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Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. NCSP |
Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. Psychologist
EMAIL: MJK@MargaretKay.com Specializing in the recognition and understanding of individual differences...
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Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. NCSP,
DABPS
Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. NCSP, DABPS is a licensed psychologist, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychological Specialties with Forensic Specialization in Educational and School Psychology. She is an adjunct professor for Pennsylvania State University and has provided in-service presentations and training programs for schools, legal associations, social service providers, corporations and various community-based agencies. Dr. Kay has also testified as an expert witness in State and Federal court and in Educational Due Process hearings for individuals with Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities (NLD), Asperger’s Syndrome, High Functioning Autism (HFA), Dysgraphia, Disorders of Written Expression, Tourette syndrome, and other specific learning disabilities. Dr. Kay has been in private practice since 1980 and is often relied upon by parents, attorneys and schools to perform Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE’s). She routinely provides input into educational program plans for school-age children, college students and adults and has assisted employers and licensing boards in providing reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals. To schedule an evaluation, click here. Letters of Recommendation
"Dr. Kay's 1997 evaluation was thorough and specific and was clearly
pitched, even more than to the Parents, to the District educators who could
profit from and utilize the material therein. Dr. Kay's evaluation and
recommendations, in fact, presented the District with a virtual blueprint
for developing an outstanding IEP for Brian if it chose to take advantage of
this rich and detailed diagnostic and prescriptive document generated at no
cost to itself."
PA Hearing officer B.H. vs. Cumberland Valley School
District March 2000 Dear Dr. Kay, I wanted to give you an update on my son J. You evaluated him for Asperger's and testified at the school district hearing (Haverford School District). J went to Vanguard for four years where he made amazing strides . When he was 16 we moved to South Carolina and he went to a regular high school and graduated with honors, he did this with no special education services. I am very proud to tell you J is in his freshman year at Drexel University, in the music industry program. He will be 19 in a few weeks and is an amazing young man. His passion is music and he plans to make it his career. We had so many wonderful people help us along the way, and you are one of the people that really made a difference in all our lives. J is really a success story; he has learned to make friends, drive a car, have a job and even has a steady girlfriend. I just wanted to take the time to thank you for all you do for so many kids and their families. Warmest Wishes, Dawn H Dear Dr. Kay: I wanted to give you some feedback on our son whom you diagnosed back in 2000 with NLD and later with Asperger's. At the time you evaluated him he was entering grade 5. He remained in public school halfway through grade 6. We then enrolled him in Lehigh Valley Lutheran School (K-8 with a total of 35 kids in the entire school). He remained in LVLS through 8th grade and received occupational therapy privately for about 9 months during grade 5. After graduating from LVLS, he enrolled in Notre Dame High School where he currently attends and in presently finishing grade 10. I wanted to let you know all the profound and remarkable things that have happened along this journey. By enrolling him in a small private school, this helped him gain his self esteem back. In grade 7 he began playing electric bass guitar. While attending high school, he began achieving honor roll - both first and second honors many times. He has continued playing his bass and takes lessons regularly and is very musically talented. He plays in the church contemporary band and he has also begun performing in a rock band with some friends. He recently auditioned for the LV school for the performing arts and just got notice today he has been accepted! And here's the real profound thing - he wants to go to college!!!! We feel our son’s story would have been dramatically different had we not pulled him out of public school. We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping us make the right decision. I remember the first thing out of your mouth when Terry and I came to get our son’s test results were - “Your son would do very well in a small private school." One other thing I wanted to mention - I had been going through some of his reports recently and noticed that you did some sort of evaluation where it showed that he might have a high level of musical or artistic ability. So it seems this test was right on the money! That self esteem was the key! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
With warm regards, Debbie M. Dr. Kay, Just a note to thank you for your presentation to our staff at Pocono Mountain. It was extremely informative and helpful. In addition, I feel you helped to validate what we already have in place for early intervention/screening and evaluations of students. It has been a pleasure to work with you. I look forward to our paths crossing again in the near future!!
Fondly,
Betsy Gustafson October 17, 2007 To Whom It May Concern: It gives me great pleasure to write a letter about my experiences with Dr. Margaret Kay in her role as an independent evaluator. In my role as Director of Special Education at Southern Lehigh School District, I receive many requests by parents for an independent evaluation. The parents usually have an independent evaluator that they want to use. I honor their requests and pay for the independent evaluation. Usually, an independent evaluation is not what I get. I can honestly say that in the case of Dr. Kay, she did a totally independent evaluation. Dr. Kay was willing to come to our school district and observe the specific student. This surprised me because the independent evaluators that our district has worked with previously were not willing to do this. Prior to her coming to our school district, Dr. Kay examined extensive paperwork on the student. It was obvious from the paperwork that the student involved had an extensive medical history. The student also used a communication device that Dr. Kay was not familiar with. Prior to her first visit to observe the student, Dr. Kay had researched the communication device and also had spoken to the assistive technology consultant at our Intermediate Unit so that she had a better understanding of the communication device. So before Dr. Kay first observed the student, she had become familiar with the student as well as her communication device. Dr. Kay also worked collaboratively with the school team in order to get a true and accurate picture of that student. After she did her first observation, she sent a written report of the observation to the school team to ask for their input. She wanted to make sure that what she had written down was as accurate as it could be. This was also something totally new for us. The team was very positively surprised. Throughout the entire evaluation, there was the utmost collaboration between Dr. Kay, the school team, and me. When Dr. Kay had completed her observations of the student and reported back to the team, the team had the utmost respect for Dr. Kay. Dr. Kay also did extensive individual testing on the student in order to get accurate assessments of the student. She met with the parents of the student as well, in order to get information from them. Dr. Kay also spoke again to the assistive technology consultant from the Intermediate Unit just to get additional information. At the end of the process, Dr. Kay sent a very thorough and useful report to the District which was shared with the school team. The school team used information from the report to revise the student’s IEP (Individualized Education Plan). The school team also asked for input from Dr. Kay in regards to ESY (Extended School Year) for the student. Dr. Kay gave input that was then used in recommendations for ESY for that summer. I can honestly say that my experience with Dr. Kay was very positive. She truly is an independent evaluator who looks thoroughly at a student and collaborates both with the parents and the school team. Her report was extremely thorough and very useful to the team. I would use Dr. Kay again as an evaluator. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 610-282-3121, ext: 5501 or by e-mail at Christie-churmm@slsd.com. Sincerely, Morag Christie-Churm, Director of Special Education To schedule an evaluation, click here. |
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