Testing & Evaluation

The assessment process at CNLD consists primarily of four steps:

1. INITIAL INTERVIEW
2. TESTING SESSION
3. SCORING, ANALYSIS, AND REPORT WRITING
4. POST-TESTING INTERVIEW / FOLLOW-UP

1. INITIAL INTERVIEW
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To get to know you and the reasons you’re requesting an assessment, the psychologist will meet with you for about an hour to collect background / historical information and review current concerns in order to determine the type of assessment to complete. Child and adolescent clients will meet the psychologist at the time of testing. Please bring copies of report cards, previous evaluations, standardized test results, and pertinent medical records (e.g. neurological evaluations or testing) for the psychologist to review. If the client takes any kind(s) of medication, please provide this information when you schedule the appointments. Knowing about medications is helpful to the psychologist, who will determine whether or not the client should take them on the testing day.

2. TESTING / ASSESSMENT SESSION
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There are several kinds of assessments that are performed at CNLD, including neuropsychological, developmental, and psychological. The psychologist will determine which kind of assessment is most appropriate for each client.

The testing session typically takes place a week after the initial interview, and depending on the client’s age and needs, lasts from 1-6 hours. It can take place all in the same day (with breaks every hour and an hour for lunch), or can be spread out over two or more days, if needed.

The assessment format is game-like and individuals typically enjoy the experience. When explaining to a child what will happen during the assessment, you might say something such as, "We’re going to play learning games - like blocks, puzzles, and memory games - so we can see how you learn best."

If the client wears glasses, please bring them along to this session. Also, if the client is ill or for some reason unusually fatigued on the day of the testing, call us to discuss the situation as we may need to reschedule the appointment.

For child and adolescent clients, parents should remain in the clinic during the time of the assessment unless otherwise arranged or agreed upon with the psychologist. Please remember that the clinic closes for lunch from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

SCHOOL or PLAY OBSERVATIONS

As part of the assessment of preschool or younger children (ages 2-7), the psychologist may decide that seeing his/her behavior outside of the testing session is merited. There are different ways in which observations take place:

• an hour-long visit to the school
• a play observation in the clinic
• a videotape from home or a learning environment for the psychologist to view

For older children experiencing social or behavioral issues, a school observation may also be recommended as part of the assessment process.

Observations take place prior to testing. The child’s parents/guardians contact the school to set up a day and time for the school observation to take place. One hour is typically allotted for these observations.

3. SCORING, ANALYSIS and REPORT WRITING
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After the testing session is completed, the psychologists will score the tests, analyze the results, review the history information and records, and write a detailed report that includes an intervention plan. Scoring and analysis usually takes two hours to finish for adult and adolescent clients (for preschool or younger clients, plan on one hour of the psychologists’ time to complete these tasks). History review and report writing typically takes another two hours to complete, unless there are extensive records to look over, in which case additional time would be merited.

4. POST-TESTING INTERVIEW / FOLLOW-UP
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The final step is going over the report together. This follow-up meeting usually takes place two weeks after the assessment, lasts for an hour, and will have been scheduled before the testing took place.

At this meeting, you will receive an intervention plan - an "action plan" - custom built for each client. The intervention plan will help you make sense of things and jump-start you forward on a path toward greater success at school or work. Child clients (younger than 18) are not expected to attend the follow-up meeting; however, a separate discussion with the psychologist can be arranged for older children and adolescents.

Finally, we are available to consult at school or work meetings to discuss the test results and to assist with implementation of interventions.

Autism is a tough enough thing to live with every day, but add in emotional and social issues and things can get pretty overwhelming! Your ability to take all these complicated issues, bring them together, and provide clear and concise guidelines for how to make things better – how can we thank you? Of course, there are still struggles (and always will be), but we understand now how to lessen the frustration level when we see Sarah escalating. We’ll keep you posted on how she’s doing.

Thanks again.

Mark B.