About Dr. Dawson

Dr. Dawson is a pediatric neuropsychologist with over 25 years of experience. She has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology with intensive pre-doctoral and post-doctoral specialty training in pediatric neuropsychology, including a specialty internship in pediatric neuropsychology at University of Chicago and two years of post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Dawson worked as an attending pediatric neuropsychologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, the pediatric teaching hospital for Baylor College of Medicine, and as a consultant for The Parish School, a private school in Houston, TX for children with communication impairments and Autism spectrum disorders. She has been in private practice since 1999 and is the founder of Dawson Neurobehavioral Group.

Dr. Dawson evaluates children, adolescents and young adults with a wide range of presenting strengths and challenges. She has extensive expertise in (and passion for) dyslexia/reading disorders and language based learning challenges, nonverbal learning disability, gifted and twice exceptional, ADHD and executive function, autism spectrum/asperger syndrome and adoption/international adoption related issues, although she sees children and students with a wide range of presenting issues, including neurocognitive challenges secondary to medical and neurological disease and injury related issues (stroke, seizures/epilepsy, concussion, cancer and brain tumors, etc.) as well as genetic disorders. She has worked with families literally from around the world and is a sought after speaker.

Dr. Dawson was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska but has called the Chicago area home for over 30 years. She and her family have lived in Hinsdale since 2003. Dr. Dawson has two uniquely talented and bright children with learning and attention differences, both of whom were adopted. Thus, her “expertise” in such issues goes well beyond her professional expertise. She has truly “been there and done that” as a parent with the unique gifts and challenges of raising neurodivergent children with neurodevelopmental differences. Raising her children has taught her far more than any book or degree ever could! She uses her own experiences to help other parents navigate these waters. She has learned that it really does take a village, and she feels honored to be included in the village of so many families who seek her expertise!