Dr. Adam Bruno, LMFT, LEP

Dr. Adam Bruno, LMFT, LEP I'm a psychologist, therapist, and educator trying to make the world better. I do assessments, training, and expert witnessing.

Last week, I went with the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates to meet with legislators' offices. Our goal was to ...
05/14/2025

Last week, I went with the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates to meet with legislators' offices. Our goal was to defend special education in this country. I can confidently say from personal and professional experience that the entire educational system in this country has its flaws. However, eliminating the Department of Education, especially unilaterally, would be absolutely disastrous. I'll probably get into that on another post if people are interested.

However, right now, I want to address the issue of cost and money. The biggest argument against funding education is how much it costs. In fact, IDEA has never been fully funded since its inception 50 years ago. It's understandably frustrating to hear arguments about how it's not doing what it's supposed to when it's never been properly funded. You can't demand catering for 1,000 people, only provide supplies to feed 300 people, and then complain that there's not enough food.

Secondly, this is a government not a business. The point of education isn't to turn a profit. It's to allocate our tax dollars to raising, educating, and enriching the next generation. It's an investment in the future that pays off in advances in medicine, engineering, and other technology.

Finally, I would like to address the oft-maligned humanities. Liberal arts, gender studies, African American studies, and the like. They are often decried as useless wastes of time and money. However, I think they're not only important but necessary. Without the humanities, we lose our empathy as a society and...well, our humanity. Besides, I've never heard somebody call the humanities useless who could accurately describe the course material.

Education doesn't just give you information; it also teaches you how to think. It teaches you to critically examine information, debunk misinformation, and explore the unfamiliar. And that's precisely what tyrants don't want.

We need a robust, effective, and accessible education system. That's the only way we can thrive.

05/05/2025

Despite having a degree in what many people consider to be a more lucrative field, I can still confidently say humanities are absolutely vital. Without it, we lose our empathy as a society and...oh. Oh, right.

02/04/2025

Lately, I've been getting an uptick in parental alienation cases as an expert. I've also had more instances of parental alienation in my private practice than I can count.

Since it's been on my mind, I figured I'd make a PSA about what parental alienation is. I will not be getting into how to combat it because I won't be able to fit both its description and strategies to deal with it in a single post. Maybe in the future if there are requests.

Parental alienation is when one parent, through words, actions, and/or other behaviors, causes their child to become fearful, avoidant, or antagonistic to the other parent. This can (and often does) also include the other parent's new partner. Parental alienation can be unintentional, but it is usually deliberate.

Examples of parental alienation include exaggerated denigration or "badmouthing" the other parent to the child, such as "Your father would've been in town for your birthday if you were actually important to him" or "Your mother only cares about her new family now." Ironically, telling your child that the other parent is alienating them can itself be an example of parental alienation.

As you can see, this is a sticky situation. Parental alienation is almost as hard to prove as it is to disprove. Without (and often, even with) extensive documentation, parental alienation often boils down to one parent's word against the other's. To top it all off, it's not unheard of for both parents to be engaged in parental alienation, knowingly or otherwise.

If anyone has any questions, you're welcome to ask them here or send me a message. You can also share some of your own stories if you'd like, but remember this is a public forum so you might want to be discerning with the self-disclosure.

So many people are frothing at the mouth and spitting venom at Right Rev. Marianne Budde. What was it she said that was ...
01/24/2025

So many people are frothing at the mouth and spitting venom at Right Rev. Marianne Budde. What was it she said that was so incendiary? Here it is for those who don't want to look it up.

“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you and, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, le***an and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meat packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals. They…may not be citizens or have the proper documentation. But the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurudwaras and temples.

"I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people. Good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen."

Trump's response?

He demanded a public apology from the Episcopal Church and Budde, who he called a “Radical Left hard line Trump hater” who “brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way” and was “nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart” on Truth Social early Tuesday.

Speaking at the White House afterwards, Trump said the service was “not too exciting” and added “I didn’t think it was a good service…They could do much better.”

I don't know how to tell you this, but asking for kindness, compassion, and mercy isn't "Radical Left," and if you think it makes you a Trump hater, then you're following the wrong person and the wrong religion...which apparently worships King TrumpJesus.

Trump is not your Messiah. He is the reflection of the worst of humanity.

Source: Forbes

01/07/2025

A few questions have come up quite a bit lately when I tell people what I do. I mean, what does an expert witness do, exactly?

I write reports and give testimony in the areas of psychology (including neurodivergence and trauma), education, LGBTQIA+ issues, and disability access. Those are more niches than most experts have, but I have two professional licenses, three professional credentials, an assistive technology certification, a doctorate, and a partridge in a pear tree. I am not a jack of all trades; I am a master of many.

It is my job to review all relevant documentation, speak to any relevant parties, and then deliver my report or give testimony in front of a lawyer for the opposing side who wants to make me look like an idiot at best and wants to end my career at worst. Not all attorneys keep it above the belt, as it were. There's a reason why they call this a combat sport.

So, what if the person who retained me doesn't like my opinion?

Well, I find what I find. I will be tactful, open-minded, and collaborative, but I am not a hired gun. Right about now, I have given about 75% favorable opinions after being retained. There's nothing wrong with that number; it doesn't need to go up or down and it wouldn't be bad if it did. My job isn't to win the case. My job is to help the retaining party find the truth, and luckily I am very good at that. Sometimes that truth is, "Here's something that everyone missed, and I believe this will help you win your case handily." Sometimes that truth is, "Here are all the legitimate things the other side can get you on; it's up to you, but you might want to settle."

My opinion comes from decades of personal and professional experience, 10+ years of post-graduate education, an admittedly rather obsessive focus on quality and continued growth, and a genuine desire to uphold the highest levels of integrity. That's why I need to be confident in my opinion before I face people who want to tear it (and me) apart.

This is a combat sport, often on multiple fronts at once. I need to have a thick skin, unwavering integrity, an eye for detail, and extremely good self-control, among plenty of other things. If I don't, my career is over.

I do know this, however: I'm in the right profession. This feels right. I don't fear aggression from the opposing counsel; I look forward to handling it professionally and diplomatically. I don't even fear the unprofessional aggression that sometimes happens during depositions because I'm pretty sure that means I'm winning. Maybe it's because my father, who was an expert himself, taught me a bunch of his tricks. Or maybe it's just in my blood.

Anyway, that's what I do. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for reading!

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is much more insidious and yet prevalent than many people think. These symptoms don't alway...
01/06/2025

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is much more insidious and yet prevalent than many people think. These symptoms don't always immediately show up; they can manifest within a few minutes or hours of the injury, or even days or weeks later.

If you or someone you know has taken a blow to the head and starts experiencing these symptoms, you should get them checked out immediately. Then again, anytime someone is hit on the head, it's probably a good idea to have them looked at.

12/21/2024

I know a lot of opponents of the supports often lumped into the catch-all label of "socialism" argue that if people don't have to work to survive, they'll sit around and do nothing. I respectfully disagree. I think when people don't have to worry about being one missed paycheck away from financial ruin, they'll be able to do amazing things.

Art, science, philosophy. How much more of them can we explore if we can focus on what we love rather than what we have to do to survive?

Shame must change sides. All too often we as a society blame the victim. We need to place the blame where it's always be...
12/20/2024

Shame must change sides. All too often we as a society blame the victim. We need to place the blame where it's always been: on the perpetrators.

10/24/2024

As an expert witness and independent evaluator, I have a saying: I find what I find.

In the course of my document review, testing, interviewing, and other information gathering, I efficiently and thoroughly analyze the case data. I ask any necessary follow-up questions and request any appropriate additional information. Only then do I arrive at my expert opinion.

My expert opinion is not always in the retaining party's favor. While this may seem detrimental, I consider it just as important as a favorable opinion. This is for two primary reasons.

1. If a lawyer knows they don't have a strong case, they can opt to settle instead of fighting to the end, which can save a lot of time and money. Nobody wants to be dragged into a costly loss by a flimsy and biased opinion.

2. I hold myself to an extremely high standard of integrity and I want this to be obvious to those who work with me. I want them to know that I'll be honest with them. This way, they'll know if I give them a favorable opinion, I'll be able to defend it under cross examination.

So, yeah. It's a policy I inherited from my father who used to do similar work. I find what I find.

10/04/2024

The following is about fact checking on as objective a level as I can manage. Read on if you'd like.

As a professional who has completed multiple research projects and written many, many papers, I want to touch on the concept of fact checking. To be clear, this is not meant to be a partisan post, because integrity itself should not be partisan. I'm sure I'll ruffle some feathers anyway.

By definition, in order to fact check, you need...well, facts. This means reputable sources and statistics need to be cited. For example, if I'm writing a psych report on a student, I can't just say they have ADHD. I need to include the data that supports it, such as a diagnosis. If I claim the student is failing all their classes, I need to make sure that's accurate, preferably by providing proof. If I don't, and the school counters my claim with report card information that shows the student is not failing all their classes, then they're fact checking me, and thus proving me wrong. Of course, they need to make sure that their facts are accurate, in turn.

Even my expert opinion must be based on facts. If someone fact checks me and disproves the foundation upon which my expert opinion is built, then my opinion is invalidated and I look like a fool. There are two ways for me to avoid this. The first is disallow or otherwise prevent fact checking in the first place. The second is to do my research and make sure that I get the facts correctly, and take accountability if I make a mistake.

One of these options makes me rightly look thin-skinned at best and utterly disingenuous at worst. The other represents me as a reasonable person who conducts themselves with integrity.

This is why complaining about or trying to prevent fact checking draws so much disapproval and ridicule; it's clear that a person is taking an indefensible position and then whining when they're called out on it. They're not the type of person I'd want to work with, or for. And they're not the type of person that should be in charge of anyone, let alone an entire country.

That's it. Thank you for reading. Feel free to share if you agree. Or don't; I'm sure there will be more than a fair share of tantrums in the comments.

10/02/2024

Let's talk special education! There are multiple conditions that make a student eligible for special education, and barring some exceptions, a student can qualify under multiple eligiblities. Of course, testing is important; the IEP team must conclude that these conditions significant and adversely impact academic performance and/or the ability to access the school curriculum. That said, there are 13 eligibility categories (not counting Developmental Delay, which is not a long-term eligibility), listed below in alphabetical order:

1. Autism. This does not mean that student needs a doctor's diagnosis, nor will a doctor's diagnosis ensure the eligibility. This is strictly about the behaviors and deficits impact the student's education.

2. Deaf-blindness. This means that the student has simultaneous hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with only one of these conditions.

3. Deafness (Also called Deaf Hard of Hearing or DHH). This means that a student cannot process linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.

4. Emotional Disturbance (ED). This includes everything from oppositional defiant disorder and depression to schizophrenia. To qualify for this, the symptoms cannot be better explained by something like autism. White a doctor's diagnosis is helpful, it is not required; much like with autism, this is strictly about the behaviors and deficits that impact the student's education.

5. Hearing Impairment (HI). This means a hearing impairment that adversely affects the student's performance, but is not severe enough to qualify as DHH.

6. Intellectual Disability (ID). This means significantly below average cognitive functioning along with deficits in adaptive behavior. The student cannot have just one; they must have both.

7. Multiple Disabilities (MD). There must be multiple impairments (such as ID and DHH), and they must each be significant enough that the student could not be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with only one of these conditions. This does NOT include Deaf-blindness, which is its own category listed above.

8. Orthopedic Impairment (OI). Understandably, this focuses primarily on mobility, but can include everything from injuries to cerebral palsy to a missing limb.

9. Other Health Impaired (OHI). This is an oft-misunderstood one. An OHI refers to having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment. This includes anything from ADHD to asthma to a host of other conditions. It should be known that while certainly helpful, a diagnosis is NOT required; the IEP team only must agree that the student has a health condition. Understandably, that can be much easier with a diagnosis.

10. Specific Learning Disability (SLD). This is another frequently misunderstood one. Unlike with ID, the student has age-appropriate cognitive ability, but it is the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language (whether spoken or written), that are impaired. Dyslexia is a good example of this. However, SLD does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, ID, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.

11. Speech and Language Impairment (SLI). This can be anything from stuttering to a medical vocal impairment or selective mutism.

12. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition, language, memory, processing, and motor abilities.

13. Visual Impairment (VI). This eligibility refers to an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects the student's educational performance. This includes both partial sight and blindness.

These are the basic summaries; I could talk about these all day and still have more to tell you. If you have any questions or want me to go in-depth on a particular eligibility in another post, please let me know in the comments. Feel free to share your own examples, as well.

Source: Barclays Official California Code of Regulations Title 5.

One of my neurodivergent kids made this Bingo card for the school neurodivergence club, and honestly, I'm so proud. The ...
09/19/2024

One of my neurodivergent kids made this Bingo card for the school neurodivergence club, and honestly, I'm so proud. The club is dedicated to informing themselves and neurotypical people of various neurodivergent traits and how best to cope or help cope with them.

NOTE: I know that "autistic" and "neurodivergent" are better words for this than "autism," but that's what the student put and it's a bit too late to change things.

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