Psycho-Educational Support For Children, Parents, & Families
School Neuropsychological Evaluation
Assesses your child’s abilities: cognitive, academic achievement, information processing, general emotional and behavior. This type of assessment determines if your child has a learning disability or other issues that negatively impact his or her ability to learn.
Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)
An IEE is an Independent Educational Evaluation. It’s a private evaluation given to children by a professional unaffiliated with your child’s school to help you learn more about your child’s needs and the way they learn. The term IEE comes from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA states that the purpose of this evaluation is “to determine whether a child is a child with a disability,” if that disability has an impact on the child’s education, and if the child is in need of specially designed instruction.Evaluates skills related to your child’s educational needs, such as behavior, social skills, cognitive, and academic skills.
Counseling and Coaching
Social Skills
Mindfulness
Executive Functioning Coaching
Academic Coaching
Self Advocacy
Emotional Regulation
Anxiety
Consultation
Learning Concerns
Social Emotional Concerns
Behavior Management Planning
Understanding your child’s IEP/504 plan and collaborating with your child’s school.
Our Practice Philosophy
A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH
With a collaborative and positive school approach to evaluation and psycho-educational services, we offer families and students the information and tools they need to be successful in the learning environment. When assessing, we use an ecological and cross-cultural lens to understand how children develop and function. As we provide assessment and consultation services to students, schools, and parents, we consider how various settings, factors, and experiences of students impact their current functioning and progress.
NAVIGATING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM
Our team helps parents navigate the complexities of the school system and the social emotional challenges their children face. We work together with parents to help them communicate effectively with teachers, support specialists, and administrators, in developing strategies to support the child at home and at school. In interpreting school and private assessments and collaborating with school personnel, we focus on integrating and highlighting intellectual strengths, social, and communication skills to be certain that all interventions are effective and work for the child.
Meet Karen Veinbergs
Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP)
Diplomate, American Board of School Neuropsychology (ABSNP)
Karen is a bilingual licensed educational psychologist, certified school psychologist, and certified school counselor. With over 15 years of working in the public schools setting, she has a thorough understanding of students with exceptional needs. Karen has worked within several school districts in San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston Massachusetts. She has experience working in various settings including, urban, suburban, public, nonpublic schools, and private schools. She has ample experience working with students with a wide range of ages, needs, disabilities, cultures, linguistic backgrounds, and developmental levels. As a native Spanish speaker born in Mexico City, she is well-equipped to conduct bilingual School Neuro-Psychological assessments that take cultural and linguistic diversity into consideration while also considering factors such as immigration and acculturation history.
Meet Sarah Vakharia
Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP)
Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP)
Diplomate, American Board of School Neuropsychology (ABSNP)
Sarah is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), Licensed Educational Psychologist (LEP) and American Board Certified School Neuropsychologist (ABSNP) with over 2 decades experience providing support to neurodiverse children. Her drive and focus is to support families in understanding their child’s learning profile and assist them in navigating the support they will need to be successful socially, emotionally and academically. She is skilled in consulting with parents and school teams on comprehensive educational assessments, educational disabilities, research-based interventions and accommodations for academic and behavioral issues. Sarah has a thorough understanding of the brain-behavior relationships that impact learning and strives to connect children and families to resources that will help them continue to grow as learners.
Meet Laura Katz
Licensed Educational Psychologist (Contractor)
Laura Katz, Ph.D., LEP, NCSP, is a licensed educational psychologist and a nationally certified school psychologist. Dr. Katz has over a decade of experience as a school psychologist, which provides her unique insights into how children function in the school settings and enables her to collaborate with teachers and other school-based professionals to create specific academic, behavioral and social- emotional interventions that boost a child’s functioning. Dr. Katz has extensive experience evaluating students from infancy through young adulthood in a wide range of educational settings and she has consulted effectively with staff from public and private schools, nonpublic schools, alternative high schools, independent private schools, residential treatment centers, home hospital and independent study programs in rural, suburban and urban settings. Dr. Katz has specialized training to understand a child’s underlying cognitive processes and explore the impact of a child’s environment upon their functioning. In this way, Dr. Katz is able to collaborate with the important adults in a child’s life to problem-solve and implement simple, practical solutions to set children up for success.
Meet Jayme Copans
Learning Specialist
Jayme is a state licensed elementary school teacher with a M.Ed. in Literacy Education. With over two decades dedicated to shaping young minds, Jayme is a seasoned educator passionate about nurturing the next generation. Throughout her journey in education, she has had the privilege of guiding students through their formative years, instilling a love for learning and fostering personal growth. Jayme brings over 20 years of experience in both public and private school settings, providing her with a deep understanding of diverse student needs. Her career has spanned multiple schools across California, New York, and New Jersey, encompassing urban, suburban, public, and private environments.
Testimonials
JA
"Mrs. Veinbergs is an incredible human being who really cares about children. My daughter felt very comfortable at all times during the evaluation processes. The evaluation was detailed, professional, informative, and had relevant recommendations. Mrs. Veinbergs was flexible and went above and beyond to make our daughter feel comfortable. She even drove to go to our home on one occasion to assess our daughter who was hesitant about testing. Our home is bilingual and bicultural. Mrs. Veinbergs’s years of experience with bilingual assessments is evident. Being a native Spanish speaker herself, she was able to explain with detail the difference between typical second language acquisition development and a reading disability. Furthermore, she took the time to meet with the staff and us at my daughter's school to review the assessment results, collaborate, and to come up with the best educational support plan. I highly recommend Mrs Veinbergs!”
CC
I was so grateful to meet Karen Veinbergs, who quickly established a rapport with my 15 year old daughter, not an easy task with an uncommunicative teenager. She helped support her through a really tough few months of school, gave me guidance and valuable advice, as well as informed me on what resources are available through our school. Karen helped us navigate the assessment process and understand the outcomes. She made the whole process so much clearer, which reduced our stress and anxiety. Working with Karen was a really positive experience.
“Mrs. Veinbergs really went above and beyond to answer any questions or concerns and to make sure that I was empowered to make the most appropriate decisions about my child’s education. She was extremely responsive. Mrs. Veinbergs even responded over the weekend and took her time to answer my questions. Her positive disposition was breath of fresh air during this difficult process.”
NS
“We had an excellent experience with Karen Veinbergs. Our 17-year old daughter was originally reluctant to be evaluated, but due to Karen’s compassion and ability to easily connect with children/teens, our daughter automatically felt “safe” and optimistic. Karen has a remarkable ability to understand each student as a whole, integrating their educational, emotional and social needs. Receiving results about your child can be very stressful, but Karen was very supportive, responsive and made sure that we fully understood every detail. To the day (one year after having received the results) she continues to offer us support and is always available to answer any doubts we may have.”
JB
"We were concerned about our 8 year old son’s inability to focus on teacher-instructed tasks, complete quality assignments and stick with a plan. Enter: Sarah Vakharia! Sarah performed a multifaceted, in-depth School Neuro-Psychological assessment and was instrumental in getting our son the appropriate help he needed to thrive at school and at home. From beginning to end — from the start of the evaluation through to the detailed explanations of her findings, the ADHD-Combined diagnosis and recommendations, to the collaboration with our son’s school, Sarah was supportive, thorough, and sensitive to our son’s needs. With her unparalleled talent of working with kids and their parents, busy teachers and school administrators, it was clear that Sarah is the professional we needed!
Combining her years of knowledge and her true understanding of who our son is, Sarah was clear and confident. As only one example, she recommended occupational therapy as a part of his IEP. It was Sarah’s evidentiary support and training us on being better advocates that convinced the school that the service was warranted, which the school would not have otherwise considered. Through her great expertise and thoroughness, Sarah earns the respect of school administrators, and more importantly, shows that she is truly invested in your young one’s success!"
RK
“Our family had the privilege of working with Sarah Vakharia during the evaluation process of our daughter (age 10). From the beginning, Sarah clearly communicated what we could expect from the overall process and nuances of evaluation. Throughout the evaluation, it was clear that Sarah is both extremely passionate and knowledgeable about her work, as she took time to encourage and explain concepts to our daughter that were easily understood. This included empowering our daughter to better understand how her brain works, as well as her strengths and areas for growth. Further, Sarah gave our daughter (and our family) specific tools, resources, and strategies to use to overcome the various learning challenges she was diagnosed with.
During the reporting phase of the process, Sarah presented a thorough analysis of the data, but did so in a way that was easy to follow. Sarah also encouraged and welcomed questions for clarification. Her overall analysis, ability to communicate the findings, and her recommendations for next steps left us well-informed and incredibly grateful. It is without hesitation that we would recommend Sarah Vakharia to other families who are looking for the unique combination of an incredibly smart, passionate, and kind professional.”
DZ
“My daughter and I had an outstanding experience working with Karen Veinbergs to complete a private psychoeducational assessment. After the public school district determined my daughter did not qualify for an assessment, Karen worked with me to appeal their decision. Even though we were not successful with the appeal through the district, it was an initial glimpse into Karen's high level of professionalism and empathy. During the private assessment that Karen conducted, she calmed my daughter's initial butterflies and made her feel as comfortable as possible. Karen's final report was extremely detailed, useful, and she spent over an hour reviewing it with me to answer my questions. It was clear Karen has many years of experience. My daughter's school counselor commented that it was one of the most thorough reports that she had seen. I highly recommend Karen Veinbergs!"
Contact us
858-208-0639
admin@pecgroupsd.com
5405 Morehouse Dr.
Suite 230
San Diego, CA 92121
