|
Orlando, March 6, 2007 — The Communication Disorders Clinic is now better able to address the needs of children and adults with severe disabilities in reading, writing and spelling, a disorder also referred to as developmental dyslexia.
Clinical Supervisor SallyAnn Giess (left) trains graduate clinicians, such as Carol Caron (center), in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of reading disabilities. Here, they work with clinic client Sarah Grogan (right).
According to Giess, typical clinic clients diagnosed with developmental dyslexia or language learning disability are school-age children who struggle academically or college-age students who previously could compensate for their disabilities but struggle to do so while meeting the demands of college course work.
Giess, assisted by graduate clinicians, administers a comprehensive assessment battery, which allows clinicians to identify clients’ strengths and weaknesses and create profiles that suggest a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia or language learning disability.
Once a diagnosis is made, treatment is available at the clinic for individuals diagnosed with either disability. Graduate clinicians are trained to implement a multisensory approach of intervention that entails the use of the visual, auditory and tactile/kinesthetic sensory pathways. For many clients, a goal is to perform at grade- or age-level in their area of weakness.
— Kristie Smeltzer
Photo by Thomas Alan Smilie
|
