You have a pretty strong sense that your child is bright. They can tell you all kinds of information about many different subjects, is witty and understands humor, and likes to listen and learn from other people. In fact, your child can carry on a reasonable conversation with their peers as well as with older and/or younger-aged people. In summary, your child has many ideas, but when asked to write their thoughts onto paper, there are major struggles. You may even see tears, rude behaviors, and a great deal of resistance and opposition to any written task.When you or the homeroom teacher brings up this concern in parent/school interviews, neither one of you are sure whether your child is overly sloppy, somewhat lazy, simply unmotivated, or just resistant to writing.

If the truth be known, you are getting very frustrated with your child’s grades at school and have started pushing your child quite hard just to get them to produce something. On one hand, you think that is the right thing to do, but part of you is uncertain: Why are they having so much trouble with such typical academic tasks? You really don’t know how to deal with the situation. You are very perplexed that they would rather sit at the kitchen table all night than put pencil to paper. The fights and disagreements are becoming more pronounced and now your child is commenting that they’re just stupid and lazy.

You aren’t sure what to do or where to turn…You may or may not be aware that there are professionals who can help determine what is causing your child’s difficulties at school. These professionals are called educational psychologists and have the training and tools to investigate the cause of your child’s academic problems. You ask and have learned that your child may be able to access testing through the support staff provided through the school district, but it may be a long wait. Maybe you have been told that other students in your child’s school have much more significant problems. An educational psychologist can investigate what is causing problems in other academic areas as well. So, if your school-aged child or teen has long standing problems with reading, math, writing, organization, or paying attention and focusing, an educational psychologist will be able to determine the cause of their difficulties. It may be that your child has a learning disability, specific problems with attention, social-emotional problems, or another identifiable condition or syndrome. 

Once you understand what is causing the academic difficulties, you, the teacher, and your child will have a better understanding of how to assist your child. The educational psychologist should provide you with an oral and written report which shows the test results. The professional should also offer multiple strategies and ideas which are suited to your child’s individual strengths and weaknesses. If the educational psychologist is trained as a teacher (or is a parent), all the better, as they will have personal experiences and an understanding of how a teacher may be willing to alter the classroom activities to accommodate your child’s needs. The sooner you know what is causing your child’s struggles, the better; however, even if your child is nearing the end of their formal school years, knowledge of what may be holding them back from academic success can impact their future plans and goals. Although there is hope for your child’s struggles in school, you may be the person who has to make the call for help – and this way, be part of the solution…

Dr. Paulene Kamps is a registered psychologist, kinesiologist, and educator who has extensive experience with children who have learning difficulties. Dr. Kamps is an educational psychologist who conducts assessments with any school and/or college-aged student who may be struggling in school. She welcomes your questions and comments at 217-5749 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it