Dr. Perlstein received his Medical Degree from the University of Cincinnati and then completed his internship and residency in pediatrics at The New York Hospital, Cornell medical Center in New York City. After serving an additional year as Chief Pediatric Resident, he worked as a private practitioner and then was appointed Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.
Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.
What do parents do if they see these signs and symptoms?
It is important to consult your pediatrician if you are concerned about your child's development. Additionally, meeting with your child's teachers is an important step toward getting more answers.
Ideally, every school has a team that meets
on a regular basis to discuss problems a specific child might
be having. These teams are made up of the principal, classroom teacher,
and one or a combination of the following depending on the staffing
of the school: school psychologist, nurse, speech therapist, reading
specialist, and other pertinent professionals. A parent should
always be included as a part of this team. The teams are commonly
referred to as Child Study Teams, Student Study Teams, or Student Support Teams. Any parent
or teacher who suspects a learning problem may request a meeting
with this team to discuss the child's problem. The parent may
request this even if the teacher feels the child is doing well.
Sometimes a decision to test the child will be made. The parent
or teacher may request testing, but it cannot be done without
the parents' written permission.
If the child attends a private school which
lacks the appropriate professionals to evaluate a suspected learning
problem, he should be referred to the public-school system for
evaluation. If testing is not satisfactorily conducted in the
public-school system for private or public school students, the
parent will need to locate the appropriate health professionals
for assessment. A list of resources is provided at the conclusion
of this article.
Because testing can sometimes be stressful for
children, especially if they are unhappy about their school
performance,
alternative strategies are usually tried before testing is done.
Once the assessment plan has been discussed with the parent(s)
and they have granted permission, the school team completes the
testing and holds a meeting with the parent(s) to discuss the test results.
The assessment plan for each child depends on
the specific problems the child is having. Each plan should include
testing in five areas: cognition (intelligence), academic
performance, communication, sensory/motor, and health and
developmental. The testing will be done by the various members of the
school team or the professionals consulted by the parent. Typically,
the school or clinical psychologist determines whether or not the
child has dyslexia. Since there are different forms of dyslexia, such
as learning disability in reading, written language, or math, the
psychologist diagnoses the specific type. Another form known as
expressive language delay can be diagnosed by a speech therapist.
Learning disabilities can cause an individual to have trouble learning and using skills such as reading, listening, writing, reading, speaking, reasoning, and performing mathematics. There is no cure for learning disabilities. Parents and teachers working together to properly diagnose learning disabilities can properly plan a course of education. For some, medication may be appropriate as complimentary treatment.
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