Our practice is passionate about helping clients and their families with thorough, personalized, and standardized neuropsychological assessments that inform accurate diagnosis, generate individualized recommendations for treatment planning, and support access to appropriate and timely evidence-based treatment when indicated.
Why are Psychological and Neuropsychological Evaluations Important?
Evaluations consist of comprehensive history, clinical interviews, and standardized testing. There are no right or wrong answers on these tests! Your approach to answering questions and problem solving during the assessment will also be noted. Your scores will be compared to the scores of people who are like you in important ways. By comparing your scores to those from large groups of people, the psychologist can determine your strengths and weaknesses for your age and background. The pattern of test scores allows the psychologist to identify individual strengths and weaknesses, to detect differences from expected developmental levels, to determine changes beyond expected age-related thresholds, and to identify neurological disorders or problems associated with medical conditions that can affect memory and thinking. Therefore, the most important thing is to try your best throughout the assessment.
Formal research has shown that scores on specific standardized tests relate to everyday functioning in academic, occupational, interpersonal, and activities of daily living such as managing money or driving. Testing also helps to differentiate between illnesses at a level that is not possible strictly based on radiological studies or laboratory tests. For example, differentiation between Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and depression informs your physician’s treatment approach. Differentiation helps to support appropriate and timely evidence-based treatment and access to benefits and resources such as academic interventions or accommodations. Assessments may also provide a baseline reference from which your physician may objectively monitor and measure later changes.
What do Evaluations Assess?
Typically, neuropsychological assessment involves comprehensive evaluation of the following functions:
- General intelligence/cognitive ability
- Learning and memory
- Attention and concentration
- Higher-level executive skills (e.g., planning, organizing, reasoning, problem solving, working memory)
- Visual–spatial skills (e.g., perception)
- Adaptive skills (e.g. daily living)
- Language
- Social skills
- Motor and sensory skills
- Mood, emotion, and behavior
The areas addressed in each individual’s evaluation are determined by the referral question (what the referring doctor and/or client wants to know), the client’s complaints and symptoms, concerns expressed by family members or teachers, or observations made during clinical interviews and test administration.
How Does the Evaluation Process Work?
You may be referred from a medical or mental health care provider or seek assessment on your own to inform diagnosis and treatment planning. Referrals commonly relate to concerns about academic performance, attention difficulties, self or interpersonal functioning, changes in concentration, memory, reasoning, organization, language, coordination, perception, or personality. Such changes may arise from genetic, psychological, medical, or neurological causes.
Psychological and neuropsychological evaluations will often require from four hours to an entire day. Participants will be provided an approximate total time estimate when the initial assessment appointment is scheduled. You and your family members, your medical provider, or teachers may also be asked to provide history and input in advance of the initial assessment appointment. On the day of testing, it is important to arrive well-rested and alert and to bring important items such as eyeglasses or hearing aids. Prior to testing, the doctor will inform the client of testing procedures, any limitations of testing, and the client’s rights to include the ability to choose to discontinue testing at any time. After testing is complete, a report will be prepared detailing the results of the evaluation and recommendations. That report will be reviewed at a separate follow-up meeting with the client and any family members the client may choose to include in order to fully understand the results and recommendations.