A pediatric neuropsychologist is a doctor who specializes in brain function and child development. They can assess your child’s cognitive, emotional and behavioral functioning and explain how these relate to developing brain structures and systems.
The Benefits of a Neuropsychological Evaluation
An assessment can help you and your child's doctors and teachers understand the impact of your child’s medical and developmental history to better support his or her health, learning and emotional well-being.
It can provide you with:
- A description of your child’s strengths and weaknesses
- Help in understanding how your child learns
- Recommendations for educational programming and other beneficial services
- An understanding of your child’s future needs
What to Expect at Your Neuropsychology Visit
The neuropsychological assessment may take several meetings. The first meeting is with the parents to review history and provide a focus for the evaluation. Your child will then complete between four and six hours of testing. These tests are scored, reviewed and interpreted. Once complete, we'll discuss the findings and provide recommendations.
How to Prepare for Your Visit
There are a few things parents can do to help ease the process:
- Let your child know about the appointment and that it will help them.
- Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep the night before and eats a healthy breakfast on the morning of the evaluation.
- On the day of the evaluation, give your child the medications he or she normally takes (unless instructed otherwise by our staff).
- Bring any records of previous testing if you haven't already provided them.
- Bring a copy of your child’s current special education plan (if applicable).