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The Importance of Understanding before Doing: Fixing Response to Intervention (RTI)
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Anyone who reads the RTI literature will see the word “fidelity” in the context of implementing interventions. This is, of course, common sense in that any interventions need to be Read more
Peeling Back the Onion: The Value of a Neuropsychological Approach to Assessment
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Neuropsychological assessment has historically been the province of evaluating individuals with some kind of brain trauma. However, in recent decades, the value of understanding cognitive processing skills and executive functions Read more
Let’s Make NJMTSS a Success
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Coming in January, 2018, the state DOE will be pushing out its’ Multi-Tiered Support System (NJMTSS) initiative to bolster efforts to support ALL students. It will be essential to infuse MTSS Read more
Academic Anxiety and Keeping Kids Safe at School
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Feeling safe at school involves much more than providing a physically safe environment. Kids need to feel safe academically as well. Over the last decades, increased academic demands-particularly those that Read more
Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Emotional Communication: A Necessary Marriage
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

While the prevailing evidence in the professional literature is that cognitive behavioral therapy is the gold standard in addressing problems like childhood anxiety disorders, the eminently reasonable principles of exposure Read more
Training Teachers to Understand the Links between Cognitive Abilities and Learning Difficulties
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Teachers can greatly benefit from the advances in our knowledge about the connections between cognitive processing abilities and instructional strategies. Without this kind of framework to understand students’ learning problems, Read more
Living on the Edge: Emotional Attunement and Working with Kids
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

In the recent movie, “The Edge of Seventeen,” Woody Harrelson plays a teacher who, while eating lunch, finds himself face-to-face with one of his adolescent students who just wanted him to Read more
Screening for Dyslexia: What Dyslexia is and How to Assess It
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, “Can you perform a dyslexia screening?” While I evaluate children, adolescents, and even adults for the presence of dyslexia, it Read more
The Importance of Seeking a Neuropsychological Evaluation Using the Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses Model (PSW)
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

While few would disagree with the fact that neuropsychological evaluations offer the most comprehensive information about students’ learning and performance issues, it is equally important to seek out an evaluator Read more
The Importance of Seeking a Neuropsychological Evaluation that is Educationally Informed
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

When individuals are experiencing learning and performance difficulties, there is a high probability that cognitive ability, neuropsychological processing, and/or executive functioning deficits are at fault. The job of the evaluator is Read more
Diagnosing Orthographic Dyslexia
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Orthographic or surface dyslexia is a form of reading disorder characterized by deficits in visual processing of and visual memory for symbols. It is less well known than dysphonetic dyslexia Read more
Using the PSW Model to Link Assessment to Instruction: It All Makes Such Sense!
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

The PSW model developed by Flanagan, Alphonso, and Ortiz makes so much sense that it is it makes little sense not to use it. The authors first offer a specific Read more
Linking Cognitive Abilities to Instruction: Essentials for Teachers and Tutors
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Cognitive abilities are the resources that students “bring to the table” with respect to learning and performance. Since academic subjects like reading, math, and writing are really byproducts of these Read more
Linking Assessment to Instructional Strategies: Using the Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses (PSW) and Cross Battery Assessment (XBA) Models to Make Differential Diagnoses between Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) and Other Learning Problems
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Next month, I will be presenting to the child study teams in Regions III and V on the Patterns of Strengths and Weaknesses (PSW) model and the use of the Read more
New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA) Endorses Proposal to Add the Third Option (PSW) to Criteria Used to Determine Eligibility for Special Education Services
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

I am pleased to report that NJPA has taken the next step toward supporting a proposal to amend the criteria currently used to determine eligibility for special education services. In Read more
Dysgraphia: Necessary Cognitive Abilities and Executive Functions
posted: Oct. 28, 2020.

Do your students complain that they cannot get their ideas from their head to the paper? Do they report that they are unable to generate ideas about what to write? Are Read more

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