Who are the Educational Specialists at Child and Family Development?
Established in 1980, Child and Family Development has been serving the needs of children and their families in Charlotte. Our pediatric therapy team has over 400 years of combined clinical experience, with expertise and additional certifications in many diagnostic areas.
Our Educational Specialists are trained to evaluate and treat the underlying causes of learning difficulties. Learning concerns may involve specific disorders of reading, writing, and mathematics or problems with attention, organization and study skills.
All of the Educational Specialists at C&FD have advanced graduate degrees in the field of Special Education. They help students understand their learning style, strengthen underlying processing weaknesses and develop strategies for school success.
Educational Specialists offer the following services to maximize growth and development:
- Developmental Screenings and School Readiness Assessments for children 3-5 years of age to help parents plan for the most appropriate learning environment for their child.
- Comprehensive Educational Evaluations to identify a child’s learning strengths and weaknesses
- School Consultations to present a child’s learning strengths and weaknesses to the school to provide the ground work for developing a team approach to meeting the child’s school needs and establishing informed parent advocacy.
- Treatment of Learning Disorders in Reading, Mathematics, Written Expression, Literacy Readiness, Handwriting, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Phonological Processing Delays through an Individual Educational Treatment Plan
- Support for children and adolescents with learning concerns including Study Skills, Homework Strategies, Time Management, Test Taking Strategies through individual treatment as well as intensive small group session available if needed

I recently attended an online webinar on Therapeutic Listening: Listening with the Whole Body. Therapeutic Listening is a sensory integration intervention for children with sensory processing disorders, attention challenges, and motor planning issues. It is specifically designed to address auditory sensitivities; however, because of the anatomy of the inner ear, sound is able to affect both hearing and the vestibular systems simultaneously. This affects hearing, sound localization, and the awareness of where our bodies are in space. Awareness of timing and where our bodies are in space are essential for motor planning and praxis skills. The signals are transported from the ear and processed through the nervous system, creating integration with additional systems that influence coordination of movement, attention, sleep/wake cycles, bowel/bladder control, emotional regulation, and feeding. It was an excellent course that explained the anatomy and use of this exciting tool. I am looking forward to incorporating it into my personal practice and educating parents on the possible benefits of this program.
Looking for pediatric therapy services near Union County
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School readiness testing examines pre-academic/readiness skills in reading math, written language. Development tests of fine motor coordination, auditory memory, receptive language and expressive language help determine developmental readiness. An educational specialist can provide parents with useful information to aid in their school readiness decisions
The testing is typically completed in two visits to our clinic. During the first appointment, the educator will administer standardized tests as well as complete an informal assessment of ABC knowledge, rhyming, sound blending, and counting. The second appointment is a feedback session for the parent(s). A brief written report will be mailed to the parents following the assessment.
Children who have auditory and tactile sensitivities will likely struggle most during family gatherings.
Children who are sensitive to movement or need a lot of movement will have the most difficulty being couped up in a car or airplane while traveling. 