Evaluations for Children

I specialize in understanding your child and their unique abilities. Instead of looking at how your child struggles, I use their strengths to best support them through their educational journey. Whether needing more help in school or finding what type of activities help your child excel, I can create a personalized test battery to put the puzzle pieces of how your child functions so you can gain insight into how your child operates.

Oftentimes, school testing or evaluation by a pediatrician only gives you one piece of a puzzle. Instead of just looking for a diagnosis, I am looking for specific skills and characteristics that can interfere with school and normal attention. Getting tested by me will provide a full picture of where your child is and how to best support them.

Evaluations for Adults

Adults can also benefit from testing for a range of reasons that include helping to recognize psychological, attentional, or cognitive problems. A neuropsychological evaluation can help to illuminate problems that may occur with older age such as memory issues and dementia or problems that occur with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Additionally, although neurodevelopmental disorders (ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders) are often diagnosed in childhood, these diagnoses are sometimes missed and can be discovered in adulthood.

I offer several therapeutic psychological assessment services:

  • Neuropsychological Evaluations (Autism, ADHD, TBI, Dementia, Competency)
  • Psychoeducational Evaluations (Learning Disorders, ADHD)
  • Psychological Evaluations (Emotional/Behavioral Issues, Personality)
  • Intelligence/Gifted Testing

Neuropsychological Evaluation:
This evaluation is conducted to assess neurocognitive functioning when there are concerns related to overall reductions in cognitive functioning which can be a result of a head injury, medical condition, or a neurodevelopmental disorder. A neuropsychological evaluation measures specific areas of functioning such as intellectual functioning, language functioning, memory and learning, attention and concentration, visual spatial skills, executive functioning, and motor skills. This can also help to provide recommendations for intervention and academic support.

Psychoeducational Evaluation:
This evaluation is conducted for clients experiencing academic problems. This evaluation helps to determines a client’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as to identify if a specific learning disorder is present or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This will help to identify what is interfering with academic performance. This type of evaluation is also conducted to determine if a client meets the qualifications for certain standardized testing accommodations (e.g. SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc).

Psychological Evaluation:
This evaluation is conducted when there is a concern related to the client’s emotional, social, and/or behavioral functioning. This evaluation is used to assess Mood Disorders (such as Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, etc.) or Disruptive Behavior Problems (such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, etc.). It can also be used to determine if there are enduring personality issues and help diagnose serious problems such as psychosis.

Gifted Evaluation:
This type of evaluation is conducted to determine if your child meets the criteria for gifted placement.

Evaluation Procedure

The first step in the evaluation process is a structured clinical interview with the parent or the adult being tested. Background information with be gathered regarding the client’s developmental, psychiatric, medical, family, educational and social history. Following the interview, a battery of tests will be selected that best assess for the presenting issue. After the testing session is completed, each assessment is scored, analyzed and interpreted. Finally, we will schedule an appointment to discuss the results of the evaluation and to provide feedback with recommendations such as educational strategies, accommodations, and referrals to various specialists when necessary.

*If the child needs to be observed in his or her school setting, school observations can be provided for an additional fee.