In this 1.5 hour meeting we will clarify concerns and reason for referral, review significant history, identify goals for the assessment, and sign consent for treatment and releases to speak to other professionals of your choosing.

School visits are helpful in observing behaviors of the child in the classroom, especially when social interactions are one of the presenting concerns. In other cases, reports from the teachers--either through formal questionnaires or conversation--can describe the child’s participation in class adequately. If a classroom observation is desired, it should be scheduled before formal testing. If you are wondering if a school observation would be helpful, you should discuss this during the initial interview.

Collaboration with your child’s outside providers like pediatricians, therapists, and educators to help clarify concerns and gather clinical perspective before the evaluation process begins.

Systematic review of prior assessments, school documentation, and relevant medical records to clarify your child’s history and inform a thoughtful, well targeted evaluation.

Testing hours vary based on the type of assessment and in accordance with the child’s needs. Consideration is given to fatigue levels, need for breaks, and other individual requirements. Our team employs a “process approach” that results in an individualized battery of tests based on each child’s performance in lieu of the administration of a fixed battery for every child. This method provides superior results that better reflect a child’s overall performance.

Accurate scoring is crucial to the process and typically requires 5-6 hours. Your clinician will calculate all raw scores, review the findings, and form overall impressions prior to the feedback session.

This meeting typically lasts 1.5 to 2 hours and includes a presentation of the findings, integration of these findings into meaningful patterns, discussion of identified learning issues, and outlining of a specific treatment plan to address issues.

Many children benefit from a separate meeting to discuss their learning style. It is optional for a parent to be present. Specific scores and/or diagnostic nomenclature may not be helpful to the child; rather, the focus of this meeting is to help your child understand his/her strengths and how they might be better used to address learning differences.

If necessary, your clinician will attend the IEP meeting or a separate meeting with teachers and/or administrators to discuss the assessment findings.

The report is written following the feedback session and it includes contributing history, discussion of the testing process (behavioral observations, test list and scores, description of the results), as well as interpretation of the results, recommendations, and if appropriate, diagnostic impressions. It often contains more information than parents are comfortable providing to schools. For this reason, a briefer version of the report with a more educational focus can be prepared at your request. No reports are sent out without your written request.