Diagnostic evaluations are conducted by licensed psychologists or by advanced doctoral students under direct supervision of a licensed psychologist on the university’s campus.
At the time your appointment is scheduled, you will be mailed several forms that should be completed prior to your, or your child’s, appointment and turned in to us when you arrive. These may include a developmental history, a behavior questionnaire, and might include a questionnaire for someone who knows you or your child and interacts with you or your child on a regular basis.
Day of Appointment
The clinician will interview you about your, or your child’s, developmental and family history, functioning in school, review any previous testing and intervention services, and recent events surrounding the reason for this evaluation.
Our clinicians use a variety of different tests and observational measures depending on the age of the client and the presenting problem(s). Assessments may include a combination of measures of intellectual ability, academic skills, phonological awareness, rapid naming, attention, memory, and executive functions. We also like to get a general social-emotional snapshot of the client, through interview and rating scales, to screen for other areas of concern that might be interfering with academic functioning, or might be caused by academic skill difficulties.
Assessment
The assessment portion of the evaluation will be completed over two days. The interview and testing typically lasts between two and three hours on the first day and an additional two to three hours of testing on the second day. A feedback meeting is usually scheduled on a separate day at a mutually convenient time. This meeting is scheduled for one hour. At the time of the feedback meeting, the clinician will meet with the client or client’s parents to review the results of the evaluation, provide a diagnosis or diagnoses if appropriate, answer questions, and provide recommendations for interventions, relevant follow-up, or other referral suggestions as appropriate. If services are available in the center to address the difficulties that have been identified, the clinician will also review those options with the client. We also often provide informative handouts regarding your diagnosis and/or specific issues, and will recommend a schedule for follow-up assessments to monitor your progress and continuing needs over time as necessary.