When I talk to parents about assessment, many express a common concern:
Parent Handout: Talking to Kids About Testing (Spanish and English)
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Author Archives: Liz Angoff
Intellectual Disability and Child Feedback
When Dr. Skye McLennan picked up 6-year-old Noah from his classroom for his first testing session, she asked him if he knew why he was coming with her.
“Because I was bad?” he hesitantly replied.
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Testing Reluctant Teens
A few weeks ago, I saw a 14-year-old who was referred for learning challenges. Her parents were very excited to start the assessment process.
She was not.
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Spreadsheet: Visuals and Videos for Feedback Sessions
Feedback sessions can be very talk-heavy.
Even if I am diligent about using the child’s words, it still can be a lot of language for a young person to process!
To help, I started collecting child-friendly videos, graphics, books, celebrity profiles, and websites that relate to specific diagnoses and the power of neurodiversity. You can find them all in the spreadsheet below.
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Explaining Multiple Diagnoses To Kids
For the complete How to Explain a Diagnosis to Kids series, visit www.BrainBuildingBook.com.
Finding developmentally appropriate, positive, non-overwhelming language to explain one diagnosis to a child is hard enough…
But what about when the child has multiple diagnoses?
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Handout: Child Feedback Language Guide
When talking to a child about their testing results, it’s hard to find language that is positive, developmentally appropriate, and not overwhelming.
Over the past few months, I’ve shared a set of articles dedicated to finding this language and helping us explain common diagnoses to kids, including:
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Explaining (Reframing) Oppositional Behavior to Kids
The evolving conversation around neurodiversity celebrates the unique minds and superpowers of neurodivergent profiles such as ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, and more.
But what about the kids who struggle with explosive, disruptive, or oppositional behaviors?
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How to Explain Anxiety to Kids
For me, talking to kids about anxiety can feel like a catch-22:
Continue readingTalking about anxiety tends to make kids feel more anxious, which then makes it even harder to talk about!
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How to Explain Autism to Kids
- Should I tell my child they’re autistic?
- When is the right time?
- How do I tell them?
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How to Explain Dyslexia to Kids
The dyslexic adults I see often come in thinking they’re lazy, or broken, or worse, stupid.
As children, they were told that they had a deficit – and the conversation stopped there.
When those same dyslexic adults and I do an assessment together, we learn that they are far from lazy, broken, or stupid. In fact, we end up rewriting the narrative of their entire childhood.
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