For over 50 years, the Evaluation Center for Learning has been dedicated to providing neuropsychological assessments that help children, adolescents, and young adults in the Chicagoland area grow into their potential.
How is the Evaluation Center for Learning different?
Experience and Approach
- Although all psychologists receive some training in assessment and diagnosis during graduate school, Dr. Edidin completed extensive specialized training in pediatric neuropsychology during her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago.
- Training at an academic medical center affiliated with a K–12 school and university had many benefits, including: 1) working with a culturally and socioeconomically diverse population of children, adolescents, and young adults; and 2) obtaining experience assessing individuals with a wide range of neurodevelopmental, academic, psychiatric, and medical concerns.
- Dr. Edidin subsequently collaborated with the learning disorder specialists at the Evaluation Center for Learning for many years and continues to employ an interdisciplinary lens to provide comprehensive, strengths-based neuropsychological assessments.
- Her neuropsychological assessment model integrates aspects of cognitive, academic, social-emotional, and behavioral functioning to understand each child’s strengths and challenges.
The Practice
- Dr. Edidin schedules a small number of assessments each month. This allows her to focus on each student with whom she works and accommodate students’ and their parents’ busy schedules. Students work exclusively with Dr. Edidin and never with trainees or other support staff.
- Dr. Edidin completes reports in a timely fashion to help parents expedite the acquisition of services. Her reports are tailored to be beneficial to parents, school staff, physicians, therapists, and other clinicians who work with the student.
- Payment plans are available when needed, so cost does not preclude children from receiving needed services.
About Dr. Edidin
Dr. Edidin received her B.A. in Italian from Middlebury College and studied in Florence for a year. She planned to pursue a career in medicine but developed an interest in psychology while working at a residential home for abused and neglected children after college. Having not taken any psychology courses during college, Dr. Edidin decided to explore the field by completing a master’s program in psychology at Boston University. She subsequently earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with a specialty in children and families, from Loyola University Chicago. During her coursework and clinical rotations, Dr. Edidin found that pediatric neuropsychology integrated her interests in child development, developmental psychopathology, and medicine. Consequently, she specialized in pediatric neuropsychology during her predoctoral internship and two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago.
During her training, Dr. Edidin pursued research in the areas of neurocognitive and psychiatric functioning in homeless youth and anxiety and coping in Black youth. Her thesis and dissertation examined psychosocial development in emerging adults. She also helped to develop an executive functioning intervention for high-risk adolescents. Dr. Edidin has published numerous book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, and she has presented her research at national conferences. Additionally, as a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) trainee, she gained advanced multidisciplinary training to support the needs of individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Dr. Edidin joined the Evaluation Center for Learning (ECFL) in 2012. Dr. Edidin has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center since 2014. She works in Rush’s Road Home Program, which serves veterans and their families. Her CV can be found here.Dr. Edidin grew up in north suburban Chicago. She now lives in the community with her husband, two sons, and their dog, Duncan. In her free time, she enjoys being active outdoors, spending time with her family and friends, baking, and reading.
If you are interested in a neuropsychological assessment or would like to ask us any questions to determine if it is right for your child, please contact us.