Learning Disabilities Archives

Diagnosing ADHD in Young Kids

Over the past month or so I worked with a few elementary school kids who exhibited symptoms of ADHD. Two of these kids, in particular, were only six years old. While they have completely different profiles, both were referred for evaluation due to concerns with their attention, activity level, and academic progress. Their parents and teachers were concerned they had ADHD. When I work with kids this young, I am always reminded of an important question: What is an appropriate age to diagnose ADHD? Before considering the answer, let’s examine what ADHD is. ADHD Defined According to the Diagnostic and [...]

By Adam Creasy|January 28th, 2022|ADHD, Auditory Processing Disorder, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

What is a Learning Disorder

Over the past several years, our society has seen a rapid rise in the number of school-age children diagnosed with some form of educational-impacting disability. When I was a kid in the 1980s, I could count on one hand the number of my classmates who were dyslexic. And I’d never even heard of ADHD until I was in high school in the early 1990s. Part of the rise in diagnoses can certainly be attributed to more knowledge of these conditions. Clinicians have a much better understanding of neurocognitive science in general and can therefore identify issues much better now than [...]

By Adam Creasy|December 6th, 2021|Accommodations, ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

5 Reasons to Consider a Virtual Evaluation

Well, it’s been a few months since I last posted…and a lot has changed during that time! Late last spring, I decided to leave my principal job and pursue EdPsyched full-time. And so far things have been going great! There is a HUGE need for psychological services in Austin right now, and I’ve been keeping plenty busy conducting neuropsychological evaluations and providing academic mentoring. Another big change over the summer is that unfortunately COVID is back. It looked like we were almost back to normal earlier this summer, but the delta variant has taken over and thrown a wrench into [...]

By Adam Creasy|August 26th, 2021|ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

IQ Part 4: Working Memory

After closely studying our first three components of the IQ (Verbal Comprehension, Visual Spatial, and Fluid Reasoning), today’s post will dive into Working Memory and how it impacts one’s cognitive profile. Once again, I am using the WISC-V as the basis for this breakdown. The WISC-V is administered to children ages 6-16. However, the WAIS-IV, which is used to assess adults, also contains a Working Memory index score. Thus, the following information pertains to pretty much all age ranges. What is Working Memory? When I write my reports, I describe Working Memory as: the ability to take in, retain, and [...]

By Adam Creasy|April 19th, 2021|Academic Mentoring, ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

IQ Part 3: Fluid Reasoning

Welcome back to our deep dive into IQ and its various components. Previously we examined Verbal Comprehension and Visual Spatial and what they both have to do with one’s overall intelligence. Understanding these domains gives us a good insight into an individual’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, which can set a student up for success down the road. In today’s post we will look at Fluid Reasoning. As a reminder, I am using the WISC-V for my basis of these posts. The WISC-V is administered to younger students (ages 6-16). The WAIS-IV is a similar assessment that is used to test [...]

By Adam Creasy|March 10th, 2021|ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

IQ Part 2: Visual Spatial

Welcome back to the next part of deep dive into what IQ is and how it is comprised. The last post looked at Verbal Comprehension and its various aspects. In today’s post we will examine the second component of the overall IQ: Visual Spatial. As a reminder, I am using the WISC-V as my guide since it is the main cognitive assessment I use in my evaluations. The WISC-V is intended for children ages 6-16. The WAIS-IV, which is used when assessing adults, contains a component called Perceptual Reasoning, which is similar to Visual Spatial. What is Visual Spatial? In [...]

By Adam Creasy|January 8th, 2021|Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

IQ Part 1: Verbal Comprehension

In my last post, I discussed in general terms how IQ is calculated. When broken down, the overall IQ is comprised of various cognitive aspects we all possess. Today I want to examine Verbal Comprehension, its make up, and how it impacts the overall IQ. For purposes of my post, I will discuss Verbal Comprehension as a component of the WISC-V. The WISC-V is the main cognitive assessment I give to most of my patients, and it is geared towards kids (ages 6-16) rather than adults. However, the WAIS-IV (used to assess adults) also contains a Verbal Comprehension component that [...]

By Adam Creasy|December 6th, 2020|Accommodations, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities, Reading Comprehension|0 Comments

How is IQ Calculated?

Several months ago I wrote a post titled, Can My IQ Change? I laid out the history of the IQ test and concluded that one’s IQ can indeed change over time. But the question remains: How do we calculate one’s IQ? Today’s post is the beginning of a series that will dive deeper into cognitive testing and how I use it in my evaluations. For most clinicians, there are a few standard tests that are used in neuropsychological evaluations to derive one’s IQ. The two most commonly used are: Wechsler Intelligence Scales Woodcock-Johnson Both assessments include numerous subtests that, when [...]

By Adam Creasy|October 30th, 2020|ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities|0 Comments

How to Survive Remote Learning

The 2020-2021 school year has officially kicked off for many students. Here in Texas several schools began school this week, with just about all of them offering a remote-only option. My school is one of them, and we had a very successful first day. As other schools begin the reopening process, it is apparent that remote learning will be with us in some capacity for the foreseeable future. As discussed in my previous post, remote learning offers students safety measures during this pandemic; however, it also presents some challenges even for the most conscientious student. I wanted to share with [...]

By Adam Creasy|August 14th, 2020|Academic Mentoring, Academics, Learning Disabilities, Study Skills|0 Comments

Remote Testing for ADHD and Dyslexia

We are now nine weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has completely changed the way we do business, socialize, learn, teach, and pretty much everything else. While many states have begun to re-open businesses, they are still operating in limited conditions, particularly those involving in-person meetings. Neuropsychological testing is the basis for most diagnoses of learning disorders and ADHD. Typically I conduct evaluations in-person in one session that lasts about 2-3 hours. But in early March that option went out the window. At the same time, private school admissions season was ramping up. Many admissions offices require updated neuropsychological [...]

By Adam Creasy|May 20th, 2020|Accommodations, ACT, ADHD, Evaluation, Learning Disabilities, SAT|0 Comments