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Neuropsychological
evaluation assists in better understanding your child’s functioning in
areas such as memory, attention, perception, coordination, language, and
personality. It differs from
school assessments in that evaluations completed by the schools focus on
whether a child qualifies for special education services, whereas a
comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation allows for a much better
understanding of the child’s learning or behavior problems.
Children are typically referred for neuropsychological evaluation for the following reasons:
·
Difficulty in
learning, attention, behavior, socialization, or emotional control;
·
A disease or inborn
developmental problem that affects the brain in some way; or
·
A brain injury from
an accident, birth trauma, or other physical stress.
Areas that are
typically assessed are as follows:
·
General intellect
·
Achievement skills,
such as reading and math
·
Executive skills,
such as organization, planning, inhibition and flexibility
·
Attention
·
Learning & memory
·
Language
·
Visual-spatial
skills
·
Motor coordination
·
Behavioral &
emotional functioning
·
Social skills
Some abilities are
measured in more detail, depending on the presenting concern and student
needs. Detailed
developmental history and data from your child’s teacher are also
obtained.
Your child’s
performance will be compared to scores of children of similar ages to
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 allows the intervention to be crafted based on your
individual child’s strengths.
·
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 involved.
For example, testing can help differentiate between and attention
deficit and depression or determine whether a language delay is due to a
problem producing speech, understanding or expressing language, social
shyness, autism or cognitive delay.
·
Most importantly,
testing provides a better understanding of the 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.