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Home Page Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Testing and Evaluation (Assessment)Many existing tests and evaluations attempting to diagnose dyslexia, ADD or ADHD in children or adults today attempt to do so by analyzing subjective symptoms as based upon the APA's DSM-IV (see link).
While these tests may have their place, the subjective nature of the testing has resulted in the frequent failure to diagnose the true underlying conditions and causes of the behavior. For example, since schools and many professionals don't have the tools to overcome dyslexia, they neither test for it nor diagnose it. Rather they just call the behaviors ADHD and offer a "prescriptive solution". Many children who are diagnosed as ADHD in reality have some other form of brain issues such as dyslexia, lack of right-left brain integration, retained infantile reflexes, etc. or extrinsic factors such as parenting, diet, past unresolved trauma, etc (see the Special Report for a more extensive list). Medication, Individual Educational Programs (IEP), counseling, behavior modification while in limited cases is helpful, often doesn't work well with many of these children and may in fact have backlash-type results as the child grows older. According to Dr. Michael M. Merzenich, professor in the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences and director of the Coleman Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco, an award winning brain researcher, 50% of children that fail first grade go on to commit a felony later on in life! (this is his statistic, not ours) Our prisons are full of adults who had cognitive problems as a child that remained unresolved. Until the neurological wiring of the brain is straightened out, these programs will most likely fail, leaving the child (and the parents) frustrated and angry. An adult with ADD or ADHD may also be frequently angry or frustrated, leading often to marital and workplace discord. Testimony before Congress on the subjects of drugs for dyslexics, or ADD, ADHD individuals, indicated that around 95% of those so diagnosed didn't really have True ADD. Yet meds seem like such a simple fix and often skirts deeper issues. Therefore, ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS IN THE TESTING PROCESS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! The Sharper Minds testing / evaluation / assessment process for both children and adults is a comprehensive objective process that not only involves looking at the aforementioned behavioral symptoms and DSM-IV criteria, but goes far beyond that. It involves an extensive family history (11 pages), graphics, drawing, writing, reading, instructions, and emotional aspects. Its goal is to find the specific area of the deficiency. Specifically we examine the following:
While the above terms may not mean much to you as a parent or an adult with ADHD, we cover the necessities in the written test report explanation section. We also spend time near the end of the evaluation verbally giving you our findings and providing additional education on how the brain and our therapy works. The results are repeatable, and deviations from the norm are obvious to concerned observers such as parents, grandparents, teachers, guardian or a spouse who are to be present when a child or adult is tested. Educational professionals who have seen the test reports and understand the meaning say that it was BY FAR the most informative evaluation they had ever seen! You won't find a better, more thorough evaluation anywhere, even at 3 to 4 times the cost ! Benefits of the Evaluation - Click here
Side note; As parents of a dyslexic, ADD child, we found tremendous hope at the evaluation session, since not only were our suspicions confirmed, but we discovered that a drug-free, lasting solution to the condition was available. Check out the Fees Section for more details on the cost of an evaluation and training. Why not call Today to schedule an appointment? You'll be glad you did. |
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Many of these criteria are based upon a child's behavior at
school. They were developed in
conjunction with the educational system for misbehaving or academically
struggling children. The usual treatment is the prescribing of medication,
namely psychotropics (see our 
If you suspect that a child or loved one,
such as your spouse may have a processing
inability, contact Sharper Minds and schedule the evaluation. The
results will be eye opening and encouraging (in knowing that there is a
lasting solution)!