Edgewood Psychologist Helps Students Prepare for SAT

Dr. Scott Leatherbery is helping students to prepare for the SAT test by identifying their own specific learning obstacles first for a better chance at future success.

A clinical psychologist at , Leatherbery provides testing that identifies learning disabilities to students who attend SAT prep courses elsewhere. He receives many referrals from Pittsburgh Prep, which is located in East Liberty. He’s been providing the service for the last 21 years.

“I do testing of students who come to me as they’re approaching their SATs in their junior year and are seeking some understanding as to why they are having trouble digesting the three main areas that are examined by the SAT,” he said. “ My test is able to give them some understanding of the cognitive disabilities they may be experiencing.”

There are two or three primary obstacles that generally come up during testing, including ADHD.

Sometimes a student may have had that diagnosis earlier in school but then decided for whatever reason not to stay with treatment.

“Those symptoms are still at play in their mental processes so they need documentation to get accommodations related to that for the SAT,” Leatherbery said.

There’s also a phenomenon called slower cognitive processing speed, which requires extra time to be granted for the SAT. In all cases, the disability needs to be documented with evidence in order to give the students more time to take the test.

“That’s something testing discovers,” he said. “It’s also possible for them to have a reading, math or written expression learning disability.”

After the testing is complete, students receive a 10 to 15 page written document. The college board requires these documents for any submission for accommodations, which 90 percent of the time means a student can receive more time to take the test.

“It includes the findings and resources that might be available in the area,” he said. “Generally the info they have come to me for gets submitted to the school because the college board looks for the results to come from a school when someone is preparing for an SAT accommodation and testing.”

If a child has accommodations in place already—in other words an Individual Education Plan— they should have testing done well before they begin the application process to take the SAT because of the time frame involved, Leatherbery said. Sophomore year is not too early because then it extends through their junior to senior year.

“If they’ve ever had accommodations or special education or support in elementary school for conduct disorders or reading comprehension, dyslexia or math issues—any of those types of early-on learning disabilities, they would definitely want to have the testing to confirm the presence or absence of those conditions for testing,” he said.

In addition to having extended time for taking the SAT test, another accommodation also involves giving a student the chance to write down answers rather than fill in bubbles in a multiple choice sheet.

“That’s a lateral move visually from left to right, and there are students who have a difficulty with that visual tracking,” Leatherbery said. “You can get an accommodation where you can write your answers in the test booklet itself, but you need documentation of that disability.”

For more information and resources, visit collegeboard.com. Leatherbery can be reached at 412-860-3275. Visit http://www.edgewoodpsychologicalservices.com/ for more on the local offices.