Dr. Dahlgren and WISC
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Anonymous
| What are the issues with Dr. Dahlgren? I see mixed reviews about her without any substance. So, I'm wondering if we should consider seeing her. Just curious and any insight appreciated. |
Anonymous
| My child was very relaxed with her. I told him nothing ahead of time...just that he'd be doing puzzles. We weren't rushed, as some have claimed, and were happy with the process. |
Anonymous
| She is a very busy, constantly running late, constantly in motion, constantly talking too fast person. She is very big on pushing people in and out quickly. I found her exhausting. DC hated her (but tested into AAP, so that is not my problem). She would never, ever make it as a private psychologist/therapist. So I assume that's why she tests. But someone who tests needs to recognize that second graders dawdle, and needs to actually like kids. When I got DC back from her, Dr. Dahlgren was exasperated that they had run over and DD was upset. |
Anonymous
Good to hear. Was the test result favorable with a positive outcome? |
Anonymous
Well, we got in, but would have anyway. Very high score. |
Anonymous
Wow! Sounds like you've worked with her a lot. Although she was rushed, do you feel like she spend adequate time with your DC? Would you go back to her? |
Anonymous
Did she spend adequate time? I have no idea if she spent adequate time with DC, because I wasn't present during testing. Yes, in that we ended up with a test score. And no-- I think that if she had slowed down, DC would have been much more comfortable with the process. I know if she had been less rushed in going over the scores, I would have been. And no, even though I "liked" the IQ score, I would not go back. |
Anonymous
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We had a good experience with her. Not sure what the PP is referring to when she said
She would never, ever make it as a private psychologist/therapist. [i] She is a private psychologist/therapist. She does more than just testing. |
Anonymous
I 100% agree. We also got into AAP but I regret using her. My child did not like her at all. We have a younger child. I will use someone else for my youngest. I would not use her again or recommend her. I wonder if my child was more relaxed if her score would have been higher. Doesn't matter. Just curious. |
Anonymous
| NP- I am here since I have two kids close in age who are now (youngest was accepted) in AAP. Through this time, the amount of posts on this psychologist is very high- but in a negative way to me. ANY post asking about WISC seems to bring this Dr up. We have no experience with her but did seek a WISC elsewhere fall 2015. We never met Dr |
Anonymous
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http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/545383.page
Current post in AAP, where people, myself included, questuioned whether she was sock puppeting. Jeff came to the conclusion that one poster was responsible most most positive Dr. Dahlgren reports, Whixh looks suspicious, but also posted numerous time on other issues, so it was hard to know for sure. So either a parent out there really loves her, or Dr. Dahlgren is posting, but posts on lots of other topics as well. |
Anonymous
| I took DS to GMU for WISC last year and didn't like it. Now I'm looking around to take DD somewhere else for WISC but not sure what to do. One friend got recommendation for Dr. Dahlgren and liked her for her DD. This led to 3 others going to Dr. Dahlgren. So at this point, she's all I know and that's what my friends are doing, and they seem ok with her more or less. But then I come to this forum and read such negative reviews about Dr. Dahlgren and feel stumped. With such a high price, I don't want sometimes ok and sometimes not. I'm also wondering if she's better with certain personalities, as all of my friends' kids have different personalities as DD. I want to get a really good tester who can make my very quiet and shy DD comfortable and not so rushed. Any recommendation would be appreciated. |
Anonymous
I want to get a really good tester who can make my very quiet and shy DD comfortable and not so rushed. - That is not Dr. Dahlgren. My daughter was very shy and quiet and was not a fan of hers. And I felt rushed and I'm a type A who's always flying around. I was really put off. WISC was ok. FSIQ 125 and Dr. Dahlgren told me not to apply with that WISC. So we didn't use it. DD was in pool but scores were high enough we didn't need the WISC. In on first round. |
Anonymous
I think this might be it and I think she must be a Gemini. One minute she acts A, another she acts B. I think it's a mix of the types of personalities she clicks with and the fact that she is 2 personalities. I too went to her because I heard really good things about her. I did not like her. She put me in a panic over DS and ADHD. Went somewhere else for full psychoeducational evaluation. No ADHD. No LDs. I feel like I wasted my money with her. |
Anonymous
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We had our two kids tested by Dr. Dahlgren. This was not during prime testing season, though, so I can't speak to that. She was not running late. She takes the necessary time with the kids, but she does speak rather quickly with parents after the testing, I think because she is trying to convey a lot of info in a small time slot.
With one of our kids, I had expressed concern about his writing to her, so she took 10 min after the WISC to run a couple of writing assessments. She also noticed potential attention issues and recommended further testing for him. We wound up pursuing further testing with her. She did two lengthy sessions with us, one in which she took a family history and background info. At the end, she spent at least an hour going over her findings in a clear, logical fashion. She diagnosed him with ADHD and generalized anxiety, and explained why she did not think he had any learning disabilities. It all rang true to us. Others have said this in the Special Needs forum, but she writes an excellent report for the purposes of bringing to the school in a request for IEP or 504. Both our developmental pediatrician and the school folks commented on how the report was well done and persuasive. I agree with others that she does always appear to be rushed and seems to wait til the last minute to do the write ups. She definitely doesn't mince words, which can be off-putting. I can imagine if you think your kid is AAP material and the kid doesn't test well on the WISC, she probably would be blunt about the kid's chances. But she understands both the AAP process and the process of obtaining special needs accommodations in FCPS, and her work was effective for both. Also, I should note that neither of my kids found her unpleasant. I just asked my older one (the one who did the full testing) and he said he found her neither nice nor mean and she did not make him nervous. My younger one (who was testing for AAP) found the testing fun and wished she could go back. |