TiredSoul

Warrior Mom since 2007
I need some opinions about a place I found locally that says they do psychological/neuropsychological assessments. This is a private facility, not a Childrens Hospital. Below I will paste what it says under psychological/neuropsychological assessments. I am looking for opinions on if this sounds like what we need or if we should go to a Childrens Hospital.

Evaluations at (Company name removed)
Conducting comprehensive evaluations is an integral part of our service delivery at (co name removed). We are experts in the evaluation of such difficulties as learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, speech/language and other learning, behavioral, and emotional conditions. We are also experts in the identification of individuals who are considered gifted. We have much experience in conducting evaluations that explore the learning strengths and interests of an individual so that targeted enrichment services can take place. At your request, we will work in cooperation with other providers in the community. Our goal is to comprehensively understand an individual so that the most effective services can be delivered. We want people to experience the utmost potential in their lives.

Evaluations include the following components:

1. Intake: You will first be scheduled for a one-hour intake session with one of our clinicians. During the intake, you will be asked to complete our required paperwork. You will be asked a variety of questions and may be asked to complete a background questionnaire and checklists as necessary. If the evaluation is of a child under the age of 13, we ask that parents attend this intake without their children. For youth between the ages of 13 and 18, we prefer to have both parents and youth together. For individuals over the age of 18, it is up to the individual being evaluated whom, if anyone, they would like to have with them during the intake session.

2. Testing sessions: Before the intake session, or upon completion of the intake session, you will be scheduled for a testing appointment. Comprehensive evaluations take a minimum of three hours. In most cases, the evaluation is conducted during three hour time blocks. The types of evaluation procedures administered (e.g., intellectual testing or educational assessment) depends upon the reasons for the evaluation. The types of procedures to be administered will be discussed in the intake session.

With children, parents may be present if they desire. However, the presence of parents could bias the results of the evaluation. The clinician conducting the evaluation will direct you with recommendations regarding whether parents should be present or not. This really depends upon each individual child and situation. In the vast majority of cases, children enjoy the individual attention given during the evaluation. Thus, parents need not worry that their children could be negatively affected by this process. It is important that evaluations be conducted with children when they are fresh. It is best to complete any testing in the morning. This may mean they may have to miss school that day for several hours in the morning. Children should have received a good night's sleep and it is also a good idea for the parents to send a snack along with the child to eat midway through the testing.

Since we do strive for comprehensive evaluations, sometimes more than one clinician will be involved in the evaluation process. For example, for school difficulties it may be necessary to have both a psychologist and a teacher involved to assess multiple issues that could contribute to difficulties.

3. Feedback Sessions: Once testing is completed, feedback will be given to the individual and/or parents. This feedback will be given during a feedback session with he primary clinician involved. Other clinicians may also attend as needed. At s feedback session, recommendations will be given.

4. Report: Within one to two weeks, a report will be completed and mailed to the individual or parents. We prefer to release the reports to the individual or parents first, before releasing the reports to anyone else. We ask that you review the reports and let us know if there are any errors or if you have any questions.
If other agencies would like a copy of a report, we ask that you provide them with one of your copies that will be provided.

5. Fees: The cost of a comprehensive evaluation depends upon the type of evaluation conducted. Hourly fees are charged for the intake, testing, and feedback sessions. Exact fees are located on our disclosure form presented at the time of intake. As an example of costs, most comprehensive psychological evaluations take at-least five hours (one-hour intake, and three hours of testing, and one hour of feed back), which totals a minimum of $675. Insurance may cover the cost of the intake and feedback sessions. However, we do not accept insurance reimbursement for the actual cost of testing.

We hope you have found this information helpful. If you have any questions, please let us know.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Sounds similar to what we experienced with our neuropsychologist testing.

I attended the first meeting on my own. Left with lots of forms and questionnaires to complete.

The second meeting included difficult child and was for him to meet the clinician.

The actual testing was spread out over three days in a two-week period. Each session was about 2 hours for a total of approx. 6 hours.

The final meeting was for me to receive the report and review the findings with the clinician.

My insurance (Anthem/Blue Cross PPO) covered all of it 100%.
 

smallworld

Moderator
Neuropsychological testing for our kids was generally in the 8 to 10 hour range in addition to a one-hour intake appointment and a two-hour interpretive conference after testing. The price tag was also higher.

Three hours of testing would typically only cover an IQ test (like the WISC-IV) and an achievement test (like the Woodcock-Johnson-III). I'd recommend contacting this center and asking what specific tests would be administered to your difficult child. That would give you the information you need to decide whether it's thorough enough.
 
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totoro

Mom? What's a difficult child?
The place we went to was a private Neuro-psychiatric in Washington State... in Spokane though? I don't remember what the description was on the info page, but our evaluation ended up taking over 10 hours... but we had soooo much to cover. We had 5 visits if I remember right.
I loved ours... he was great, got the probable diagnosis right! He gave us so much insight into K and why she might be the way she was and how she may develop.
I would google someothers and compare, call this place and see how you feel after talking to them.
Our Psychologist was cold at first, but we found it was to really get all of the facts in the beginning and then he warmed up and was very nice!
 

TiredSoul

Warrior Mom since 2007
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate it. The problem is this is the only place I have found in our immediate area. We can travel to two nearby cities for others but I thought since this was in the general area it might be worth a shot. I do not like the part about insurance not being accepted for the actual testing. I think it's a good idea to call and find out which tests will be administered but I think they would give me a generic answer like it depends on your circumstances, etc, etc. We have already had testing with the school district (IQ and others), so we don't really need to do that again. I am just trying to find out if we are dealing with something other than ADHD/ODD like bi-polar, Aspergers, mood disorder, or something like that. I will see what I can find out by calling but I don't really know which tests they should be giving him. Does anyone have a list? (I'm sure it's not that easy).

Thanks again!
 

smallworld

Moderator
All the neuropsychs we've seen did not accept insurance, but we were able to send the bills to our insurance compnay for reimbursement. You should call your insurance company to see if this type of testing is covered.

My kids have had so many tests during their neuropysch evaluations that it's impossible to list them all here. But after talking with the testing place, you could post a list of tests they will administer and we can give you feedback.
 
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