Learning Disability Testing: Diagnosing the Child With Learning Disabilities

Learning disability testing or diagnosing learning disabilities is a complicated and often divisive area. With no specific testing available which directly yields the diagnosis “learning disability�, is comes down to a range of practitioners using a battery of tests to “piece together� the diagnosis of a child with learning disabilities.

In essence, learning disability testing centers around the certain sphere of the tester, with educationalists using learning disability tests which center on education, whilst clinical psychologists apply learning disability tests which revolve around intelligence and problem solving. As an Optometrist, I run loads of tests for not simply eye related problems, but also visual perception, both of which can have a impact on diagnosing learning disabilities, but I do not run any specific educational tests for a child with learning disabilities.

Nonetheless, as we are increasingly discovering, a l child with learning disabilities shows a complex string of problems, numerous of which span a number of the areas of expertise of the numerous learning disability testing practitioners. In other words, no one particular assessment confirms or denies a learning disability. Examination any child with learning disabilities and you will often find that no one branch of health science or education has all the answers. Similarly, there are countless learning disabilities resources, but countless of them are unaffordable in costs or located out of the sphere for loads of people.

In my case, as a Behavioral Optometrist, the learning disability testing that I engage in for child with learning disabilities follows the following outline

1. Testing the general health of the eyes and visual pathways, including the sight (seeing ability) of the child, to establish that the learning disability is not the direct result of a loss of vision. It rarely ever is.
2. Testing the refractive status of the child, which is their prescription (for distance). This ascertains if they are long or shortsighted, if any astigmatism is provide and if these could be causative to the diagnosing of learning disabilities.
3. Testing the way the eyes focus as a team. Even if the child has no longsight diagnosed, the inability to focus or the stress involved with focusing can be a enormous factor in both the learning disability and overall concentration.
4. Testing how the eyes coordinate together, since a child failing to synchronize their eyes when reading (such as in convergence insufficiency) can certainly be a factor in the learning disability.
5. Testing how the child tracks their eyes across the page, because the reading disorders associated with diagnosing learning disabilities can often be affected by poor tracking or eye movement skills.
6. Testing visual memory, because reduced visualizing and visual memory can radically impact the ability of a child to bear in mind and bear in mind spelling words, which reduces sight words and contributes to diagnosing learning disabilities.
7. Testing other areas of perception, including sequencing, coding, visual manipulation, directionality (for letter reversals) and other perceptual skills which can adversely affect a child in their learning.

This inventory of tests is purely from a Behavioral Optometry point of view, yet each of these areas can have a enormous affect on a child suffering with a learning disability. Testing and treating a l child with learning disabilities may be difficult, but I find it astonishingly rewarding when we can provide the facilitate this child very much needs.

When facing a child with learning disabilities, I am in actual fact testing the workings of the eyes and visual system, and the visual skills the child has accessible for the tasks of reading, writing and spelling. The great news is that, once we establish exactly where the child lacks skill, we can use Optometric Vision Therapy to teach those areas which are deficient and improve the performance of a child with learning disabilities in those skills. With “Learning @ Lightspeed�, this is merely to do at home and very cheap, so if you have had learning disability testing performed with your child, I strongly advise you to check out the entire Learning @ Lightspeed program.

Article Source: http://www.parentingarticlelibrary.com

Darin Browne is a Behavioral Optometrist who lives in Queensland, Australia. He has just designed an incredible Home Based Vision Therapy Course, which offers over 180 pages of teaching and exercises, empowering parents to train their own children’s visual skills and see positive, sustainable progress in their reading, writing and spelling. For a FREE Ecourse which includes some of these therapies, check out Learning Disabilities Treatment Online.

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