What to Expect
Preparations. After making a general inquiry using the contact form, someone will reach out to you and begin the process of gathering additional information. We will schedule an initial consultation to determine what services are most appropriate for your needs. From that point, you will be able to select the available appointment times that work best for your schedule.
Test Sessions. On the day(s) of testing, we ask that clients arrive no more than 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment time. This provides a level of privacy for all of our clients arriving to and leaving from the office. We want the results to accurately represent the typical lived experience of our clients and for clients to demonstrate the full extent of their abilities. Therefore, we ask that you arrive well-rested and clear-headed. Clients are encouraged to dress in whatever is comfortable for sitting and working for extended periods of time. We can take as many breaks as you need.
Sharing Findings. After the evaluation process is complete, we will schedule a meeting to present and interpret the findings with you. You may request support with communicating the results and recommendations to other providers and members of your educational team or care team.
Areas of Assessment
Cognitive abilities include the mental faculty involved in perceiving and focusing one’s attention to different types of information. Information processing speed, retention and recall abilities are assessed and analyzed in light of fluid-crystalized reasoning, verbal, and nonverbal abilities.
Academic achievement is a set of abilities that are usually developed as a function of participating in formal schooling, such as reading, writing, and mathematics. These abilities are demonstrated through performance on different tasks requiring a wide range of academic skills. We consider the ways the tests are presented and how individuals are expected to respond.
Social-emotional functioning refers to the way an individual processes the emotional and interpersonal facets of life. A comprehensive psychological evaluation includes an examination of behaviors, beliefs, feelings, mood states, and assets related to well-being and engagement with self and others.
Personality characteristics are ways of describing the stable traits we attribute to an individual. Understanding personality, and incorporating personality assessments into comprehensive psychological evaluations is an important step to forming the most useful clinical impressions that can translate into successful recommendations to teachers and other service providers.
Sociocultural developmental history is a way for me to assess the most important environmental influences in an individual’s life spaces. These situational and historical social variables can offer critical insights into an individual’s life.
Communication is understood in terms of receptive and expressive communication. If appropriate, a referral can be made for a licensed speech pathologist to supplement comprehensive psychological evaluations with an individualized battery of assessments.
Whole Person-Environment Assessments
I approach most referrals with a whole person-environment approach to assessment. I provide comprehensive psychological evaluations using the most up-to-date, norm-referenced instruments to provide insights on an individual’s cognitive abilities, academic achievement, social-emotional functioning, sensitivities, personality characteristics, and communication skills. Relevant histories pertaining to biological, medical, and sociocultural variables are examined and incorporated into a comprehensive, whole person-environment assessment.
Focused assessments & Second opinions
Some clients wish to gain insights through a brief, focused approach to assessment. When the purpose of the assessment is to address a very specific referral question, or if your concerns are limited in scope, I can support you with a tightly-focused assessment into a subset of concerns or performance areas. I will tailor the process to meet your needs. I recommend comprehensive psychological evaluations for the most complete clinical impressions and strongest recommendations. However, referral reasons for focused assessments can include:
- Special Education and IEPs
- Accommodations and 504 Plans
- College & University Services
- Gifted & Highly Capable Programs