Life Skills 101

How to Diagnose and Cope with a Brain Based Diagnosis

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Today I am joined by Natalie Vecchione, Podcaster at FASD Hope and co-author, with Cindy LaJoy,  of the new homeschooling book: Blazing New Homeschool Trails, Educating and Launching Teens with Developmental Disabilities.

Natalie explains how the book was born out of desperation, as she and her husband were parenting and raising a FASD student. FASD (Fetal Achhol Syndrome Disorder). This is a brain based diagnosis, and like many brain based diagnosis is on a spectrum, meaning people with this disability, has a range of manifestations, which can include physical, emotional and intellectual.

What is a Brain Based Diagnosis? A brain based diagnosis is a broad category of disorders, which can vary in symptoms and severity and can include any condition or disability that affects your brain and can be caused by:

  • Illness
  • Genetics
  • Traumatic Injury

    • Brain based Diagnosis can include:

    FASD

    Autism

    Tourette’s

    OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)

    ADHD/ ADD

    Learning Disabilities, including Dyslexia, Dyscalcia, Dysgraphia, etc

    Processing Disorders.

    How to determine and cope with a Brain Based Diagnosis:

    1. Figure out why you suspect something: Take detailed notes including medical conditions, genetic components, how students are not keeping up; write down detailed deficits, needs and strengths
    2. Find a practitioner who can do a Neutral Typical Evaluation (also called a Psychological Evaluation or an Educational Evaluation), usually done by a Psychologist. These can be very pricey, so check with your local University and Clinic with a Sliding Scale).
    3. Understand the Dysmaturity or “gap” of your student. This is quite different from immaturity. Dysmaturity is a gap between a person’s chronological and developmental age. This gap, depending on the disability, can be between a few years and up to half of the students’ age.
    4. Make accommodations

      5. Resources Mentioned

      • [email protected]
      • SPED Homeschool
      • FASD Hope Podcast
      • FASD Hope Website
      • Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner with Kathy Kuhl
        • SPED Blog posts:
        • Special Needs Credits and Transcripts
        • Struggling Learners and Special Needs, What’s the Difference?
        • Communication Challenges for Special Needs
        • Spotting a Struggling Learner in Your Homeschool
        • After the Diagnosis: The Next Steps
        • Holidays and Special Needs

          •  

          SPED  Podcasts:

          Communication Skills with Struggling Learning with Peggy Ployhar

          Special Needs and Critical Thinking Skills

           

          ADAPTED CLASSES AND SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH TRUE NORTH HOMESCHOOL ACADEMY FOR NEURODIVERGENT LEARNERS!

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          The post How to Diagnose and Cope with a Brain Based Diagnosis appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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          Life Skills 101By Lisa Nehring
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