Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities
When a child is bright, curious, and clearly capable, but struggling in ways that don't quite add up, a learning disability is often what's hiding behind the confusion. Learning disabilities are neurobiological in origin. They aren't caused by lack of effort, low intelligence, or poor teaching. They reflect genuine differences in how the brain processes specific kinds of information, and they respond well to the right intervention once they're properly identified.
The challenge is that "properly identified" matters enormously. A learning disability that's missed, mischaracterized, or attributed to something else, laziness, anxiety, or not trying hard enough, can shape a person's entire relationship with learning, work, and their own sense of capability. Getting an accurate evaluation is the first step toward changing that story.
The learning disabilities we evaluate
Learning disabilities aren't one thing. They're a family of distinct conditions, each with its own cognitive profile and its own implications for intervention. We evaluate for:
Dyslexia — the most common learning disability, affecting reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling. Dyslexia is rooted in phonological processing, the brain's ability to connect written symbols to the sounds they represent. It has nothing to do with intelligence, and it doesn't go away with maturity or effort alone. Early identification and targeted reading intervention make a significant difference.
Dysgraphia — a learning disability affecting written expression, which can involve difficulties with handwriting, spelling, organizing thoughts in writing, or some combination of all three. Because writing draws on multiple cognitive systems at once, motor planning, memory, language, and attention, the underlying pattern varies from person to person and benefits from careful evaluation.
Dyscalculia — a learning disability affecting mathematical understanding and computation. Often under-recognized compared to dyslexia, dyscalculia involves difficulty grasping numerical concepts, performing arithmetic, and understanding mathematical relationships. It frequently coexists with other learning disabilities and with ADHD.
Learning disabilities in children vs. adults
Most people think of learning disability evaluations as something for school-age children, and early identification is genuinely important. The sooner a learning disability is identified, the sooner the right supports can be put in place, both at school and at home.
But adults come to us for learning disability evaluations too, and for good reason. Many adults navigated childhood with an unidentified learning disability, compensating through sheer effort, choosing paths that avoided their area of difficulty, or internalizing the experience as a personal failing rather than a neurological difference. For adults returning to school, seeking workplace accommodations, or simply trying to understand themselves better, an evaluation provides answers that have been long overdue.
We also provide evaluations that produce documentation for academic accommodations (including extended time, alternative testing formats, and assistive technology) at the college level and for professional licensing exams.
Why a neuropsychological evaluation — not just a school evaluation
Schools can identify learning disabilities and are required to evaluate students who may qualify for special education services. But school evaluations are designed to determine eligibility for school-based services, not to provide a full picture of why a student is struggling and what specifically will help.
A neuropsychological evaluation goes deeper: looking at the full cognitive profile, processing speed, working memory, phonological awareness, executive functioning, attention, and language to understand not just what the difficulty is, but what's driving it. That level of specificity yields actionable recommendations, not generic ones. It also distinguishes learning disabilities from other conditions that can look similar, including ADHD, anxiety, and language disorders, which frequently co-occur and require their own attention.
Who we evaluate
We see children from school age through high school, college students, and adults at any stage of life.
No referral is required to get started.
