Educational therapists are specialists with a minimum of a 4-year degree with additional training and licensing in Educational Therapy. These professionals have significant training to be able to provide Educational Therapy to students with a wide array of issues such as: dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, auditory processing, short and long-term memory issues, ADD, ADHD, ASD Level 1, and other issues on an individual basis. 

Educational therapists may be licensed through the National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) or other licensing agencies.

Educational therapy is not tutoring or an academic class, but a one-on-one skills training to help your student learn how to learn. Educational therapists use mediation to help your child make gains in areas related to the ways your child thinks, such as processing speed, comprehension, memory, directionality, auditory processing, and executive functioning. Specific academic areas such as reading, phonics, math, and writing are targeted through non-traditional instruction methods to target the specific areas of need assessed in your child.

Educational therapy is tailored to the specific educational needs of your child and involves a committment of a full academic year. An educational therapist will work with your child either twice weekly for 80 minutes each session or three times weekly for 55 minutes each session. Educational therapy may be recommended for one or more years based on end-of-year progress assessments. Our educational therapists are experts at finding what works for your child and fine-tuning the strategies they use based on the unique needs of your child. This means that every child's educational therapy program will look a little different--it's custom-built just for them!

Educational therapy is a partnership between the educational therapist and the parents. Educational therapists work to develop and implement a program to help a student reach their full potential, and parents must commit to supporting those efforts by supervising small daily homework assignments.

Therapists help a student by:

• Working with the student in academic settings on the issues keeping them from excelling 
• Engaging the whole student consistently for the entire session duration with specific focus on and attunement to the student's needs
• Working through tough issues with unique techniques, patience, and encouragement

Parents assist their child’s journey to independent thinking and learning by:

• Providing structure and accountability
• Supervising homework
• Maintaining regular contact with the educational specialist to increase understanding of the learning process and collaborate in providing an effective program for their child

We encourage anyone with concerns about their student's ability to learn and engage in the classroom to reach out to see if their child could benefit from individual educational therapy sessions. A great variety of educational concerns, such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, ADHD, ADD, and ASD level 1 can be addressed in individual sessions. Eligibility for individual educational therapy sessions is determined based on thorough evaluation of the student's educational and academic needs. 

Initial entrance testing is done by PATHS professionals using the WISC-V and Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement tests to create a baseline of student achievement and highlight specific areas of need for the educational therapist to target. The cost of testing is $275 for the WISC-V and $175 for the Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement test. Previous testing may be accepted if it is current (within one year for the Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement test and within three years for the WISC-V). At the end of the year, the Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement test is repeated to document progress and make recommendations for the upcoming year. 

To arrange educational therapy entrance testing, please click here to submit a request or contact Dr. Kristen Goldbach, director of educational therapy at kgoldbach@pathsofhr.com for more information.

We would definitely like to see any testing you have. We may accept current Woodcock-Johnson IV Achievement, WISC-V, and Kaufman tests done within the last three years. Testing results are used to create a program specifically tailored to your child's needs. The more current and deep the testing, the more carefully crafted your child’s sessions will be. The goal is to meet your child at their current level and help them progress to a more competent and confident learner.

The following tests can be provided at Partners in Academics and Therapeutics of Hampton Roads:

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V)

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), developed by David Wechsler, is an individually administered intelligence test for children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive that can be completed without reading or writing. It must be administered by a psychologist or trained professional. 

Age range: 6.0–17.11 years

How it works: This test is divided into 15 subtests that assess a range of areas. Results are totaled up to provide one Full Scale IQ score. Sub-scores are also tallied for four other areas. These include verbal comprehension, nonverbal and fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed.

Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities

Woodcock-Johnson IV is an achievement test that is comprehensive and must be provided by a trained professional. The WJIV can be used for state and local compliance for end-of-year testing.  

Age range: 5.0-90+ years

How it works: Students are given a series of tests on a number of topics. These include verbal comprehension, spatial relations and visual-auditory learning. The tests can take 2+ hours 

To arrange educational therapy entrance testing, please click here to submit a request or contact Dr. Kristen Goldbach, director of educational therapy at kgoldbach@pathsofhr.com for more information.