Dyslexia Testing in Simi Valley, Ca

Helping you and your child move forward with dignity
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Watching your child struggle to read can feel overwhelming.

You see how bright your child is, but something just is not connecting when it comes to reading. You may find your child is starting to avoid anything that involves reading. When your child is reading, you may notice that he/she guesses at words, often incorrectly.

It can be difficult to watch how hard your child is trying, only to feel discouraged with wrong answers and confusion. These struggles in reading affect your child’s performance in nearly every subject. With so much difficulty understanding the questions being asked, the answers are often just guesses.

Perhaps you’ve tried working with your child even harder to help him/her catch up. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to help. Instead, reading just leads to groaning, tears, and frustration.

Eventually, your child starts to feel like there must be something wrong with them. “Why is this so easy for everyone else?” they may ask. You may start seeing your child give up when it comes to school, feeling it is too difficult to even try. It can be heartbreaking to watch your child struggle like this.

You know something just isn’t working for your child. You want so badly to help, but just don’t know how. Having your child assessed for a learning disorder, such as Dyslexia can give you the answers you are looking for.

What is Dyslexia?

A Specific Learning Disorder in Reading, otherwise known as Dyslexia, is a learning disorder that affects a child’s ability to read, spell, and write. Dyslexia affects a child’s ability to connect sounds to letters (e.g. “duh” for D) and to blend sounds together. For children with Dyslexia, reading can be effortful and slow. It can be hard to decipher the words they are reading and difficult to comprehend the meaning.

They may have trouble decoding words, mix up letters and sounds, and have trouble with spelling and writing. As a result, children with Dyslexia read well below the expected grade level. Reading skills are found to be noticeably below their skills in other areas.

toddler looking at a book
Little girl playing with colors

Dyslexia is genetically based

Meaning another family member (e.g. parent or grandparent) often has the same struggles. Brain regions associated with reading and visual processing do not function as expected for people with Dyslexia. Because of this, typical ways of teaching to read do not tend to work, and instead children with Dyslexia often benefit from specialized strategies to learn to read.
Girl having fun after getting help with dyslexia test Simi Valley, Ca by child psychologist 93063

Who is the right fit for Dyslexia Testing?

Children with Dyslexia read well-below their expected grade level. Additionally, their reading ability is usually far below their skills in other areas. These struggles with reading do not appear related to overall intelligence. Reading may seem effortful and slow. Usually reading aloud will result in frequent mistakes. Even once words are deciphered, there can be difficulty with comprehension of what was read. Children with Dyslexia often experience similar struggles with spelling and writing as well.

If your child constantly struggles with reading, writing, and/or spelling, and displays the symptoms mentioned here, neuropsychological testing for Dyslexia and other learning disorders may be warranted.

Take a look at what Dyslexia Testing in Simi Valley, Ca entails.

At Simi Psychological Group, neuropsychological testing for Dyslexia and other learning disorders consists of several components:

Step 1: Clinical Interviews and Questionnaires

The first step is administering a developmental interview with you, the child’s parent(s). By learning more about early childhood development as well as current concerns, a clearer picture emerges of how your child’s symptoms have developed over time. As part of the neuropsychological assessment process, you will also complete important questionnaires related to your child’s academic skills, language, and social functioning. Another part of this step is contacting your child’s teacher (with your permission) to obtain a better picture of what is occurring at school. Through questionnaires and/or an interview, a description of your child’s difficulties at school, as well as their strengths, can effectively be obtained.

Step 2: Cognitive Assessment

A cognitive assessment (IQ test) is conducted. This test serves as a baseline for your child’s cognitive ‘potential.’ Children with Dyslexia usually have average to above average intelligence. Obtaining an IQ score and using this as a comparison to a child’s reading ability is a fundamental component in diagnosing Dyslexia. Usually, a simple IQ score is not the most representative piece of information obtained on the cognitive assessment. Instead, it involves information about several areas of intelligence including verbal skills, visual-spatial skills (e.g. puzzles, patterns, etc.), reasoning ability, short-term memory, and efficient processing of information. By looking at these different areas, we can start to get a more complete picture of your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

Step 2: Cognitive Assessment

A cognitive assessment (IQ test) is conducted. This test serves as a baseline for your child’s cognitive ‘potential.’ Children with Dyslexia usually have average to above average intelligence. Obtaining an IQ score and using this as a comparison to a child’s reading ability is a fundamental component in diagnosing Dyslexia. Usually, a simple IQ score is not the most representative piece of information obtained on the cognitive assessment. Instead, it involves information about several areas of intelligence including verbal skills, visual-spatial skills (e.g. puzzles, patterns, etc.), reasoning ability, short-term memory, and efficient processing of information. By looking at these different areas, we can start to get a more complete picture of your child’s strengths and weaknesses.
Children playing with letter blocks and having some trouble reading in need of dyslexia testing near Thousand Oaks, Ca

Step 3: Academic Testing

An academic evaluation is an essential part of a psychoeducational evaluation. This testing includes components of academic skills such as reading, writing, spelling, and math. Specific skills within these areas are also assessed such as word decoding, reading comprehension, etc. Children with Dyslexia display reading scores that are significantly below their performance on cognitive tasks. Assessing specific areas of reading difficulties can be informative in creating a plan going forward. Additionally, an educational evaluation provides a clearer picture of your child’s strengths/weaknesses in other areas and can screen for the presence of other potential learning disorders.

Step 4: Reading and Visual-spatial Assessments

In using a Dyslexia test, several tools are used to identify specific areas of struggle. These assessments evaluate a child’s ability to blend words together and detect specific sounds. Other tasks assess a child’s ability to visually scan pictures, numbers, and words and quickly name what they see. These processes are often impaired for children with Dyslexia.

Step 4: Reading and Visual-spatial Assessments

In using a Dyslexia test, several tools are used to identify specific areas of struggle. These assessments evaluate a child’s ability to blend words together and detect specific sounds. Other tasks assess a child’s ability to visually scan pictures, numbers, and words and quickly name what they see. These processes are often impaired for children with Dyslexia.
Little girl reading after getting help for dyslexia with dyslexia testing near Thousand Oaks, Ca

Step 5: Careful Interpretation of Results with Individually Tailored Recommendations

After dyslexia testing is complete, a detailed report is created with a clear interpretation of the results. Describing your child’s functioning in the different areas assessed helps paint a picture of his/her overall strengths and difficulties. A child’s results on a psychoeducational evaluation can warrant a diagnosis such as Dyslexia, a different learning disorder, or sometimes a separate disorder such as ADHD. Oftentimes a child with these struggles has more than one diagnosis (e.g. ADHD and Dyslexia).

On some occasions

The evaluation does not result in a diagnosis if the child’s scores are consistently within the expected range. In this case, careful description of your child’s strengths and weaknesses are described, as well as specific recommendations. Recommendations are provided for both home and school based on your child’s results. You will receive a list of recommended interventions to help address their symptoms. Parents are connected with resources that can help their child and help them feel more confident managing their child’s symptoms. It can be overwhelming to see your child struggling with reading. You know how hard you are all trying, but continue to feel little progress is being made. Seeking a psycho-educational evaluation for your child can be the first step in creating the changes you are hoping to make.

More About Simi Psychological Group

Dr. John Danial

Licensed Psychologist PSY 29170

Psychologist providing psychological evaluations Thousand Oaks ca
Dr. John Danial is passionate about helping parents truly understand what their children and adolescents are dealing with every day. He desires to help you get to the bottom of the problems and to get the feedback that psychological testing can provide so that you can get the tools necessary to create real change. Children who receive the right services based upon a detailed evaluation can better thrive in their lives. Dr. Danial has had many years of experience providing neuropsychological assessments and feels confident in his ability to provide a detailed report that will help your child’s future.

Our practice works from a systems perspective.

Which means our job is to help your child understand not only how every aspect of their life is connected, but how they are interconnected with those around them as well. Life is not lived in a vacuum, and therapy with us is about working through the deep-rooted concerns that are keeping your child stuck. We wholeheartedly believe your child can take control over the direction of their life, they just need to be willing to trust themselves in the process.
Simi Psychological Group team provides psychological evaluations near Thousand Oaks ca

At Simi Psychological Group, our mission is to reach the true root of your struggles so you can create real lasting change in you and your family's lives. We know you have full control to live the life you deserve, which will then ripple into our community and the world.

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Where and When Can I schedule Dyslexia Testing in Simi Valley, Ca

Our office is conveniently located at:

3695 Alamo St. Suite 103
Simi Valley, CA 93063.

We also serve Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Northridge, Porter Ranch, and the surrounding communities.

Business hours and availability are dependent on the provider.

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Your Next Steps

Your child can begin the process of uncovering any underlying disorders which may be contributing to the difficulties they’re experiencing in life. A formalized assessment will be able to bring clarity to what your child is really facing. It will also give them the power and knowledge they need to embody long-lasting change.
Identifying what is really going on may feel really intimidating right now, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find the strength to gather the information. You just need a proper course of psychological tests and the support to navigate the answers they reveal.

Dyslexia testing will help you and your child move forward with dignity and get the answers you need.

And they’ll also bring clarity to the questions you have had for so long. Ultimately, knowing the answers will provide you with a sense of peace that comes from finally having a plan. We can help.

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