What's Going On With My Child???

My child appears to be working too hard to get the results he is obtaining in school - what's going on?
Many intelligent children are able to compensate for a disability or insufficiency and maintain academic grade level, but they struggle to do so. Often there are underlying neuropsychological issues which may need to be explored. Once these issues are addressed, many children achieve better results with less effort.

My child is five and seems to be slightly behind his friends in reading. Is this normal? Does he need a full evaluation?
No, as long as your child has achieved other developmental milestones on time and other areas of functioning appear to be intact. If this is the case a very short screening will probably be sufficient. Children need to develop certain skills before they can learn to read. Most children pick these things up automatically through play and in preschool. Sometimes a child will have a weakness in one or more of these areas and this will make learning to read more difficult. By screening the child with the 30-minute battery called SEARCH, strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the underlying skill of reading can be assessed. Then, if the child if found to have vulnerabilities, he can be worked with by a professional (using TEACH) to address weaknesses and develop skills, while building on his strengths. By intervening at a very early age, reading struggles and/or failure can be prevented.