DEVELOPMENTAL & NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
Tanya Y. Banda, PhD (she/her)
Director of Testing Services
Dr. Tanya Banda is a bilingual (Spanish) Licensed Psychologist and Director of Testing Services at Strong Foundations. She has a specialization in the assessment and diagnosis of young children, adolescents, and adults. Throughout her training, she has worked in both schools and outpatient settings, and has also worked collaboratively with Head Start and other preschool programs to provide mental health consultation. Dr. Banda provides comprehensive assessments for autism, developmental delays, ADHD, learning disabilities, and mood disorders. She also has experience in the assessment of children in the foster system, focusing on the impact of stress and trauma on child development.
Dr. Banda tailors assessments to each individual’s needs and concerns, and develops assessment batteries that can guide further psychological, psychiatric, and/or educational intervention. Following assessments, Dr. Banda will continue to work with families who are in need of ongoing support to understand results of the evaluation or to follow through with recommendations. In addition to assessment, Dr. Banda enjoys working with families to provide developmental guidance to improve the parent-child relationship and address common behavioral concerns in early childhood. Dr. Banda’s treatment approach is based on attachment theory and the benefits of positive parenting. Her goal is to help families learn how to guide children in developing emotional and behavioral regulation while strengthening familial relationships.
She obtained her doctoral degree in School Psychology from Texas A&M University and completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in infant and early childhood mental health at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
Lea LaPointe, PsyD (she/her)
Dr. Lea LaPointe is a Licensed Psychologist with specialization in the assessment and diagnosis of teens and adults. Dr. LaPointe provides psychological evaluations for questions related to autism, ADHD, mood, personality, intellectual functioning, and learning disorders.
Dr. LaPointe believes in thorough and comprehensive evaluations meaning all available information will be considered. She does not rely solely on test scores or results without integrating relevant information from other sources. Dr. LaPointe views the evaluation process as collaborative and enjoys working together with clients to help them find the missing piece of the puzzle. She approaches all evaluations from an individualized and strengths-based perspective, honoring diversity in all forms. Her ultimate goal is to provide her clients with clarity, direction,
and personalized recommendations to help them achieve success.
Dr. LaPointe obtained her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Arizona School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Phoenix.
James Orth, PhD (he/him)
Dr. Orth is a Licensed Psychologist whose career has focused upon services for children and adolescents and their families in diverse settings including hospitals and residential programs, schools, clinics, private practice, and in-home programs. Dr. Orth’s current specialization is the provision of comprehensive psychological evaluation services for children, adolescents, and young adults. Dr. Orth draws upon more than thirty years of experience evaluating children and adolescents with complex presentations, many of whom have received prior evaluations and
interventions yet continue to have challenges functioning in their lives. Referral questions commonly include ADHD and executive skills, learning differences, Autism Spectrum, memory and information processing concerns, anxiety, mood problems, and social-relationship challenges.
Dr. Orth has always directly administered assessments due to the value of direct observation of the child. Dr. Orth believes that at the heart of a useful evaluation is a strong collaboration with the parents. This includes taking the time to walk through details of the evaluation results and to thoroughly discuss findings regarding: the child’s strengths and challenges; diagnosis, with causes and symptoms related to the diagnosis; possible interventions and supports, including benefits and risks for each; and implications for longer-term development. The goal is to provide each family with understanding, hope, and a sense of direction through compassionate understanding of the child’s
unique functioning and development of an individualized plan to help.
Dr. Orth completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Miami University. Dr. Orth’s post-doctoral training included completion of a two-year infancy and early childhood mental health program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. He is Board Certified in the specialty of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (ABPP).