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Private Neuropsychological Evaluation vs. School-Based Evaluation for your child: Important information to consider

By: Dr. Pamela McCaskill: Licensed Clinical Psychologist


When your child is experiencing learning, behavioral, or emotional difficulties, evaluations are crucial to understanding the reasons why and can play a pivotal role in informing interventions to help your child reach their highest potential. There are several advantages of a private evaluations to consider:

1. More comprehensive:

Private evaluations conducted by clinical neuropsychologists take a deeper look at a child's cognitive, academic, emotional, and behavioral profile. Parents participate in detailed interviews and academic and medical records are carefully reviewed. School-based evaluations often focus primarily on academic performance and learning challenges; private evaluations assess so much more including:

• Memory and attention processes

• Executive functioning (planning, organization, and impulse control)

• Anxiety, depression, emotional regulation

• Social and behavioral functioning (both currently, and patterns over time)

2. Individualized, private and tailored to the needs of the child and parents:

In a private setting, the testing process is highly individualized. The psychologist has the flexibility to adapt the evaluation to the specific needs of the child, including more frequent breaks, and additional time to connect to the child (helping them to feel comfortable and successful). The pace of the evaluation is determined individually, as there are no timelines and more resources, which may lead to increased accuracy of the results. Consistent communication with the parents throughout the process is prioritized.

3. Completely Private:

Private evaluations are just that - private! The results of the evaluation are reviewed with the parents who can then choose to share the results with the school (or throw them away if they prefer!) School-based evaluations become immediately part of your child's permanent academic record.

4. Faster Timeline:

If your child is struggling, time is of the essence. One major advantage of private evaluations is the speed at which they can be conducted and completed compared to school-based evaluations. The results can more quickly guide interventions to ease the child's stress.

5. Formal Diagnoses:

The comprehensive nature of private neuropsychological evaluations allows for accurate diagnosis of ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, Anxiety, Depression, and Learning Disabilities. This documentation in the report will assist with acquiring accommodations for standardized tests, private tutoring, and therapy. Schools are limited in their ability to provide these diagnoses and focus more on academic performance.

6. Supporting Advocacy:

In cases where parents need to advocate for their child’s needs in the educational setting, such as accommodations under laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, private evaluations hold significant weight. Their thoroughness and independence make them powerful tools in supporting a child’s approval for accommodations.

Although there are many advantages of obtaining a private evaluation for you child, the biggest barrier for many families is cost (typically $2000-5000). Although your child is in the office on average about 5-6 hours for the testing part of the evaluation, there are many professional hours "behind the scenes" spent carefully analyzing the data, reviewing records, and formulating treatment plans and recommendations specific to your child. Schools are legally obligated to evaluate your child at no cost if there is a reason to suspect a disability that is affecting their ability to learn. If money is simply not available for a private evaluation, a school evaluation may accomplish the same goal in helping your child get the accommodations they need at school. However, keep in mind that just because a school-based evaluation says there are no problems, may not mean they have captured a comprehensive understanding of your child's brain and behavior.