Diagnosis
Dr. Rappaport’s experience on a pediatric unit at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, as well as in private practice, has given her an expertise in diagnosing dyslexia, ADHD and other learning disorders that develop in childhood (including autism, pervasive developmental disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and nonverbal learning disabilities).
Children
Early intervention is key.
Predicting whether a preschool child has learned the necessary prerequisite skills to read is one of Dr. Rappaport’s specialties. Once a child's prerequisite skills are assessed, a lot can be done in order to prevent them from having trouble learning to read. Early and exact interventions are imperative.
Dr. Rappaport has had great success over the years working with young children who displayed vulnerability to reading problems by designing intervention programs to prevent reading failure, even for children at early ages.
Furthermore, it is important to have the experience and know-how to remediate any weaknesses that may show up during the evaluation.
Young Adults
Young adults may perform at the college level on standardized tests but still have a learning disability. It may mean that they worked very hard in school and have learned to compensate for their difficulties.
A thorough evaluation can pinpoint areas of weakness masked by compensatory skills or assumptions made by higher educational achievements and allow for appropriate accommodations when attending graduate school.
Adults
Adult diagnosis can be trickier as they often present with many conflicting skills and deficits. They require particular expertise in diagnosis since they may have developed unusual work -arounds to function at a high level.
Adults often present with unique problems. Young adults may perform at the college level on standardized tests but still have a learning disability. It may mean that they worked very hard in school and learned well to compensate for their difficulties but may require accommodations when attending college or graduate school.