About
About Clare Kordyback PhD
Clare Kordyback is a registered Psychologist serving young people and their parents in the heart of North Toronto (Yonge and Sheppard) in the areas of school psychology and related mental health. She has worked in large pediatric hospitals, developmental clinics, community health agencies, private practices, and schoolboards. Currently, she is working with a local school board as a psychologist where she provides assessment services, consultation, counselling, and professional development.
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Clare’s training, research, and therapeutic interests have focused on assessment and intervention for neurodiverse children and adolescents, and young people with learning, developmental, attentional, and behavioral difficulties. In addition, Clare supports children, adolescents, and their families who are wanting to improve their regulation skills, navigate community and schools supports, develop and implement strategies to be used at home, and manage school related anxiety (e.g., social, academic, transition, separation).
Clare uses a strength-based approach, which identifies and focuses on your child’s strengths and uses them to mitigate areas of struggle through tailored assessment recommendations, coping skill acquisition, play, and talk therapy. Clare has provided individual and group therapy with clients from diverse backgrounds and presenting concerns, using a skills-based approach in a variety of settings.
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Clare is registered with the College of Psychologists (#7311) and is a member of the Ontario Psychological Association.
Education
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B.A. (Honours) in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin
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M.A. in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin
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PhD in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Assessment Types
AUTISM ASSESSMENT
An assessment to evaluate for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) involves:
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A developmental interview completed with parents/guardians
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A semi-structured interview using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS-2) with your child
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Questionnaires.
An autism assessment can be combined with a full psycho-educational assessment to gain a fuller understanding of your child’s cognitive, behavioural, and academic profile. This evaluation can support your family to better understand your child’s strengths, explain the root of some of their challenges, and support therapeutic decision making to promote positive outcomes. By better understanding your child’s unique profile, treatment can be better curated to their unique needs and depending on the results of the assessment, public funding can become more accessible.
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Clare has a passion for ASD assessment which is complemented by her experience working at university health centres, developmental clinics, local school boards, and in private practice.
ADHD ASSESSMENT
Attention Deficit / Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity which significantly impacts at least one major aspect of a child’s life (e.g, academically, socially etc.,) across two or more settings (e.g., home and school). There are several types of ADHD presentations, depending on your child’s symptoms and severity. For more information, please visit http://caddac.ca.
An assessment of ADHD with Clare involves:
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Standardized measures
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Observations
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Parent interviews
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Questionnaires
Exploring a potential diagnosis of ADHD with a psychologist provides a holistic approach to understanding your child. An assessment will help identify your child’s areas of strengths while exploring the root cause of their struggles. Information garnered from an assessment will support you in understanding how to accommodate your child across settings, guide therapeutic goals, and access parental coaching to best meet the needs of your child’s unique profile.
It is essential to carefully consider other factors which may be impacting your child’s behaviour (e.g., mood concerns, learning difficulties, conduct problems) through a thorough evaluation. ADHD can exacerbate other challenges such as learning, and a full psycho-educational assessment may be recommended based on your child’s individual needs.
PSYCHO-EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT
​​​​​​​​​​​The purpose of a psycho-educational assessment is to better understand your child’s strengths and areas of growth by exploring their intellectual and academic profile. These areas of growth can then be targeted through empirically validated intervention, additional support through parent coaching, and curated accommodations to meet their unique needs. With your consent, the information garnered from a psycho-educational assessment can be shared with your child’s school and may be used to help develop and/or enhance your child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP).
A psycho-educational assessment involves:
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An in-depth evaluation of your child's intellectual, academic, and adaptive skills using standardised measures
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Parent interviews
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Questionnaires
Clare will explore your child’s cognitive processing skills that are essential to learning, such as memory (e.g., visual, verbal, immediate, delayed), language processing (e.g., listening comprehension, phonological awareness), visual/motor processing (e.g., motor control, visual-motor integration, visual perception), and executive functioning skills. In order to complete such an in-depth analysis of your child’s intellectual and academic skills, the assessment is completed across more than one testing session to ensure your child has a positive experience. After a feedback session, where you are welcome to ask questions, you will receive a written report which includes you child’s results, any diagnoses, and individualized recommendations.
GIFTED ASSESSMENT
When children appear very bright and are bored or unchallenged in the classroom, a gifted assessment may be an appropriate next step. If your child appears very bright, but is struggling academically, further assessment will be recommended to find the root of their challenges. Gifted assessments are also known as an “intellectual assessment” or an “IQ” test.
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A gifted assessment involves one testing session with Clare, which can take several hours, and includes:
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Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 5th edition (WISC-5)
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Questionnaire
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By assessing to better understand your child’s intellectual profile, your child may qualify for a specialized classroom placement (e.g., the gifted program) and/or the information can be helpful in assisting school personnel and parents to appropriately implement strategies to meet the needs of your child. The results of the assessment will be provided to families in a written report which include individual scores and can be shared by you, with your child’s school.
Assessment Fees
ASD Assessment
$2880
Gifted Assessment
$1200
ADHD Assessment
Starting from $1920
Parent Coaching
$240/hour
Psycho-Ed Assessment
Starting from $3840
Therapeutic Skill Building
$240/hour
Insurance Policy
Insurance
At this time, psychological services are not covered by OHIP. Fees may be partially or fully covered by extended health benefit plans (e.g. OTIP, Manulife Financial, Sunlife Financial, Great West Life). Please contact your insurance provider for further information about reimbursement. It is important to identify the type of clinician your insurance provider covers (e.g., psychologist, psychological associate) in addition to which services (e.g., therapy, assessment) and hourly reimbursement (e.g., 100% up to a certain dollar amount per hour). All psychological services are considered a tax-deductible medical expense.