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Pediatric Neuropsychology
What is a Neuropsychological Evaluation?
A neuropsychological evaluation involves the administration of tests to assess how a child is functioning in comparison to expectations for that child’s age level. A pediatric neuropsychological evaluation often includes assessment of a child’s
cognitive skills including intellectual functioning, learning and memory, attention, and behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. The goal is to better understand your child’s unique neurocognitive strengths and challenges, learning style, and behavior in order to develop an individualized intervention and/or education plan to help your child reach his or her potential.
What Should I Expect? What is Involved in the Evaluation?
A neuropsychological evaluation includes an interview with parents about the child’s developmental, behavioral, social, and emotional history, observation of and interview with the child, and testing. Testing involves answering questions, solving problems, completing hands-on activities such as drawing, working with materials on a table, and sometimes using a computer. Parents will be asked to fill out questionnaires about their child’s development and behavior. Parents are usually not in the room during testing, although they may be present with very young children. The time required depends on the child’s age and the reason for the evaluation.
What Is Assessed?
A typical neuropsychological evaluation of a school-age child may assess these areas:
- Intellectual Functioning
- Achievement skills, such as reading and math
- Executive skills, such as organization, planning, problem solving, inhibition, and flexibility
- Attention
- Learning and Memory
- Language
- Visual–spatial skills
- Motor speed and coordination
- Behavioral and Emotional functioning
- Social skills
What Will the Results Tell Me About My Child?
By comparing your child’s test scores to scores of children of similar ages, the neuropsychologist can create a profile of your child’s strengths and weaknesses. The results help those involved in your child’s care in a number of ways.
- Testing can explain why your child is having school problems. For example, a child may have difficulty reading because of an attention problem, a language disorder, an auditory processing problem, or a reading disability. Testing also guides the design of interventions to draw upon your child’s strengths. The results identify what skills to work on, as well as which strategies to use to help your child.
- Testing can help detect the effects of developmental, neurological, and medical problems, such as epilepsy, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or a genetic disorder. Testing may be done to obtain a baseline against which to measure the outcome of treatment, or the child’s development over time.
- Different childhood disorders result in specific patterns of strengths and weaknesses. These profiles of abilities can help identify a child’s disorder and the brain areas that are involved.
- Testing can help differentiate between an attention deficit and depression, or determine whether a language delay is due to a problem in producing speech, understanding or expressing language, social shyness, autism, or cognitive delay.
- The neuropsychologist may collaborate with your child’s physician to combine results from medical tests, such as brain imaging or blood tests, to help diagnose your child.
- Most importantly, testing provides a better understanding of your child’s behavior and learning in school, at home, and in the community. The evaluation can guide teachers, therapists, and you to better help your child achieve his or her potential.
How is a Neuropsychological Evaluation
Different from a School Evaluation?
School assessments are usually performed to determine whether a child qualifies for special education programs or therapies to enhance school performance. They focus on achievement and skills needed for academic success. Generally, they do not diagnose learning or behavior disorders caused by altered brain function or development.
For more information, see the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 40 (Clinical Neuropsychology) at www.div40.org.
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