The Bylund Clinic

What should parents do when they suspect their child is struggling with reading, writing, or learning? And how can educators and families work together to help students thrive?

In this episode of The Bylund Clinic Podcast, Dr. James Bylund sits down with Kait Feriante, CEO and co-founder of Redwood Literacy, to discuss practical, evidence-based strategies for supporting students with dyslexia and other learning differences.

Together they explore:
✅ How to identify when a child may need additional support
✅ The difference between research-based and evidence-based instruction
✅ Why progress monitoring matters
✅ How to build confidence, resilience, and self-advocacy skills
✅ What parents can do right now—without waiting for a formal diagnosis

Whether you're a parent, educator, clinician, or advocate for neurodivergent learners, this conversation offers actionable insights to help students reach their full potential.

Listen or watch on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4xnktdR8JQjih5O9pAZdYQ

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mg7_AlmHto

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bylund-clinic/id1774330111

One trend we increasingly notice in school reevaluations (triennial assessments) is that the scope of testing can become narrower over time.

When a child is first evaluated, the assessment is often broad and comprehensive.

Schools may look at areas such as thinking and learning skills, academics, attention, executive functioning, emotional well-being, and social development to better understand how a student learns and what supports may be needed.

However, once a student qualifies for special education under a category such as Specific Learning Disability (SLD), Autism, or Other Health Impairment (OHI), reevaluations can sometimes become more focused on confirming whether the existing eligibility still applies rather than reexamining the student more broadly.

Why does this matter?

Because development is not static.

Children and teens change significantly as they grow. Attention, learning, emotional functioning, social demands, coping skills, and academic expectations all evolve over time. A profile that accurately described a student at age 7 may look very different by age 13.

When reevaluations become too narrow, important changes can sometimes be missed.

For example:
• A student with ADHD may show very different learning or thinking patterns once attention challenges are better managed.

• A bright autistic student may cope well in earlier grades, but increasing social and academic demands in middle or high school can make previously hidden struggles more visible, leading to an initial diagnosis during their teens.

• A student with a long history of learning challenges may gradually develop anxiety related to years of academic stress, even if it is not obvious to others.

A triennial evaluation should not simply answer, “Does my child still qualify?”

It should also ask, “How has my child changed, and what do they need now?”

As children develop, evaluations should stay responsive to those changes so supports, services, and goals continue to match who the student is today, not just who they were years ago.

In episode 16 of The Bylund Clinic Podcast, we sit down with Anya Ashouri, M.S., CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist specializing in assistive technology (AT) and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

This conversation takes a practical, grounded look at how assistive technology is evaluated and implemented across school settings. We break down what AT really means, from low-tech supports to more advanced tools, and who may benefit across different learning profiles.

Anya also highlights a critical distinction that is often misunderstood: assistive technology supports access to learning and communication, but it does not replace instruction or skill development. We walk through how comprehensive AT assessments are conducted and what factors contribute to effective implementation.

The episode also explores:

• Common misconceptions about assistive technology

• Best practices for school-based implementation

• Research on outcomes across reading, writing, math, attention, and communication

• The growing role of artificial intelligence in AT

• Systemic barriers such as training, funding, and capacity

This episode is designed to help parents and professionals build a stronger foundation for understanding how assistive technology can support access, participation, and independence.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/5VRLMX1l0l6JXzvRIC2BuX

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment, diagnosis, or therapy.

If your child has anxiety or OCD, you’ve probably been offered school accommodations—extra time, breaks, less pressure to participate.

These supports can be helpful.

But here’s what most parents aren’t told:

Accommodations alone are not evidence-based treatment for anxiety.

In fact, when they become the main strategy, they can sometimes make anxiety worse over time by reinforcing avoidance.

That doesn’t mean accommodations are bad.
They’re important:
• During flare-ups
• While your child is building skills
• As short-term support

But they’re not meant to replace treatment.

If you’re noticing things like:
• More missed class time
• Increasing school avoidance
• Falling behind academically
• Anxiety spreading to more areas

…it may be time to look beyond accommodations.

That could mean:
• A comprehensive evaluation (IEE or private eval)
• Evidence-based therapy (CBT/ERP)
• Better coordination between school and clinical care

Your child doesn’t just need things to feel easier in the moment—
they need the tools to handle hard things over time.

That’s what actually leads to progress.

We’ve been seeing a consistent pattern across many of the Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) we conduct:

A narrow focus on *one* aspect of a child’s profile—while other meaningful layers go unassessed.

For example, we often work with students who have been found eligible for Autism year after year. While that classification may absolutely be appropriate, the evaluation process has not always explored whether ADHD, learning disabilities, or anxiety are also present.

Similarly, we see students with Specific Learning Disabilities who are described as hardworking, compliant, and “doing their best”—but have never been assessed for internalizing conditions. In many of these cases, these students may be masking significant anxiety or distress related to their learning challenges.

This is what diagnostic overshadowing can look like in practice.

When one diagnosis becomes the primary lens, it can unintentionally limit the scope of assessment and case conceptualization. The result is that co-occurring conditions—each with their own intervention needs—may be missed.

This matters because intervention planning depends on a *full* understanding of the child.

A student with dyslexia may also need support for anxiety.
A student with autism may also need intervention targeting attention or executive functioning.
A student who appears “well-behaved” may be working incredibly hard to hold things together internally.

When these layers are not identified, they are not addressed.

If your child’s evaluation feels incomplete—or if the recommendations don’t fully explain what you’re seeing day-to-day—it’s reasonable to ask whether additional areas should have been assessed.

In those cases, families can request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) or pursue a comprehensive private assessment to ensure a more complete understanding of their child’s needs.

We were honored to be invited to present at the John Muir / Stanford Health Education Day for MDUSD school nurses yesterday. We appreciated the deep interest and engagement in learning more about supporting healthy, balanced screen use in youth.

School nurses play a critical role in supporting students—not just medically, but across learning, behavior, and overall well-being. It was a privilege to spend time with a group so deeply committed to student care.

We appreciated the opportunity to share insights and collaborate around how multidisciplinary teams can better support students across both health and educational settings.

✨ We’re excited to share an update from The Bylund Clinic.

Over the past several years, our practice has grown as more families have reached out for thoughtful, comprehensive assessments to better understand their children’s learning, development, and support needs.

As our work has expanded, we’ve also found that families often come to us with two different types of questions:

• Some families need evaluations specifically to support special education planning, IEP decision-making, and educational advocacy.

• Others are seeking comprehensive clinical neuropsychological evaluations to better understand diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, and related developmental differences.

To better serve these different needs, our practice is expanding into two closely connected divisions:

The Bylund Clinic
Educational Neuropsychology for Special Education

Focused on Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs), school-based assessments, and helping families understand how a child learns in the classroom.

NeuroCal
Clinical Neuropsychology and Diagnostic Assessment

Focused on comprehensive neuropsychological and psycho-educational evaluations that help families understand the full picture of a child’s development.

Both divisions share the same core philosophy: thoughtful assessment, clear explanations for families, and recommendations that are practical for real-world settings.

We’re excited about this next step and look forward to continuing to support families across the Bay Area.

More details coming soon.

✏️ **“My child is smart… so why is writing so hard?”**

If your child can explain ideas out loud but struggles to get them onto paper, you’re not alone.

For many families, the issue isn’t motivation or effort. It may be dysgraphia — a learning difference that affects writing skills such as handwriting, spelling, and organizing thoughts on paper. Dysgraphia can make writing slow, frustrating, and exhausting for children, even when they understand the material.

We created a **free parent guide to dysgraphia** to help families better understand what might be going on.

Inside the guide you’ll learn:
• Common signs of dysgraphia
• Why writing can feel so effortful for some kids
• What parents can do at home
• What to ask schools about evaluation, supports, and accommodations

Many children with dysgraphia are bright, capable learners — they just need the right supports so writing doesn’t become a barrier to showing what they know.

📘 **Download the free guide here:**
https://thebylundclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Dysgraphia-Ebook.pdf

If writing has been a daily struggle in your home, this guide can help you better understand what your child may be experiencing — and what steps you can take next.

— The Bylund Clinic

Telling a student with dysgraphia to “just slow down” is like telling a student with dyslexia to “just read more slowly.”

When handwriting and fine motor integration are not automatic, production speed is inherently compromised.

When reviewing reports in our IEE work, we frequently see low scores on visual-motor integration measures dismissed as “invalid” because the student "rushed."

But if:

✅ The visual motor integration score is low

✅ There are real-world writing concerns

✅ Written output is effortful or inconsistent

…that data point should not simply be discarded.

Yes, some students rush through tasks that are difficult. But rushing can be an avoidance response — not evidence that the measure lacks validity.

When a low visual-motor integration score co-occurs with observable handwriting breakdown and written expression concerns, that pattern may represent a meaningful marker for a writing-based learning disability.

We need to be cautious about throwing out data that aligns with real-world impairment simply because effort was uneven.

In dysgraphia, the absence of automaticity is the impairment.

Extended time, slow production, or breakdown under demand are not side issues; they are indicators that the skill has not consolidated.

“Once we have the IEE, the report will speak for itself.”

While a strong evaluation and a skilled psychologist go a long way, schools are not required to agree with IEE conclusions or recommendations — even when the data is clear.

This is where advocates and attorneys play a different role. They focus on how the data is used, ask legal and procedural questions during IEP meetings, and help ensure that services, placement decisions, and compensatory agreements are actually implemented.

For families navigating eligibility disputes, unilateral placements, or complex profiles, long-term advocacy can be just as important as the evaluation itself.