Understanding Learning Differences

I work with students of any age, as long as they're currently in school — from about age 6 on through K-12, college, and beyond. If you're not sure whether your student is a fit, reach out and we'll talk it through.

Two things separate them. First, response to instruction: I look at whether your child has had appropriate, consistent teaching and targeted intervention — students who are simply behind usually catch up quickly with targeted help, while students with a true learning difference keep struggling because of how their brain processes. Second, the shape of the profile: a general delay shows flat, consistently low scores across the board, while a specific learning difference shows average to superior abilities in most areas with a distinct, localized processing deficit — like phonological processing — that directly impairs one academic skill. That pattern of strengths and weaknesses is the hallmark.

NVLD is a profile marked by a big gap between strong verbal skills and weaker nonverbal, visual-spatial, and motor skills. These students are often highly articulate with sophisticated vocabularies — but struggle to organize physical space, interpret charts and graphs, read body language and facial expressions, and handle spatially demanding math like geometry. NVLD isn't currently a formal, standalone diagnosis in the DSM-5, so it can't be 'diagnosed' in the traditional sense — instead, I identify and validate it as a distinct cognitive profile by looking at the relationships between processing scores: advanced verbal reasoning alongside significantly lower visual-spatial, spatial-relations, and visual-motor scores.

Yes. A written psychoeducational report is the document schools, IEP teams, and 504 coordinators use to establish eligibility and build out accommodations. I write reports that meet those standards and hold up in educational settings — including at the college level, where disability services offices have their own requirements.

Yes. For dysgraphia, I evaluate both the physical and the language side of writing — fine motor coordination, visual-motor integration, spelling, and written expression — plus a close, qualitative look at actual work samples. The telltale sign: a student who can express sophisticated ideas verbally with ease but breaks down in organization, spelling, and legibility on paper. For dyscalculia, I look at core number sense, calculation fluency, mathematical reasoning, and the working memory needed to hold and manipulate numbers — with markers like reliance on finger-counting long after peers have moved on, and math reasoning that doesn't match the student's otherwise strong abilities.

At school, a formal identification provides the legal and clinical justification for accommodations through a 504 plan or IEP — extended testing time, assistive technology like speech-to-text, reduced homework volume, or specialized instruction — and those same accommodations carry into college-entrance exams like the SAT and ACT, and into university. Just as importantly, it opens a path of self-understanding: when students learn their struggles come from a specific, identified difference rather than a lack of intelligence or effort, it lifts a real burden of shame and anxiety.