gifted / LD assessment - Boston / New England ??

I would avoid Ned Hallowel. From my personal experience.... Ummm i dunno if he is still in the Boston area though. There used to be a couple that ran a school called Willow Hill out in Sudbury MA. They were pretty much given the boot i think the school is still there but i am not sure. I know it was for a while. I am not sure who runs the show now.

When i started there it was a goddess sent. It went bad though when the couple i mentioned before, in a desperate effort to save all children started letting in kids with serious violence issues rather than LD. Their intent was great their methodology.... not so hot..... But they have been gone to my understanding now for many years partly for that reason. I think the school did continue and became once again far more focused on LD. You might want to check it out. They might have some advice for you there. You also might want to look into ablechild.org because, they have some interesting alternative views many of which are quite good. They also might know who can help you.

If it were me, i would not be too quick to test and label my kid. Because these labels follow you a long time. They can in many cases be very damaging in a large number of ways and most people who study these children that are labeled kinda forget we are human beings. Their papers have been known to even compare our brand of intelligence to that of the average dog. It is horrible!

Please also know that i was one such child like your son myself. I am fluent in 6 languages today, i am happily getting married in july, i have worked in my field and am presently studying again. I am a dyslexic epigrapher. I have a deep understanding of western and ancient greek music notation and my jobs when i am done studying will mostly lie in translation of ancient egyptian hieroglyphs and hieratic script. I have worked some in the field though more geared towards a better understanding of human evolution already. I am happy, but it took a looong time to get here after being labeled and mistreated for having a learning disability by the system presently in place and by people who lack any real understanding of the actual stuff related to my learning disability.

Many forms of LD example would be ADHD, lack any scientific credibility as the studies done allegedly proving the existance of this LD do not seem to really show the full study or publish it. Usually this is to hide bad science so to speak. However, in many cases studies debunking it publish every cintilla of evidence and methodology. There is no organic evidence for much of this stuff and all tests for it are solely subjective and based on over analyzing a child's behavior. 2 experts could watch the same interview of the same child, and they could come to totally different conclusions. That is a hard core fact. Your son sounds bright i wouldn't worry too much. Thank you most kindly for not freaking out and and losing your marbles over simply feeling the need to ask the question. It isn't the worst thing in the world if your son is a bit like me. After all, it is not like i am the anti christ or the next hitler.

The only other thing i can think of is to try a Dr. Wieder in Newburyport.... He is not a bad fellow at all. One of the few honest experts i know. One of the few who really knows anything at all about what they are doing. He has been of much help to me in the past. He should still be in Newburyport, i saw him not even a month ago. He is great. If he can not get to the bottom of it trust me, there is no one on this planet that can. Best of luck to you and to your son. Protect him so he doesn't end up going through some of the harder parts of this. But i am sure you will... again good luck.

You know best about your child not me. I don't even know your kid. What i do know is growing up with a label. You sound quite reasonable and i am sure you are going to make the best decisions froma rationa mind set and i am glad to see you are not another parent terrorized and freaking out and making a decision based on terror. It sounds like you have a good understanding of things. What one's chid needs one's child *Needs* it is a parents job to make sure a child gets that. Wish my folks had aproached it like you are.

I hope i have been of some help with some of my suggestions as well... If not i am sorry there isn't more i can give you....

Yes, and once you have done that make him pee on a stick to make sure he isn't pregnant! After all that can also affect one's brain and functioning....Seriously.... This is all totally subjective this testing. If you want an accurate test demand to be shown the organic evidence from his brain of how it is different.