Neuropsychological and Psychological Evaluations
When is a Neuropsychological Evaluation Helpful?
A comprehensive evaluation is not always needed to develop beneficial treatment and support plans. However, there is important and rich information that can be learned to improve diagnostic clarity and develop more detailed recommendations with completing a full evaluation.
Broadly, if your child has an established history of neurological condition (s), then a neuropsychological evaluation may be best. If your child's medical/neurological history is not too contributory, then a consultation of psychological evaluation may be the best option.
Below are examples of different reasons why others seek these types of evaluations:
- My child has a chronic health condition that impacts their cognitive, learning, and emotional well-being (e.g., sleep disorder, brain trauma, very premature birth, epilepsy, as well as genetic and metabolic conditions); such evaluation could provide clarity on how their condition impacts overall emotional, academic, social, or behavioral outcomes. Other benefits may be a better understanding of overall cognitive strengths and weakness and create a baseline measure to track their development and most importantly, develop lasting helpful strategies that work!
- I wonder if my child has ADHD, Autism, Learning Disability, or something else?
- My child seems to have some difficulties with learning and struggles at school overall. Why and how can I help?
- Why is my child so disorganized? S/he has a lot of trouble planning and getting things done.
- We are trying everything, and our child continues to struggle, we need clarity and direction.
- Comprehension is difficult for my child. We have to explain things over and over.
- I think my child may need extra help or accommodations at school. How do we make this happen? I'm not sure what helps and it has been difficult to get the school on board.
- My child refuses to listen and everything is a battle. What can I do to improve overall communication and gain the right skills to better help my child?
If such concerns hit home , then it could be beneficial to start the process toward greater clarity and direction!
Will MY child benefit from this?
We view evaluations as a joint discovery journey where the aim is understanding and building solutions that work. How does it work? Is this the right step at this time?
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Accurate Diagnosis Underlies Best Developmental Outcomes:
Nothing compares to the joy of having a child and nothing can be more frustrating when questions arise about how they are developing concerning communication, behavior, and overall well-being. Our clinic is well suited for answering tough questions about the development and psychological functioning of very young children to very young adults (0-26 years of age). We pride ourselves on how we partner with our families to answer their questions about broad and more specific questions regarding diagnoses of autism, developmental delay, social difficulties, speech and language delay, as well as stressful behavior and emotional symptoms. Below is a step-by-step description of how we do this: The evaluation process across 4Steps:
Step-1) An Intake will be completed over the phone that may take up to 30 minutes.
Step-2) An in-person clinical interview designed to help the clinician and family document a detailed developmental history that will narrow down on the clinical concerns. A clear understanding of the child's system is fundamental. The child's system includes family individuals, personal factors, development, and the community at large including school systems. This will include several rating scales and review of any relevant and available records (highly encouraged to provide any prior diagnostic, medical, or school records). Structured interviews will also include the completion of Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised (ADI-R), or equivalent as well as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Assessment, Third Edition (VABS-III), or an equivalent.
Step-3) An in-person direct assessment of the child will often be a necessary component. This part of the evaluation allows the clinicians to have a direct look at how the child behaves in socially structured situations as well as how they perform on measures of cognitive, intellectual, and language functioning. Combining this data with parent report information allows for a more comprehensive assessment. Standardized measures of verbal and nonverbal functioning as well as a semi-structured observation assessment using tools such as the ADOS-2 will be minimally included in most cases.
Step-4) The final step will include a family feedback consultation meeting to go over the direct and indirect data and how they integrate to explain initial concerns. A complete report of all results, diagnoses, interpretation, diagnoses, and treatment recommendations will be provided to the family and/or referring party. Please note that your insurance provider may have restrictions on who can assess your child when attempting to access ABA services. Often, BCBS and subsidiaries as well as HAB require individuals to see an AAEC provider.
Is this right for you?
If you are having questions about autism then we are ready to join you in that discovery journey and answer that question and others that will come up.
Attention and Behavior Concerns
Accurate diagnosis leads to better outcomes:
You know your child is much more capable but they cannot consistently put it together. The teachers and others may have expressed some concerns over behavior, lack of focus and disorganization, inconsistent grades, getting involved in problematic social and classroom behaviors.
If any of these rings true at some level then it may be a good idea to have a very detailed assessment of what may be ADHD but it could some other biological, cognitive, emotional, or social reasons. Sometimes, it may be simply disruptions in sleep or other adjustment related challenge that underlies difficulties with attention and behavior.
More often, it is a combination of multiple factors that are child and non-child factors. We can help sort it out for you and help you gain direction for the right support and treatment at home and at school.
Specific Learning Disabilities
Reading, Writing, and Math Learning Problems?
Is your child struggling at school and specifically with academic learning? They really want to succeed but something is not quite right? Have you sought help from school with mixed success? Do you still have questions and seek a better understanding of how your child learns best and what barriers continue their struggle? We are ready to help you find the clarity you seek. We provide complete diagnostic services to investigate for a learning disability across core subjects while also exploring other cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors. Sometimes, testing is not required at all but a solution can be readily crafted with collaborative efforts among other providers and educators.
Learn disabilities identified early lead to better outcomes:
Identification is not enough. A clear understanding of the child's entire profile of strengths and weaknesses is needed. Not sure where to start? Contact us and we can help guide you.