Assessment Services
Autism
Autism assessments can help determine if a child meets criteria for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. This can help in gaining a better understanding of how a child’s autistic brain differences in how they view and experience their environment may respond differently from the way our world is set up. This can also be helpful in having a better understanding of your child, how they may respond in different environments, and what kinds of approaches may be a good fit for your child’s specific neurodiversity. This can be helpful in helping your child succeed in school.
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A diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder is sometimes necessary to receive certain therapies, such as behavioral health treatment (ABA therapy). I am a specialist in providing psychological evaluations to assess for autism spectrum disorder and have been providing autism focused evaluations for The San Diego Regional Center since 2012. I am trained in the ADOS-2, the MIGDAS-2, and a variety of other autism focused assessment measures that are research based in assessing for autism.
ADHD
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the biggest areas for psychological assessment. Many children struggle with inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. However, there are a variety of reasons for these symptoms and ADHD is not always the cause. For example, inattention often occurs in anxiety. Similarly, an undiagnosed learning disability, challenges with sleep, environmental factors, and other areas are also possible reasons for inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Some children start to show these symptoms in preschool, while others do not show symptoms until elementary school. ADHD, inattentive type can easily go undetected until high school and adulthood.
An ADHD assessment may be helpful if you are trying to understand potential parenting strategies, school accommodations, learning approaches, and behavioral differences. An ADHD assessment may also be helpful in helping you and your pediatrician or psychiatrist decide if ADHD medication may be appropriate.
Learning Disabilities/Academic Concerns
Dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia are some of the common kinds of learning disabilities. A learning disability can be a specific learning disability in math, writing, or reading. Your child may be eligible to get a free assessment for learning disabilities through your school. However, sometimes a family may want to get a private assessment as a second opinion, if there is a long wait list, or if their child is not eligible for getting assessed through the school, but you still want to find out if there is a learning disability.
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An undiagnosed learning disability can be stressful for the child and parent since sometimes there is an underlying condition that explains why certain work is harder and less fun than others. Children start to avoid subjects that are hard for them and sometimes self-esteem can be impacted if they feel like they are failing despite hard work. Having a learning disability assessment can help provide more understanding, help to guide learning accommodations, and help to find the best path forward for using your child’s strengths to help them and working on their challenges in a specific area.
Neuropsychological Assessments
Neuropsychological assessments include testing that aims to understand how the brain works. Attention, memory, processing speed, impulsivity, executive functioning, cognitive abilities, and other areas are all aspects of neuropsychological assessments. Neuropsychological testing can be helpful in diagnosing ADHD, learning disabilities, IQ, autism, and other areas.
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I use the Brain Building Book, a workbook developed by neuropsychologist, Dr. Liz Angoff to help your child gain a better understanding of how their brain works using examples, like “brain highways” and “construction zones.” They get to keep this workbook we work on together and they get to go over this with you to share how their brain works.
Gifted Assessments
A child may have gifted cognitive abilities. I conduct IQ testing to assess for IQ. This can be helpful in having a better understanding of your child’s strengths, as well as helping you decide on the best fit for your child’s academic opportunities. Some schools require IQ testing for admission.
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“Twice Gifted” and “Twice Exceptional” is when a child may show gifted cognitive abilities (high IQ) combined with a disability in one area (learning disability, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety, and other conditions). “Twice Gifted” is a diverse group of individuals who do not fit in many categories our society has. They often have such amazing cognitive abilities, while other challenges in certain areas make it hard to navigate certain environments, like school, homework, sports, and friendships. An assessment may assist you and your child in understanding their brain better and coming up with useful techniques.
Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common issues that comes up for children. We all experience anxiety and worry to some level. It can often help us to avoid danger, know when to avoid a situation, and when to try hard. However, anxiety can grow and grow and become overwhelming for many children and families. An assessment may be beneficial for your child if anxiety is interfering with school, friendships, mood, and interactions/behaviors at home.
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Some common areas of anxiety in children include:
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-separation anxiety
-school refusal
- excessive shyness
-challenges sleeping
-excessive rigidity
-challenges concentrating
-constant worry and fear
- stomachaches
- rituals and compulsions
- avoidance
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An assessment can be helpful in diagnosing an anxiety disorder so we can figure out the best ways to help your child and help guide treatment recommendations. Possible anxiety disorders include separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), phobias, panic disorder, selective mutism, and adjustment disorders.
Psychological assessments are helpful in assessing symptoms and differentiating between potential mental health diagnoses, personality characteristics, and behavioral challenges. This can be helpful in determining appropriate treatment options. It can also be helpful if you are working with a psychiatrist or pediatrician, and they recommend psychological assessment to help in making medication decisions.
Mental health assessments can assess for depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, oppositional behavior, PTSD, etc. Personality assessment focuses on understanding how your child interprets others and their environment, handles stress, and reacts. Having a clear understanding can be helpful in matching a parenting style or technique, teaching new coping strategies, giving your child insight into their personality, and providing insight into the best way to work with your child.
