with one of my own children.  I can help you if you need your child evaluated or if you need a consult to know the right program to use with your child.  Use the contact form above or call me.  Let’s get your child on the right track today!