Dr. Dominick Auciello
I am a neuropsychologist providing neuropsychological assessments to preschoolers through young adults with learning and psychiatric issues. My primary goals are to provide families with thorough evaluations, timely reports written in user-friendly language, and a willingness to collaborate with school personnel and other professionals who may be working with their child.
Following a combined 15 years of experience at the NYU Child Study Center and Child Mind Institute, I have a broad based understanding of the many issues that our children, teens, and young adults may face – whether one wants a better understanding of the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning differences, or a diagnostic area needs further investigation, such as learning disabilities, ADHD, autism spectrum, language delay, social-emotional difficulties, or any number of neurological conditions that may impact upon learning and academic achievement.
I have had extensive experience helping families and those professionals working with them to determine and secure appropriate educational settings for their children and to decide upon a suitable plan for therapies and related services, as well as to establish specific strategies and accommodations to help students succeed. I specialize in designing individualized education plans that connect kids with varying personalities, learning styles, and mental health conditions to their classroom activities. My education plans are based on the most current science we have on learning and interventions, and my reports are comprehensive, easy to understand, and contain recommendations that can be implemented by teachers and parents.
In addition to neuropsychological and psychoeducational testing evaluations, I also provide writing remediation, psychotherapy, and the Cogmed Working Memory Training program. Further information about these can be found by clicking on the links above.
Background
I earned my doctorate and a master’s degrees in clinical psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. During graduate school, I gained a great deal of experience with psychological testing, working with children and adults. I completed an internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where I provided neuropsychological assessments, as well as individual and group psychotherapy to adults with psychiatric, neurological, and substance abuse disorders.
I then underwent a two-year post-doctoral training program in pediatric neuropsychology with the NYU Child Study Center’s Institute for Learning and Academic Achievement. During my tenure at NYU, I provided neuropsychological evaluations and treatment for a wide range of clinical issues. I also served as an associate research scientist at the NYU Child Study Center. In this role, I participated in research into cognitive processes that define various learning disorders, difficulties children with ADHD have expressing themselves in writing, and the connection between Celiac disease and cognitive functioning.
As a clinical assistant professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine, I trained psychology fellows, interns, and externs in the nuances of administering and interpreting neuropsychological assessments. I placed special emphasis on a clear and concise style of report writing. I also instructed child psychiatry fellows in the NYU Child Study Center’s Family Studies Program and led numerous seminars on learning disorders and other conditions that affect academic performance.
In 2010, I became a founding member of the Child Mind Institute's multidisciplinary clinical program as a senior neuropsychologist, continuing my work with neuropsychological evaluations, writing remediation, and psychotherapy, in addition to engaging in clinical and research applications of the Cogmed Working Memory Training program. As with my time at NYU, I had opportunities to lecture about my areas of interest to many diverse audiences. Clinically, I had the opportunity to evaluate children and young adults from the tri-state area, across the country, and many from other countries to assist with their educational planning. I developed and implemented the Summer Scribblers writing program, an intensive writing intervention. As the Director of Clinical Training, I oversaw the training of post-doctoral fellows, interns, and externs, as well as coordinating an externship training program in neuropsychology.
I started my private practice in November 2014, continuing to offer evaluations and other services, as well as a psychology externship training program at my Union Square office.