The Learning Assessment Clinic, offered through the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center,
provides academic assessments for students age 5-25 who are experiencing
academic learning difficulties.
“The Learning Assessment Clinic is here to help families find answers about why
their child is not doing well in school and what can be done to help,” said Sheryl Rimrodt, M.D., Clinic faculty director. “By having experts from specialties in medicine, education and psychology working
together on the evaluation, this clinic gives a rich, multidimensional picture
of the child’s strengths and challenges in skills that affect learning and school
performance.”
Because every child has unique patterns of cognitive strengths and challenges
that affect school performance, she said, strategies to overcome learning
problems need to be modified to fit individual needs. The goal of the academic
assessment is to help families understand their child’s unique pattern of abilities across an array of skills including motor
coordination, handwriting, reading, listening, verbal and visual learning,
planning, use of strategies, and working memory.
The initial time commitment for parents and students is a full workday and a
one-hour return visit for parents two weeks after the assessment.
Parents receive a multidisciplinary written report including interpretation and
recommendations specific to their child. Parents may choose to share the
reports with teachers, IEP committees, school districts, therapists, tutors,
and/or medical professionals to assist parents in advocating for their child’s educational needs
Rimrodt, assistant professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Developmental
Medicine, is clinic director. Clinic specialists also include Laurie Cutting,
Ph.D., Patricia and Rodes Hart Associate Professor of Special Education;
associate professor of Psychology, Radiology, and Pediatrics; and Jaime Below,
Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics.
For more information, contact: patty.abernathy@vanderbilt.edu, 936-5118.
