Assessment
Psycho-educational assessment is designed to answer a number of questions about children including: Does my child have a learning disability? Does he have attention or processing problems? What are her academic and cognitive abilities, strengths, and weaknesses? How do psychological issues impact learning, and under what circumstances? Does my child need accommodations in school or a specialized learning environment? Is further assessment needed to determine if my child is struggling with a mental illness? What are the appropriate steps we can take to help my child, including psychotherapy, participation in a social skills group, recommendations for school accommodations or services, or referral to a child psychiatrist for consideration of possible medication intervention.
Assessment measures offered
- Psycho-educational testing of children, adolescents, college students, and adults, using measures including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV), Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ-ACH-III, Normative Update), Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-COG-III, Normative Update), Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT-III), Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (NEPSY).
- Assessment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Learning Disabilities (LD). Tests including psycho-educational measures cited above; the Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA), a computerized measure of attention and ability to inhibit impulsive responding; and behavioral rating inventories including the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF), the Brown ADD Rating Scale, and the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2).
- Assessment of personality and emotional functioning.
- Projective testing including use of Rorschach and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
- Millon and MMPI personality inventories, including adult versions (MCMI and MMPI) and adolescent and pre-adolescent versions (MACI, M-PACI, and MMPI-A).
- Evaluation of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), the "gold standard" for assessing and diagnosing autism and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) across ages, developmental levels, and language skills.
How much does testing cost?
The cost of the assessment is based on the numbers of face-to-face, "contact" hours involved in interviewing the child or adolescent and his or her parent(s) and the administration of the formal assessment; and the additional hours required for review of records (such as academic history and previous evaluations), scoring of the tests administered, and writing of a psychological evaluation report, which includes diagnosis, interpretation of results, and recommendations for specific learning strategies, academic accommodations and services, and psychological interventions.
I charge at my hourly rate. Typically, I bill for three hours in addition to the contact hours. Below are "ballpark estimates" of the length of time required for various types of assessment, including the non-contact hours.
- Intelligence:4- 5 hours
- Academic Functioning/Learning Disability (includes intelligence testing): 7-8 hours
- ADHD (includes intelligence and academic testing): 8-10 hours
- Personality and Emotional Functioning: 6-8 hours
- Comprehensive (Intellectual, Academic, Personality and Emotional Functioning): 10-14 hours