Step 3
Testing - Does your child have the skills needed to learn?
Your child has probably taken achievement tests. These tests
measure how well a child is doing in an academic subject.
Intelligence (mental skills/cognition) tests measure the
underlying learning skills the child has. Unfortunately, these
test results are very often misinterpreted. If your child
has been tested in the past or labeled as LD or dyslexic,
please click
here for a short but important discussion of these test
results.
Most intelligence/cognition tests look at all of these mental
skills in our model and although most give a total "IQ"
score, we are far more interested in the individual test scores
of the different mental abilities that are being tested.
The "IQ" score is just an average of the separate
mental skills being evaluated. It tells us nothing
about the individual strengths and weaknesses of the underlying
skills that would be important for reading, math calculations,
comprehension, or geometry etc.
But, by analyzing the individual
test scores and comparing them with the child's achievement
levels in different subject areas, we can determine a cause
and effect relationship between the underlying mental skills
required and the achievement area affected.
For example, poor sound blending, segmenting, and analysis
(the CAUSE) will result in difficulty in reading and spelling
(the EFFECT). When these underlying skills are developed,
reading and spelling will improve.
After testing has confirmed or pinpointed the underlying
cause of a learning problem, the next step is to institute
a program to correct the deficient learning skill.
|
