ABOUT CAROLINE SUMMER |
Psycho-educational
assessment for learning disorders (LD, ADHD, and other disorders
affecting learning), relying primarily on the Woodcock-Johnson
III. Now greatly improved, this test battery can demonstrate that
the examinee has a learning disability as traditionally defined,
or can show deficits in attention, concentration, and working
memory which are adversely affecting academic performance. Other
tests are also used during the assessment process.
Screening for
Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder.
Counseling and
psychotherapy on such issues as the following:
- Understanding learning disabilities and ADHD;
- Promoting self-esteem;
- Improving relationships;
- Developing goals and moving purposefully toward them;
- Career choice and change;
- Handling disability-related problems at home, work, and school.
Practical skills
for success:
- Improving learning skills;
- Focused reading and note-taking;
- Memory skills;
- Writing clear, well-organized prose;
- Securing appropriate accommodations and using them effectively;
- Making the transition from elementary school to high school, and from high school to college;
- Starting and completing tasks on time;
- Managing time, money, and personal possessions.
Treatment for
writing blocks or test anxiety. Drawing on skills that I've
acquired in my 20 years as a college-level English instructor
and my 12+ years as a learning specialist and psychotherapist,
I use educational strategies and cognitive-behavioral therapy
to combat writing blocks or test anxiety.
Since 1981 Caroline Summer has worked with children, adolescents, and adults who have disabilities.
At the Center for Independent Living (Berkeley), she directed a project for severely-disabled young people. For the Rape Crisis Center of West Contra Costa County, she developed an award-winning program on teaching self-protection skills to children with disabilities.
She served as Executive Director of Vocational Planning Programs of Marin (a pre-vocational program for people with disabilities) and as Director of the Adult Learning Disabilities Project at Family Service Agency of Marin County.
Caroline currently maintains a private practice as a psychotherapist and learning disabilities specialist in Berkeley, California. For 12 years she served as a Learning Disabilities Specialist for the Disabled Students' Program at the University of California (Berkeley).
Since 1991 Caroline has been a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFC 28132). In addition to her M.A. in Clinical Psychology (J. F. Kennedy University, 1985), she holds a Ph.D. in English Literature (Cornell University, 1973). She has extensive university-level teaching experience. She is especially interested in ways that students with learning disorders can be taught to write clear, well-organized prose.
CAROLINE SUMMER