FOR PORT WASHINGTON FAMILIES

“Everyone has a different explanation. Which one is right?”

The teacher thinks it is attention. The tutor thinks it is reading. Someone else thinks it is anxiety. Each explanation sounds reasonable, none of them quite fits, and your child is still struggling. By the time many Port Washington parents call, what they want is someone to bring the pieces together.

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Learn About Neuropsychological Evaluations

Pediatric neuropsychological evaluations for Port Washington families, at 75 Plandome Road in Manhasset

Dr. Courtney Duhning, Psy.D.Pediatric Neuropsychologist · Manhasset, NY

WHEN THE PICTURE DOES NOT ADD UP

A child who does well in one setting and struggles in the next

What confuses everyone is the inconsistency. The same child can look entirely capable in one place and lost in another.

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Doing well with one teacher and struggling with another

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Managing one-to-one, then losing the thread in a busy classroom

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Explaining an idea clearly out loud, then being unable to get it onto the page

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Making progress in a tutoring session that has faded by the following week

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Different adults describing what sound like different children

WHY EVERYONE SEES SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Each person is seeing part of the same child

The explanations usually differ because the settings differ. Each adult watches your child do a particular kind of task, and each is describing what that task reveals.

1

The teacher sees attention

In a busy classroom, with instructions given once and plenty going on, a child who cannot hold on to the task looks inattentive. Sometimes that is attention. Sometimes it is language, memory or reading showing up as distraction.

2

The tutor sees reading

One-to-one, with a single skill to practice, a tutor sees exactly where reading breaks down. What a tutoring session cannot show is why, or what happens to that skill once the support is gone.

3

Someone else sees anxiety

Worry is real, and it can drive difficulties at school. It can also be what years of struggling without an explanation look like. Which came first changes what will help.

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An evaluation looks at all of it together

A comprehensive evaluation measures attention, language, reading, writing, memory, processing speed, executive functioning and emotional functioning in the same child, so each result can be read against the others instead of on its own.

WHAT YOU ACTUALLY NEED

Not one more opinion. One explanation that accounts for all of them.

When everything is measured together, it becomes possible to say which part of the picture the teacher, the tutor and everyone else each had right, and which part to work on first.

THE QUESTIONS PARENTS ASK MOST

The questions that bring families in

Is this ADHD, dyslexia, or a combination? They can occur together, and each can make the other look worse. Separating them is one of the main purposes of a comprehensive evaluation. Attention and ADHD → Why did my child not qualify for special education? Eligibility is a threshold for school services. It was never designed to decide whether a difficulty is real. When the school says no → Why is tutoring not helping? Tutoring works on the skill. If the difficulty sits underneath the skill, in memory, language or processing speed, progress fades between sessions. When tutoring is not enough → Why is writing so much harder than speaking? Writing asks a child to hold an idea, organize it, spell it and get it onto the page at the same time. A weakness in any one of those can block the rest. Why writing is so hard → Which intervention will address the actual problem? That depends on what the problem is. Recommendations are written for your child's specific profile, so the next step is chosen rather than guessed. What an evaluation includes →

WHAT YOU COME AWAY WITH

One picture everyone can work from

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A clear answer to which explanation fits, and whether more than one does

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Where the difficulty starts, not only where it shows

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Diagnoses where the findings support them

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Which support should come first, and which can wait

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Recommendations the teacher and the tutor can both act on

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A detailed report, and collaboration with your school team if you want it

CLOSE TO HOME

Evaluations for Port Washington families, a short trip away

Dr. Duhning's office is at 75 Plandome Road in Manhasset. From Port Washington it is a short drive down Port Washington Boulevard, or two stops on the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch to Manhasset station, which is on the same road.

Families come from Port Washington, Port Washington North, Manorhaven, Baxter Estates and Sands Point, as well as from across the North Shore, Long Island and Queens. The practice is independent and is not affiliated with any school district.

    Port Washington
    Port Washington North
    Manorhaven
    Baxter Estates
    Sands Point
  

      Where
      75 Plandome Road, Manhasset
    

      By train
      Two stops from Port Washington
    

      Ages
      5 to 20
    

      Payment
      Private pay, out of network
    

FAQ

Questions Port Washington parents often ask

Why does my child do well one-to-one but struggle in class? +

A one-to-one setting removes a great deal: background noise, instructions given once to a whole group, the need to start work independently, and the pace set by everyone else. A child who does well only when those are taken away is showing you which demands of the classroom are hard for them. An evaluation can pin down which ones.

Can anxiety look like ADHD? +

It can. Worry takes up attention, and an anxious child can look distracted, avoidant or slow to start. The reverse happens too: years of struggling with attention or learning can produce anxiety. Separating the two matters, because the support for each is different.

ADHD and attention →

The teacher and the tutor disagree. Who is right? +

Often both are describing something real from where they stand. A comprehensive evaluation tests the explanations against each other, so you are no longer choosing between opinions.

Will the report help the school and the tutor? +

That is one of its main purposes. The recommendations are written to be used, and Dr. Duhning can collaborate with your school team as needed. A report cannot guarantee eligibility for an IEP or 504 Plan, which the school team decides.

School vs. private evaluations →

How far is the office from Port Washington? +

The office is at 75 Plandome Road in Manhasset, a short drive down Port Washington Boulevard or two stops on the Port Washington Branch of the LIRR. Evaluations take place in person.

Do you accept insurance? +

The practice is private pay and out of network. Many plans offer out-of-network benefits for neuropsychological evaluations, and you receive the documentation needed to submit for reimbursement. Coverage varies by plan, and a limited number of sliding-scale spots are available.

Testing FAQs →

Start with a conversation

You do not have to work out which explanation is right on your own

A free 15-minute phone consultation is a chance to talk through what you, the teacher and the tutor have each been seeing, and whether a comprehensive evaluation is the right way to bring it together.

Schedule a Free Phone Consultation Read the FAQs

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Explore related pages

Attention and ADHD → Dyslexia → Why is writing so hard? → School vs. private evaluations → For Manhasset families → All learning resources →