A boy's teachers describe him as bright but underachieving, and constantly in trouble. A girl performs advanced math calculations but fails at grade-level word problems. A child dreads going to school and cries when asked to do homework. A student who has coasted through school until now finds the organizational demands of high school or college too much to handle.
These are a few of the situations that could warrant a comprehensive psycho-educational or neuropsychological evaluation. This involves having the student meet individually with a psychologist to complete a series of structured activities over the course of several hours. The psychologist combines information from these tests with the student's history to explain what might be causing the problem and to suggest interventions.
Some common issues that may be identified as underlying factors:
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)
Executive Functioning Difficulties
Giftedness and 2e ("twice exceptional," refers to a combination of learning differences with intellectual giftedness)
Learning Disabilities such as Dyslexia
Social or Performance Anxiety
I perform comprehensive evaluations to identify these and other issues for people from preschool through adulthood. My goal is to provide you with a clear but nuanced profile, and to connect you with the right supports for you or your child to learn effectively and display your abilities.
You might benefit from calling for a comprehensive evaluation:
to understand a person's unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses across multiple domains. It is often especially important to clarify how cognitive factors (the way a brain thinks and learns) and emotional factors (the way a person feels) affect each other, and how they interact to impact on learning or achievement.
to identify useful educational settings and accommodations to promote learning and bring out a student's potential.
to plan how to work with an individual's pattern of strengths and weaknesses to achieve success in academic, professional and social settings and enhance overall mental health. For example, I might recommend skills training, modifications to the environment, emotional support, or connect you with additional service providers such as occupational or speech therapists.
I begin every evaluation with an intake interview in which you explain your concerns and what you hope to learn from the evaluation. This generally lasts for about an hour and helps me select a battery of tests specifically targeted to your needs. If you have any prior test reports or relevant school or medical records, it is a good idea to bring them to this meeting. I am also happy to speak by phone with anyone else you feel has relevant information, such as your child's teachers.
Next, you bring your child for two or more testing sessions, which generally last three to four hours each. During this time, the child works one on one with me to complete a variety of tasks, some of which are "school-like" and others that feel more like games. To get the best picture of a child's abilities, I prefer to conduct the testing in the morning, when the child is not already tired out from the demands of the day. You should bring snacks for your child to eat and an activity for yourself to do while you wait. Also feel free to bring a favorite toy or security object that makes your child feel more comfortable.
To supplement the in-person sessions, there will likely be questionnaires for parents and teachers to complete.
Finally, I will integrate the information you have provided with my own observations and the formal assessment results to produce a comprehensive report for you. The report will detail my findings about functioning in multiple domains such as intellectual, academic, learning and memory, attention and executive functions, visuo-spatial, sensorimotor, and social-emotional functioning. It will also include a summary and specific recommendations. Upon request, I will prepare a separate report with descriptions and recommendations targeted towards specific others, such as a school or therapist.
The evaluation process concludes with an hour-long feedback session in which I share my results with you, provide you with a copy of the report, answer any remaining questions you have, and help you plan how to make use of the information.
Please contact me at dr.rachel.waxman@gmail.com to explore how to convert learning potential into action for your child or yourself.