Should Students Know Their Own Diagnoses?

Podcasts & Interviews
Written By Gretchen Wegner

What happens when a student’s diagnosis could help them understand themselves—but the adults around them aren’t ready for them to know?

In this episode of The Academic Coaching Podcast, I talk with educational psychologist Dr. Liz Angoff about helping students become authentic collaborators in understanding their own brains, rather than simply telling them what an assessment says about them.

I also bring Liz a tricky situation straight from the Anti-Boring Learning Lab: a coach working with a teenager who wants more independence, struggles with executive functioning, and has recently received an autism diagnosis that his family is reluctant to share with him.

That leads us into a much bigger conversation about autonomy, support, collaboration, and what happens when we get curious about what's underneath a student's behavior instead of jumping straight to solutions.

And if you've ever helped a family figure out whether—or where—to pursue an assessment, stick around until the end. Liz shares two surprisingly simple questions that can tell you a lot about whether an assessor will actually help a family understand what comes next.

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One of my favorite things about the Anti-Boring Learning Lab is that coaches can bring real, messy student situations to a community of colleagues who are just as curious about the craft of coaching as they are.

And sometimes we get to bring those questions to outside experts, like Liz!

What I love about our conversation is how much our approaches overlap: helping students become collaborators in understanding their own brains, getting curious before jumping to solutions, using simple brain science, and treating strategies as experiments rather than prescriptions.

These are exactly the kinds of skills we practice in the Lab, alongside a community of educators who are continually learning from one another.

If you'd like to be part of a community where you can keep developing your coaching skills, asking tricky questions, and learning alongside other educators, come explore the Anti-Boring Learning Lab.

Explore the Anti-Boring Learning Lab →

Questions This Episode Answers

Why is it important for students to understand their own diagnoses?

Liz shares a heartbreaking experience with a student who broke down in tears when she began explaining his dyslexia assessment.

What she eventually realized was that the student had already developed his own explanation for why school was so hard. He believed he was stupid and lazy, and he was terrified that the assessment would confirm those beliefs.

That experience changed how Liz approaches assessments. Instead of simply explaining a diagnosis to students, she helps them become authentic collaborators in discovering how their own brains work.

How can we explain diagnoses to students without overwhelming them?

Liz introduces her "brain under construction" metaphor, which helps students explore their strengths, challenges, and the tools and people who support them.

Rather than starting with diagnostic labels, she starts with what students already know about themselves.

I was especially excited to discover how closely her metaphor connects with some of the brain science and learning strategies we teach in the Anti-Boring Toolkit!

And the best part? Liz has turned her approach into the Brain Building Books, which help practitioners guide these conversations with students.

What can coaches do when parents don't want their child to know their diagnosis?

I bring Liz a real coaching dilemma from an Anti-Boring Learning Lab member: a teenager who wants more independence but still relies heavily on his father for reminders and structure.

The family has also received a new autism diagnosis that they're hesitant to share with him.

Liz helps us explore why parents might be reluctant, how to support families in understanding a diagnosis, and what coaches can do to help a student even when they can't openly discuss the diagnostic information.

What if a student's challenging behavior is actually telling us something important?

When a student becomes verbally aggressive, refuses reminders, or resists adult expectations, it's tempting to focus on changing the behavior.

But Liz encourages us to get curious about what's happening underneath.

Drawing on psychologist Ross Greene's collaborative problem-solving approach, she explains how adults can listen to a student's perspective, share their own concerns, and work together to find solutions.

And sometimes the most useful information comes from asking a question nobody thought to ask before.

How do we balance student autonomy with the needs of parents and other adults?

We've all heard some version of "In the real world, you can't always get what you want."

But Liz challenges us to think differently about what the real world actually requires.

Adults make accommodations for themselves and each other all the time. So what if we helped students practice advocating for their needs while also considering the needs of others?

We explore what collaborative problem-solving can look like when everyone has legitimate needs—and when solutions become experiments rather than battles over who's right.

What should families look for when choosing an assessor?

Assessment can be expensive, overwhelming, and confusing for families. And getting a diagnosis doesn't necessarily mean knowing what to do next.

Liz shares two surprisingly simple questions that can help families evaluate an assessor, including why the experience of that very first conversation matters.

She also explains why the support families receive after an assessment can be just as important as the assessment itself.

What happens when families struggle to understand or accept assessment results?

Sometimes an assessment reveals something a family wasn't expecting. Sometimes parents disagree with the results. And sometimes families leave with a diagnosis but no clear understanding of what to do next.

Liz has encountered all of these situations in her work as an educational psychologist.

In her October 23, 2026 workshop, she's sharing what she's learned about navigating tricky assessment feedback conversations, especially when diagnoses are complex, surprising, or difficult for families to process.

If you're an assessor, academic coach, or educator who helps families make sense of assessment results, this conversation—and Liz's workshop—may be especially useful.

Explore Liz's Workshop and Webinars →

About Liz Angoff

Liz Angoff, Ph.D., is a Licensed Educational Psychologist with a Diplomate in School Neuropsychology, providing assessment and consultation services to children and their families in the Bay Area, CA.

She is the author of the Brain Building Books and Our Brains, empowering neurodivergent children to understand, celebrate, and advocate for their amazing brains.

More information about Dr. Liz and her work is available at www.ExplainingBrains.com.

Links + Resources

Gretchen Wegner
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