SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Our children are all unique, with their own abilities, thoughts and personalities, but some kids may also struggle more than others and need help from a psychologist.
“We’re launching autism testing for autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, academic issues at school, like learning disabilities, and a variety of different things like that,” said Breanne Danzi, a clinical psychologist at Siouxland Mental Health’s Child and Adolescent Center in Sioux City. Her goal is to set kids up to be the best they can be.
“So my job is really, I think, to empower parents to be able to understand what’s going on with their kids. So I always tell parents, you’re the expert in your kid,” said Danzi. “So you’re going to tell me kind of what you’re seeing. And I can link that to what we see in other kids that have these same types of difficulties.”
The Child Advocacy Center now offers testing for kids of all ages for parents who might have concerns.
“If your child is not developing at the rate that you’re expecting, so if they’re behind in talking or they’re having some issues with their peers, or maybe the teachers are seeing some issues at school, or if you just have concerns with behavior at home,” she explained. “Like, maybe you’re seeing a lot of behavioral outbursts, maybe you’re having trouble getting them to sleep, or to eat their meals, or to do their homework at different ages, and so really anything that’s giving you a sense that maybe they’re not really developing at the same pace as their peers, or maybe having difficulties in an area that’s more than what you’re seeing in other kids that age.”
Kids are evaluated over several sessions in an environment that works best for them.
“What we do is we do things that are very standardized. And so these testing procedures are used by psychologists all over the country,” said Danzi. “And so when we’re looking at the testing scores of a kid, we’re comparing it to other kids our same age across this large sample. And so that gives us a really good sense of how this particular kid is doing compared to other kids of their same age.”
And just because a child is evaluated doesn’t mean there is a diagnosis to find.
“Because sometimes you might come in and we might say, your kid’s actually doing okay,” she said. “And so if there’s any kind of concern, you can come in, and we can give you a sense of whether we need that testing or not to see what’s going on with the kid.”
And a diagnosis is not something bad. Instead, it’s an opportunity to help kids succeed now and as they grow.
“It’s not so much about labeling the kid or putting them in a box,” Danzi explained. ” It’s about giving you access to the information that goes along with that diagnosis. And that’s really the goal of what we’re trying to do is help each kid reach their potential.”
To learn more about their services, visit their website here.
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