Many people have expressed feeling “crazy” or “stupid” or “from Mars” when they reflect on not being able to do things that seem so easy for everyone around them. That feeling of “not being present the day the rules of life were handed out” can take a toll on a person’s self image whether they are 3 years old or 30, or 70. It can feel like they are missing pieces of a puzzle, condemning them to always fail.
These are the kinds of feelings and thoughts that have haunted many of the people who have come through the doors of TRI's Education Evaluation Center over the past 52 years, and are in direct contrast to the ah-ha moments that follow the discovery of a learning disability or other diagnosis that explains everything. Not “stupid” or “Martian, ” just dyslexic or having ADD – conditions that, with proper accommodations in place, will no longer hold them back.
One past client writes, “Thank you! It was refreshing to finally have a reason versus just a problem in my head that no one believed. I get to graduate now!!!
Through a lens of decades of experience, and access to the most current and effective assessment tools, the team at the Education Evaluation Center (EEC) constructs a comprehensive, individualized, family-centered assessment for children and adults with cognitive and learning disabilities.
“We’ve served a wide variety of families - of judges, legislators, teachers, sales people, and timber families – from all corners of the state, ” says Ken Kosko, who has been with EEC since 1974. “And now we’re on a second generation of some of these families, as the children we served are now bringing their children to see us.”
“In the beginning years the focus was pretty much only on learning disabilities with limited testing, ” continues Ken Kosko. The Center now has a staff with expertise not only in learning disabilities, but also ADHD, and autism, and have expanded into the areas of multiculturalism, speech/language, and mental health issues “that allows for more extensive evaluations, ” adds Kosko.
In the1970s, the EEC began to expand into the adult population. “It was evident that the children diagnosed with a learning disability while in school were now becoming adults and there was little understanding or support from adult services, ” says Kosko.
