Learning Disability Testing in Louisville, KY | Dyslexia, Dysgraphia & Dyscalculia Assessment & Evaluations for Kids, Teens and Adults
Clear, comprehensive insight into how your child learns, processes, and performs — so you know what to do next.
At Closer Horizons, we provide comprehensive learning disability testing, psychoeducational evaluations, and academic assessments in Louisville, KY for children and adolescents. These evaluations are designed to help families understand how a child learns, where academic struggles are coming from, and what support may actually help at school, at home, and beyond.
Learning disability assessment is most useful when it is clinically thorough, developmentally informed, and practical for real-world school needs. At Closer Horizons, testing is led by Dr. Kenya Guarnieri, a Licensed Psychologist and Licensed School Psychologist with a Ph.D. in School Psychology, 15 years of experience, specialized training in assessment, and a background in pediatric traumatic brain injury and neurodevelopmental evaluations.
Most parents who reach out are not looking for a label. They are looking for an explanation.
Their child is working hard — genuinely trying — and still struggling. Or performing well in some areas while inexplicably falling apart in others. Teachers have flagged concerns. Tutoring has not moved the needle. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, the child has started to internalize the struggle: believing they are not smart enough, not trying hard enough, not enough.
A comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation is designed to interrupt that narrative. Not just to identify whether a learning disability is present, but to explain how your child learns, where the difficulty is actually coming from, and what will genuinely help — in school, at home, and beyond.
Who May Benefit from Learning Disability Testing
A psychoeducational evaluation or learning disability assessment may be the right next step if your child or adolescent:
Struggles with reading, writing, or math despite strong effort
Shows inconsistent academic performance — capable in some areas, unexpectedly stuck in others
Has difficulty with reading comprehension, written expression, spelling, fluency, math reasoning, or problem-solving
Has started avoiding school, expressing frustration, shutting down, or losing confidence
Has been flagged by teachers as needing additional academic support
Has received tutoring or intervention, but progress has been limited or inconsistent
Would benefit from a 504 Plan or IEP but lacks the documentation to pursue one
Needs updated or more comprehensive documentation for private school placement
Is approaching college and will need accommodations documentation
Has suspected dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, or anxiety affecting learning
Learning challenges can look different across development. Younger children may struggle with early reading, phonics, handwriting, number sense, or school avoidance. Older children and adolescents may compensate for years before the demands of reading volume, written output, math complexity, and independent work become too much to manage.
A thoughtful evaluation helps clarify not only whether a learning disability is present, but how the difficulty is showing up in your child’s real academic life.
What We Assess During a Psychoeducational Evaluation
A meaningful evaluation does not just identify that a problem exists. It explains why — and that distinction matters enormously for what comes next.
Academic Skills
Reading, writing, and math are assessed in depth to identify patterns consistent with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or other learning differences. The goal is not to find a deficit. It is to understand the specific nature of the difficulty so that recommendations are actually targeted.
Cognitive Processing
We look at how your child takes in and works with information, including memory, processing speed, reasoning, verbal comprehension, visual-spatial thinking, and problem-solving. These underlying processes shape academic performance in ways that grades and test scores alone do not capture.
Executive Functioning
Organization, planning, task initiation, working memory, attention, and follow-through are assessed as part of the broader learning profile, because these skills have an outsized impact on how learning differences present in everyday school settings.
Emotional and Behavioral Factors
Frustration, anxiety, avoidance, low confidence, and school-related stress are not separate from the learning picture — they are part of it. A child who has been struggling for years often carries emotional weight alongside the academic difficulty, and both deserve attention.
Strengths and Learning Style
Understanding how your child learns best is just as important as identifying where they struggle. Strengths-based findings form the foundation of recommendations that are practical, respectful, and more likely to work.
A Thoughtful, Individualized Approach to Learning Disability Assessment
Psychoeducational evaluations require more than administering a battery of tests. They require knowing what questions to ask, understanding what the data means in context, and translating findings into guidance that families can actually use.
With 15 years of experience across school systems and clinical settings, Dr. G brings a depth of knowledge that goes well beyond the testing itself. As a Licensed Psychologist and Licensed School Psychologist with a Ph.D. in School Psychology, she has specialized training in assessment and extensive experience with schools, IEPs, 504 plans, and neurodevelopmental evaluations.
Her pediatric TBI specialization and neuropsychological assessment background strengthen her ability to understand how brain development, cognitive processing, attention, executive functioning, language, emotional regulation, and academic performance interact.
Many children who come in for evaluations have been partially understood before. They have been told they are bright but not working to potential, or that their struggles do not quite meet the threshold for services, or that the testing from a few years ago is still sufficient — even as the demands of school have shifted considerably.
An evaluation at Closer Horizons is designed to look more carefully, ask better questions, and arrive at conclusions that are genuinely accurate rather than convenient.
The recommendations that come out of this process are designed to be practical, specific, and grounded in how schools, private programs, and college systems actually function — not just what sounds good on paper.
Evidence-Based Testing with School and Clinical Expertise
Learning disability testing at Closer Horizons is grounded in evidence-based care and shaped by Dr. G’s experience across both school and clinical settings. This matters because families often need results that are not only diagnostically clear, but also useful for educational planning, intervention, and advocacy.
Dr. G’s experience with IEPs, 504 plans, school-based evaluations, and special education processes helps ensure that recommendations are practical and relevant. A strong psychoeducational assessment should help families understand what is happening, what supports may be appropriate, and how to communicate those needs clearly to schools or other providers.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. G provides supervision to psychology trainees, supporting the development of thoughtful, ethical, and well-trained future clinicians. That teaching and supervision background reflects a commitment to careful clinical reasoning, evidence-based care, and clear communication — all of which shape the evaluation process at Closer Horizons.
What’s Included in a Psychoeducational Evaluation at Closer Horizons
Evaluations are comprehensive, structured, and tailored to your child’s needs. The goal is to understand the full learning profile — not simply to generate scores.
Clinical and Developmental Interview
A detailed conversation covers your child’s developmental history, learning patterns, academic history, current concerns, emotional functioning, and experiences across home and school settings. This is where the full context gets established, and it shapes how everything that follows is interpreted.
Observations and Real-World Input
Observational data may be gathered directly or through structured input from teachers and other adults who know your child well in real-world settings. This helps ensure that findings are not limited to how a child performs in a quiet testing room.
Cognitive Assessment
Standardized cognitive testing is conducted using the Wechsler family of assessments or alternative models when appropriate — particularly for children who are nonverbal or have significant processing differences. The goal is an accurate picture, not a one-size-fits-all testing process.
Academic Achievement Testing
Reading, writing, and math skills are assessed in detail to identify specific areas of difficulty and the patterns underlying them. This may include word reading, reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling, written expression, math calculation, math fluency, and math problem-solving.
Feifer Assessments of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics
A distinguishing feature of evaluations at Closer Horizons is the use of the Feifer family of assessment tools — the FAR, FAW, and FAM — which are specifically designed to identify the neurodevelopmental processes underlying learning difficulties.
Traditional learning disability identification has often relied on discrepancy models: comparing cognitive ability to academic achievement and looking for a significant gap. While this approach can confirm that a problem exists, it frequently fails to explain why it exists — which limits how useful the findings actually are.
The Feifer assessments take a process-based, neurodevelopmental approach. Rather than simply measuring whether a child is reading below grade level, they identify which underlying cognitive and brain-based processes are contributing to the difficulty. This allows for more precise identification of the type of dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia present — because each of these conditions has subtypes, and each subtype responds to different interventions.
It also produces recommendations that are directly tied to the specific nature of the difficulty, rather than general strategies that may or may not apply.
This approach is increasingly supported by research as more clinically meaningful — because the goal of an evaluation is not just to name a problem, but to understand it well enough to address it.
Rating Scales and Additional Measures
When appropriate, standardized rating scales are used to evaluate attention, executive functioning, emotional functioning, anxiety, behavior, or other factors that may be contributing to academic difficulty.
Differential Diagnosis
Not every learning struggle is a learning disability, and a thorough evaluation considers other explanations carefully. ADHD, anxiety, autism, executive functioning challenges, emotional stress, environmental factors, and instructional history may all be part of the differential. This ensures that conclusions are accurate rather than assumed.
Individualized Recommendations
Recommendations are grounded in your child’s actual profile. This may include guidance for school supports, intervention planning, accommodations, executive functioning strategies, home supports, tutoring targets, or next steps for IEP, 504, private school, or college documentation.
Why the Evaluation Approach Matters
There is a meaningful difference between an evaluation that confirms a problem and one that explains it.
Traditional discrepancy-based models can identify a gap between ability and performance. What they often cannot tell you is which specific processes are breaking down, why a child who is clearly intelligent is struggling to read, write, or manage math, or what type of intervention will actually target the root of the difficulty.
A process-based, neurodevelopmental approach changes what is possible. It allows for earlier and more accurate identification of learning differences, clearer alignment between assessment findings and intervention strategies, and recommendations that are specific enough to be actionable — not just in theory, but in the real settings where your child actually learns.
For families who have been through evaluations before and left with more questions than answers, this distinction tends to matter a great deal.
What You’ll Walk Away With
After a psychoeducational evaluation, you will leave with a clear, comprehensive picture of your child’s learning profile — their strengths, their areas of difficulty, and the specific patterns underlying both.
You may also receive:
Formal diagnoses when appropriate, including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, or related learning and attention concerns
A clearer understanding of how your child learns, processes information, and responds to academic demands
Practical, individualized recommendations for school and home
Intervention guidance tied to the specific nature of the learning difficulty
Documentation that can be used to pursue an IEP or 504 Plan
Documentation for private school placement, updated school planning, or college accommodations
Support in understanding how to use the evaluation results for advocacy and next steps
Having a strong evaluation is only useful if you know how to use it. The goal is for families to leave not only with answers, but with a clearer sense of what those answers mean and how to move forward.
What to Expect During the Evaluation Process
Initial Consultation
We begin by understanding your concerns, answering your questions, and determining whether a psychoeducational evaluation is the right fit and next step.
Evaluation Appointment
The evaluation may include clinical interview, cognitive testing, academic achievement testing, Feifer assessments, rating scales, observations, and any additional measures indicated. The process is thorough but paced to support your child’s comfort, engagement, and best performance.
Feedback and Recommendations
Results are reviewed in detail, with clear explanations and real time to ask questions and understand how findings apply to your child’s specific situation.
Ongoing Support, When Helpful
Many families choose to continue with consultation, advocacy guidance, executive functioning support, or direct skill-based services after the evaluation — to make sure the insights gained are actually put to use.
Psychoeducational Evaluations Across Childhood and Adolescence
Learning demands change as children grow, and a child’s needs may become more visible at different stages.
For younger children, concerns may involve early reading skills, phonological processing, handwriting, spelling, number sense, attention, frustration, or avoidance of schoolwork.
For school-age children, learning differences may show up as difficulty keeping up with reading, writing, math, comprehension, organization, or classroom expectations despite strong effort.
For adolescents, concerns often become more noticeable as academic demands increase. Reading volume grows, writing becomes more complex, math requires multiple steps, and independence expectations rise. Some teens have compensated for years before the support they need becomes more obvious.
For students approaching college, updated psychoeducational documentation may be important for accommodation planning, standardized testing accommodations, or disability services.
A developmental approach helps ensure that recommendations match your child’s current demands — not only their test scores.
Learning Disability Testing in Louisville, KY and Surrounding Areas
Closer Horizons provides private learning disability testing, psychoeducational evaluations, and academic assessments in Louisville, KY for children and adolescents. Families often seek evaluations when reading, writing, math, attention, organization, or academic confidence have become areas of concern.
Located in the Louisville area, Closer Horizons serves families from Jefferson County, Jeffersontown, Middletown, East Louisville, Oldham County, and surrounding communities. The practice is especially well-suited for families seeking a clinically thorough, neurodevelopmentally informed evaluation that produces practical recommendations for school, home, and next steps.
Our evaluation process is designed to provide diagnostic clarity, practical recommendations, and documentation that may support IEP planning, 504 accommodations, private school placement, college accommodations, or targeted academic intervention.
Whether your child is struggling with reading despite strong effort, avoiding writing assignments, falling behind in math, losing confidence, or showing an uneven learning profile that has never been fully explained, a comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation can help clarify what is happening and what support may genuinely help.
Helpful Learning Disability Resources
For families who want to learn more, these trusted resources may be helpful:
These resources can provide helpful background information about dyslexia, learning differences, and educational protections. They are not a substitute for an individualized learning disability evaluation, psychoeducational assessment, or consultation with a qualified clinician.
Frequently Asked Questions About Psychoeducational Evaluations
What is a psychoeducational evaluation?
A psychoeducational evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of how a child learns, processes information, and performs academically. It often includes cognitive testing, academic achievement testing, rating scales, developmental history, and recommendations for school and home support.
Can a psychoeducational evaluation diagnose dyslexia?
Yes. A psychoeducational evaluation can help identify dyslexia when reading patterns, cognitive processing, and academic data support the diagnosis. At Closer Horizons, reading concerns may be evaluated using both traditional academic measures and process-based tools such as the Feifer Assessment of Reading.
Can testing identify dysgraphia or dyscalculia?
Yes. Writing and math difficulties can be evaluated in depth. When appropriate, tools such as the Feifer Assessment of Writing and Feifer Assessment of Mathematics may help clarify the underlying processes contributing to dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or related academic challenges.
What is the difference between learning disability testing, assessment, and evaluation?
These terms are often used interchangeably. Learning disability testing usually refers to the specific tools or measures used during the process. A comprehensive psychoeducational assessment or evaluation includes testing, developmental history, cognitive assessment, academic achievement testing, rating scales, differential diagnosis, interpretation, and individualized recommendations.
Is this evaluation useful for an IEP or 504 Plan?
Yes. Evaluation results may provide documentation and recommendations that support IEP planning, 504 accommodations, school-based interventions, or private school support when appropriate. Eligibility decisions are made by the school team, but a strong evaluation can help clarify needs and guide advocacy.
How is a private psychoeducational evaluation different from school testing?
School evaluations are designed to determine eligibility for school-based services. A private psychoeducational evaluation can often provide a broader and more detailed understanding of the child’s learning profile, including diagnostic clarification, process-based assessment, and individualized recommendations for school and home.
What if my child is bright but still struggling?
Many children with learning disabilities are bright, capable, and hardworking. A learning difference may not be obvious when a child has strong reasoning skills or has learned to compensate. A comprehensive evaluation helps explain why a child can be strong in some areas and still struggle significantly in others.
Do you provide learning disability testing near Jeffersontown, Middletown, or East Louisville?
Yes. Closer Horizons provides learning disability testing in Louisville, KY and serves families from Jefferson County, Jeffersontown, Middletown, East Louisville, Oldham County, and surrounding communities.
Why choose Closer Horizons for learning disability assessment?
Closer Horizons offers learning disability testing led by a Licensed Psychologist and Licensed School Psychologist with a Ph.D. in School Psychology, 15 years of experience, specialized training in assessment, pediatric TBI specialization, and extensive experience with schools, IEPs, 504 plans, and neurodevelopmental evaluations. The approach is evidence-based, individualized, strengths-based, and focused on practical recommendations for real life.
Related Services
If you are looking for additional support, Closer Horizons also provides:
ADHD evaluations
Autism evaluations for children and adolescents
Autism evaluations for adults
Autism evaluations for women and girls
Learning disability testing | Dyslexia, Dysgraphia & Dyscalculia evaluations
ADHD & executive functioning counseling
Anxiety counseling
Masking in ND children, teens and adults
Ready for Some Clarity?
If you have been wondering what is really going on — and what would actually help — this is a good place to start.
Closer Horizons provides comprehensive learning disability testing, psychoeducational evaluations, and academic assessments in Louisville, KY for children and adolescents. Schedule a consultation, and we will figure out the right next steps together.