Speech-Language & Educational Consulting Services

Debra Levinson is passionate about helping kids and families put the pieces of the educational puzzle together. She's been a speech-language pathologist for over 20 years and an educational therapist for 10. She has worked extensively with children and adults who have learning disabilities, attention deficits, speech-language disorders, and school-related behavior problems. She provides consultations to parents of children with learning challenges and to adults with learning problems. Her online consultation services utilize a set of questionnaires to screen for auditory and visual processing difficulties, sensory integration dysfunction, attention deficits, and language-learning disabilities. Analysis of the information provided via the questionnaires enables her to recommend specific programs and school services and to make appropriate referrals to other professionals. Deb also provides on-going educational coaching via telephone 888-735-3111 or e-mail.

Pre-Consultation Checklist

If you answer "yes" to 3 or more questions in a single age-specific category, it is likely that you or your child has a speech, language, or learning disability and would benefit from a consultation.

Does, or did, your 2-year-old:

• Have trouble pointing to or repeating names of body parts: eyes, nose, hair, feet, mouth
• Have difficulty combining words into simple phrases: "more milk," "big doggie"
• Have a vocabulary of less than 50 words
• Have trouble following simple directions
• Not engage in pretend play
• Seem uninterested in asking "What's that?" throughout the day
• Seem not to enjoy songs and nursery rhymes

Does, or did, your pre-schooler:

• Have trouble pronouncing words
• Seem to have a smaller vocabulary than others her age
• Have trouble finding the word he wants to use
• Have difficulty rhyming (by age 4)
• Have trouble learning and remembering colors, shapes, numbers, etc.
• Find it hard to follow directions
• Seem distracted or unable to sit still - especially in groups

Does, or did, your primary age child:

• Have trouble learning which letters make which sounds
• Confuse words like "was" for "saw," "bat" for "pat" when reading
• Reverse letters or whole words when spelling: p/b, m/w, left/felt (after age 7)
• Have difficulty holding a pencil appropriately, using scissors or utensils
• Transpose numbers and get confused by math procedures
• Have trouble concentrating
• Have trouble remembering
• Have a tendency to be "accident prone?"

Does, or did, your 5th to 8th grader:

• Have trouble with math word problems
• Have difficulty with handwriting
• Avoid reading
• Dislike writing compositions
• Have poor memory for facts
• Study but forget the material when tested
• Continue to reverse letters or whole words when reading or spelling
• Find it hard to make friends
• Have difficulty understanding jokes or slang
• Have trouble "reading" body language, facial expressions or social cues

Do you, your high-schooler or your adult child:

• Interchange cursive writing with printing
• Spell a word more than one way on a single page
• Avoid reading and writing as much as possible
• Misread things or worry about having misread or miswritten information
• Have a poor memory
• Work more slowly than others
• Work harder than others but get lower grades or produce work of lesser quality
• Have trouble adjusting to new situations
• Make "careless" mistakes
• Over-focus on details