February 1, 2024

Reasons to Seek a Neuropsychological Evaluation for Your Child

A child may be referred for a neuropsychological evaluation when there are concerns about one or more areas of their development.

Neuropsychology is a field of psychology that focuses on the relationship between learning, behavior, and brain functioning. A child may be referred for a neuropsychological evaluation when there are concerns about one or more areas of their development. This can include a child’s cognitive, academic, memory, language, social, self-regulatory, emotional, behavioral, motor, visual-spatial, and adaptive functioning.

This type of evaluation can help rule out diagnoses such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Specific Learning Disorder, Language Disorder, as well as various emotional and behavioral disorders. A neuropsychological evaluation can also be helpful if your child has been diagnosed with a medical condition such as Down Syndrome or other genetic disorders, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Epilepsy. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify a child’s patterns of strengths and challenges in order to provide parents, schools, and other providers with strategies to help them succeed across contexts. It can also be used to track a child’s progress and response to targeted interventions.

In order to assess whether a neuropsychological evaluation may be helpful for a child, a family may identify concerns in the following areas:

Cognitive

  • Difficulties with verbal and nonverbal reasoning and problem solving
  • Requiring a significant amount of repetition and/or additional time when learning
  • Delays in adaptive functioning

Academic

  • Grades below peers
  • Concerns with reading (phonetic development, fluency, comprehension), mathematics (calculation, word problems), or writing (spelling, content, organization)
  • Needing additional time to complete schoolwork, homework, or tests
  • Frustration with academic work

Language

  • Expressive (output of language) or receptive (understanding of language) difficulties
  • Challenges initiating or maintaining a conversation
  • Difficulties with sarcasm or non-literal language (e.g, “It’s raining cats and dogs”)
  • Repetitive or odd language usage (e.g., repeating lengthy scripts heard from television or news programs)
  • Pronoun reversals or odd use of language

Self-Regulation

  • Difficulty paying attention or sitting still
  • Needing frequent prompts or reminders to complete tasks
  • Difficulty with multiple-step commands
  • Losing or misplacing items
  • Forgetting to turn in completed assignments

Social

  • Poor peer relations
  • Inappropriate response when approached by peers
  • Difficulty with imaginative, functional, or reciprocal play
  • Limited interest in peers or preference for solitary play

Repetitive Behaviors

  • Repetitive vocalizations
  • Repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand flapping, finger flicking, body rocking)
  • Lining up toys, spinning wheels of cars, sorting objects for prolonged periods of time

Behavioral Dysregulation

  • Physical or verbal aggression
  • Defiance or non-compliance
  • Difficulties with transitions or changes in routine
  • Self-injury (e.g., head banging)

Emotional

  • Poor frustration tolerance
  • Irritability or easily upset
  • Eating or sleeping difficulties
  • Somatic complaints
  • Negative self-statements
  • Lack of interest in things he/she used to enjoy

Visual-Spatial, Visual-Motor, and Motor

  • Poor handwriting
  • Trouble with fine motor tasks (e.g., unwrapping small items, buttoning or zipping clothing, tying shoe laces)
  • Difficulty transferring information from the classroom board to a notepad, or transferring information from a test booklet to a scantron/bubble sheet
  • Difficulty with overwhelming visual displays (e.g., computer screen with several icons; homework with several problems on one sheet; a book with several colors and pictures)

Should a child demonstrate difficulties in some of the areas listed above, he/she may benefit from further consultation or a subsequent neuropsychological evaluation. Through this process, areas of difficulty can be identified, and targeted interventions will be suggested to enhance a child’s development.

Download our Guide for Families

We know that choosing a local ABA facility can be a hard decision. We’ve created an informational guide to help you understand more about the questions you should be asking while meeting with different providers.

Although we talk about our services here, our highest goal is for you to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about picking a provider that is the best fit for your needs. You are making a decision that will impact the entire trajectory of your child’s life!
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The cover of the NSPT Guide for Families, which helps families to figure out the questions to ask when picking an ABA provider.

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Success looks different for every child... But we bet we have a story that matches your child's needs. Like James, who started with us as non-speaking and lacking the ability to initiate and maintain social interactions. Today, he can speak complete sentences, clearly state his needs, and navigate social interactions with his friends!

Our infant daughter was in physical therapy with Anna Zahn for about five months.  Anna was consistent, patient, and wonderful with our daughter.  Anna was also clear in her communications with us as parents which helped us understand our daughter's progress and needs, as well as how we could help our daughter at home.  While we are proud that our daughter graduated PT, we will miss Anna's warmth and kindness.

Emily

I love this place! Chista is an amazing person, so sweet and kind and very professional in her work. All staff are very kind with children. I feel happy to find this place for my daughter. Thank you!!!

Maria Di Rita

I cannot say enough nice things about the staff! My son worked with Khadija as his ABA therapist and is finishing up this week with his OT, Sabrina. They were really instrumental in helping us navigate a new diagnosis. Both were so easy to approach with questions. From Leeann at the front desk to the RBTs (Alex, Rabbia, Molly, and many others), we always felt so welcomed. It seems like the staff genuinely enjoy their jobs, consistently offering feedback and suggestions on how to help my son.

Jennifer Peyer

We have been working with the amazing team at NSPT for many years. They have been essential in understanding and supporting our child. I recommend their services to anyone looking for their specific type of support.Posted to

Monica Terése Carranza

They are so sweet and kinds persons with professionalism and really worried about the kids and how help they to get new skills and moving forward with knowledge.

Alejandra M.

NSPT is fantastic! All of the staff are wonderful, accomodating, and make you feel welcome and comfortable. Alan is fantastic - he has helped our family tremendously and has such patience and purpose in everything he does.

Alex Ehrhardt

North Shore Pediatric Therapy has been amazing.  They have done a great job adjusting to the specific needs of my autistic child.

Matt Nakanishi

My 12 yr old son has a lovely support team in Robert (Social Work) and Lindsay (OT)! He gains so much from his sessions & I gain so much from the communication and brainstorming! Thanks!

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