Follow-up/Treatment with Antonia Forster, Ph.D., ABPP

Treatment

Assessment results give valuable information, but don’t fully predict what students and parents can do when they’re confident and motivated. I believe that highlighting strengths is more important in the long run than uncovering weaknesses. Assessment results help explain why intelligent students are struggling, and so help convey to students and parents that they can succeed if they persist with well-focused efforts.

Getting the Team Together: Assessment Follow-up

Putting the assessment results into practice takes a team of people, working to support the student, who is the most important team member. The goal is for the student to be the team captain by the end of high school. Parents, teachers, an advisor, tutor/coach, the psychologist and any other providers are all on the team.

School Interventions

I recommend a list of accommodations and interventions to help with classroom or school performance problems.

I also suggest a meeting at the school, attended by the student’s parents, advisor, teachers, learning counselor and the student if appropriate. If invited, I can be there to explain the assessment results, which will give everyone on the team a coherent explanation of the problems and a plan to move forward. Teachers have time to comment and ask questions. Then we discuss the major recommendations, how they can be put into place and how to troubleshoot problems.

Student Follow-up Services Include:

• Executive function: Support workload management (creating a time-based plan from assignments, for example)
• Emotional adjustment: Treat anxiety or depression; improve frustration tolerance; reduce procrastination; improve self-regulation and coping skills
• Academic self-efficacy: Increase confidence and proactive skills
• Academic strategy: Improve homework and study habits

Parenting Consultation

Once we understand a student’s strengths and challenges, assessment results provide a map to help parents guide change.

Parents work very hard to support their children’s happiness and school success. Occasionally parenting feels easy and uncomplicated. At times parenting gets difficult and discouraging, and parents feel ineffective. When students struggle in school, parents feel responsible to get them back on track, yet reminders and coaching may not help. An assessment followed by consultation to both parents and their student can give parents new strategies while encouraging students to take responsibility in a new way.

Parent Follow-Up Services Include:

• Parenting feedback
• Parenting strategies
• Conflict management and reduction
• Homework planning intervention

email me at antonia.forster.phd@bdtxpdx.com

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