How to Diagnose and Cope with a Brain Based Diagnosis

Life Skills 101

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

Resources Mentioned

• [e-mail]
• 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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