Episode #14 - The Truth Behind Neuropsychological Testing with Dr. Kimberly Berens

Be prepared for Dr. Kimberly Berens’ extraordinarily important message regarding learning disabilities! 

In the US, 20% of kids are considered to have a learning disability of some kind. Dr. Berens explains in Episode 14 of the podcast that only a tiny fraction of children—less than 1%—have a real neurological impairment. This suggests that more kids are being labeled with learning disabilities that are Explanatory Fictions, as opposed to measuring learning across time and assessing for skill deficits that account for why a child struggles with reading or other learning.

This episode explores the reasons behind children's academic difficulties, the truth behind neuropsychological testing, and the damaging effects that the DSM-5 learning disability labeling of children has.  Dr. Berens explains that labels that children are given are predominantly a result of ineffective instructional environments as opposed to a made up reason for what is occurring in the brain. Most importantly, Dr. Berens explains what we can do to disrupt this vicious cycle and improve children's learning abilities.

She explains that for the majority of children, “school does not work” and why. She makes it clear that she is not blaming teachers, but rather that teachers need explicit training in behavior science and effective teaching practices.

You’ll hear Dr. Berens' real anger at a professional that after testing a student’s performance on one occasion, then makes a profound leap to explain that the reason for the performance is due to something in the brain that cannot be measured, and that there is no scientific support for the label given to the child.  

Dr. Berens then reviews a case study of a student with a Neuropsychological Report versus the type of report that a Precision Teacher would produce, to look at skill deficits a child has to account for their reading challenges, as opposed to a hypothetical construct of why the student performed badly on a test one time.

Dr. Berens is a scientist-educator, a precision teacher, and the founder of Fit Learning. She is also the author of the book, Blind Spots: Why Students Fail... and the Science that Can Save Them.  Her stand is to transform education on the planet through the use of behavior science, and how that science can change the world.

 

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HIGHLIGHTS

3:19 The truth behind neuropsychological testing and learning disabilities.

6:11 The types of assessments that neuropsychologists conduct.

8:04 What distinguishes a scientific method from an Explanatory Fiction?

21:48 Common forms of disabilities, backed by neuroscience.

28:21 Why does Dr Berens think school is ineffective?

51:51 The applicat