The Life Empowerment Center

Providing a focus on ADHD and Learning Strategies

The Life Empowerment Center serves clients of all ages

Theory Background

Developmental theory is most notably associated with Dr. Jean Piaget for his work regarding the various phases children go through emotionally and psychologically. The more recent advancements in neurology have led to newer theories about neurodevelopment. A pioneer in this field of thought is Dr. Mel Levine, a developmental pediatrician at the University of North Carolina, whose neurodevelopmental constructs were first conceptualized in the early to mid 1980's. The eight constructs of neurodevelopment are attention, memory, temporal sequential, temporal spatial, language, motor skills, social and higher order cognition.

The simplistic beauty of these constructs is that every person develops a unique combination of all eight, with different areas representing strengths and challenges for each person. As a person's profile is understood, one's learning process becomes more manageable as areas of strength are highlighted and better utilized. This philosophy of uncovering learning profiles and making them accessible to the person steers away from labels such as deficit and disorder and focuses on individual differences.

Evaluations

PEEX, Ages 6-9 - The Pediatric Examination of Educational Readiness (PEEX 2) is a neurodevelopmental assessment used to generate a functional profile of a child's developmental and neurological status between the ages of six and nine. This is not an intelligence test nor is it a test of cognitive skills, but a series of comprehensive subtests designed to assess items such as active-working memory, fine-motor output, organizational output, short and long-term memory retrieval, as well as visual and verbal input and output processing. The initial meeting includes the parent(s) and child, lasts one and a half hours, and includes various written assessments along with a computerized test for visual and auditory attention. A report is generated and a follow up appointment is scheduled.

PEERAMID, Ages 9-14 - The Pediatric Examination of Educational Readiness at Middle Childhood (PEERAMID) is a neurodevelopmental assessment used to generate a functional profile of a child's developmental and neurological status between the ages of nine and fifteen. This is not an intelligence test nor is it a test of cognitive skills, but is a series of thirty-one subtests designed to assess items such as active-working memory, fine-motor output, organizational output, short and long-term memory retrieval, as well as visual and verbal input and output processing. The initial meeting includes the parent(s) and child, lasts one and a half hours, and includes various written assessments along with a computerized test for visual and auditory attention. A report is generated and a follow up appointment is scheduled.

STRANDS, Ages 13 to college - The Survey of Teenage Readiness and Neurodevelopmental Status (STRANDS) is an assessment tool that capitalizes on an adolescent's evolving metacognitive abilities by asking them about their own perceptions of how they are functioning across a variety of neurocognitive and psychosocial domains. The interview assesses such areas as attention, memory, sequencing, language, visual processing, motor functions, ability to organize and formulate strategies, and higher-order cognition. In addition, teens self-report on such areas as academic and social skills, school and work preferences, and academic expectations. The initial meeting includes the parent(s) and child, lasts one and a half hours, and includes various written assessments along with a computerized test for visual and auditory attention. A report is generated and a follow up appointment is scheduled.