A pediatric neuropsychological evaluation is a formal assessment of several inter-related areas of brain functioning including, but not limited to understanding a child/adolescent’s intellectual capacity or cognitive functioning, language skills, attention, memory and executive functioning, fine and gross motor and writing skills, achievement capacity and adaptive functioning and social, emotional and behavioral functioning.
A neuropsychological evaluation is more in depth than a psychoeducational assessment, which is performed by a school psychologist in an academic setting for the purpose of determining a child’s eligibility for special education services. A psychoeducational evaluation is not typically intended to assess the underlying or causal factors for a child’s regression in one or more areas of academic functioning. School based assessments are geared toward understanding the program modifications that a child might be eligible for at the school level; they are not intended to make recommendations to support a child’s functioning outside of academic domains.
Findings from a Neuropsychological Assessment will guide an understanding of what your child can do, and how he learns, as well as provide a good understanding of areas of deficit, as needed to guide a detailed treatment plan that will carry into school, home and other important settings. These findings are conveyed in the follow-up, 1-hour caregiver meeting, that is scheduled to provide results and recommendations. This feedback session typically occurs within one to two weeks after the conclusion of standardized testingDownload an educational pamphlet on pediatric neuropsychology.