Psychology Assessment Center: Evaluations of school-age children can help identify specific patterns of strength and weaknesses corresponding to specific disorders and the child's difficulties resulting from them.
Pediatric Evaluation Procedures
A typical neuropsychological evaluation of a school-age child may assess these areas:
- General intellect
- Achievement skills, such as reading and math
- Executive skills, such as organization, planning, inhibition, and flexibility
- Learning and memory
- Visual–spatial skills
- Motor coordination
- Behavioral and emotional functioning
- Social skills
Different childhood disorders result in specific patterns of strengths and weaknesses. These profiles of abilities can help identify a child’s disorder and the brain areas that are involved.
For example, testing can help differentiate between an attention deficit and depression or determine whether a language delay is due to a problem in producing speech, understanding or expressing language, social shyness, autism, or cognitive delay.
The neuropsychologist may work with your physician to combine results from medical tests, such as brain imaging or blood tests, to assist in diagnosing your child’s difficulty and describing his or her particular cognitive profile.