Learning Disability Assessment

Learning disability testing is designed to determine the causes of academic difficulties and help decide what accommodations can be made to help an individual improve his or her academic performance. Many people assume that academic difficulties are the result of low intelligence. This is often not the case. 

Many different abilities go into making a person successful at school; the abilities that make up what we call intelligence are only a part of what makes a successful student. Difficulties with reading, writing or math may be the result of a variety of conditions that are unrelated to a person’s intelligence (i.e. dyslexia, difficulties with the way the brain processes visual or auditory information, and other disabilities). 

In order to determine if a learning disability is present, an examiner will usually administer two kinds of tests: an intelligence test and a test of academic achievement. Intelligence tests are designed to measure specific cognitive abilities (such as verbal and non-verbal reasoning, working memory and processing speed) that are typically associated with the ability to learn new information, comprehend new ideas and solve problems effectively. 

It might be helpful to think of an intelligence test as a test of person’s intellectual power or capacity to do well at a variety of tasks. All things being equal, a person’s performance at school should be roughly equivalent to his/ her intellectual abilities. A test of academic achievement is designed to gauge how well a person is performing in terms of the core academic skills (reading, writing, math and oral language). Essentially, a test of academic achievement measures (with much more precision than report cards and progress reports) how well a person is doing at school compared with people in his or her age group and grade.  

The results of intelligence and academic achievement testing can be compared. If scores on academic achievement tests are significantly lower than scores tests of intelligence, this indicates that something other than low intelligence is responsible for academic difficulties. That something is often a learning disability. Based on the results of testing, a licensed psychologist can then recommend classroom and testing accommodations that will help the person with the learning disability perform to the best of their abilities. 

These accommodations may include exemptions from timed testing, additional instruction or training, and accommodations in the way classroom instruction is presented.  Testing performed by a licensed psychologist is required in order for a learning disability to be diagnosed and before many accommodations can be made.

Learning disability testing usually takes about 3 hours to complete and involves a variety of activities. Portions of the testing will resemble tests taken in school others will be unfamiliar. All tests will be administered by qualified examiners. Please feel free to call if you have any further questions about the purpose, process or benefits of learning disability testing.