Daic-Helping Children Learn

PLLC

"We Enhance A Child's Learning Abilities Resulting in Better School
......Performance & Improved Self-Esteem" –Dr. Risa Tabacoff, founder & director, DAIC

Our mission is to help parents, educators, and other specialists better understand a child's special needs through psycho-educational testing, and develop their unique Learning Profile. DAIC (rhymes with cake) uses psycho-educational testing to identify a child's learning weaknesses and strengths and helps implement useful strategies for improved performance. Our aim is to identify children with special needs and help parents/guardians to implement useful remedies. These children are at risk of experiencing academic failure as well as emotional and/or physical distress due to misidentification or misunderstanding of their particular issues. To ease the burden on parents, DAIC also offers oversight of the child's remediation until it is well underway. This 'case management service' ("The DAIC Approach", detailed below) is a unique feature DAIC provides to help ensure the child's future success.

We address specific disorders and areas of concern that impact academic, social and emotional development including:

Learning Disabilities • Attention Deficit Disorders
Communication Difficulties • Pervasive Developmental Disorder
Asperger's Disorder • Behavior Problems • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
and a host of other issues

Along with psycho-educational testing DAIC also offers
children 3 years old and up:
Individual Therapy • Group Therapy • Social Skills Classes
...guided by caring, expert, child specialists.

The DAIC Approach: A Four-Step Program
DAIC uses a four step method to evaluate and help children with learning difficulties:

1- Provide Comprehensive, Caring Assessments:
neuropsychological, developmental and/or educational assessments for children of all ages.
2- Develop A Remedial Strategy: based on the learning strengths and weaknesses identified through the assessment for each child.
3- Coordinate All Services: required to effectively treat each child's needs. DAIC has familiarized itself with many special service providers in a wide area. These include speech and language specialists, occupational therapists, art therapists, physical therapists, academic tutors, psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, pediatricians, and neurologists. Recommendations for specific services and service providers are based on finding the best match for each individual child.
4- Oversee All Services and Advocate for the Child in School: This includes weekly contact with family, school, and service providers. DAIC advocates for the child in the school and other areas, to assure he/she receives the necessary accommodations and/or services. DAIC also helps the parent/guardian become better advocates by providing them with written evaluations and support materials documenting their child's particular needs.

DAIC will not rest until positive results are achieved!

The DAIC Genesis:

DAIC was founded by Dr. Risa Tabacoff, a New York licensed psychologist who has been successfully treating children and adults for over 20 years. Dr. Tabacoff has a PhD in Developmental Psychology, a Master's degree in Special Education, and a Master's degree in Creative Expressive Therapy. Her focus is enhancing the lives of children with special needs. She knows first hand the distress and dilemma parents face when a child is not performing at expected levels. She has an intimate knowledge of the intricacies of navigating successfully through school systems and of the special service providers needed to improve a child's success rate.

Although parents are not often experts in the field of child development, they may be faced with a situation involving their child that demands expert intervention. Proper assessment and remediation can be invaluable to assuring a child's healthy development.

Unfortunately, sometimes schools and professionals in other disciplines may not accurately detect a child's problem. And even when a proper diagnosis is in place, parents need to coordinate the remedy, meeting with each specialist and/or teacher, making sure everyone is working together. This can easily overwhelm parents.

DAIC is the outgrowth of this awareness and concern for parents. Each staff member at DAIC is determined to help guide parents through this difficult process. The staff is made up of psychologists and other child development specialists who bring expert professional perspectives to the table. DAIC’s approach is team generated. This affords DAIC the opportunity to develop the most comprehensive and thorough evaluation and remediation strategies possible, empowering the parents with the tools needed to ensure the child receives appropriate remediation.

DAIC Assistant Director Dr. Suzanne Busby, is a licensed psychologist who primarily works with children, adolescents, and families. She received her doctorate from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and trained at various settings including the Kennedy Krieger Institute at Johns Hopkins, and the Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Department at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Dr. Busby completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD). She currently is the Assistant Director at the Developmental Assessment and Intervention Center (DAIC), where she conducts comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations and provides intervention services for children and families.

Call for a consultation &
Maximize Your Child's Potential!
Serving the New York City Tri-State Area
Located in Bedford Hills, NY
9 1 4 - 6 6 6 - 7 6 8 7