General Information

Is your child struggling to pay attention or learn in school? Do you think your child may benefit from special services, support, or different/additional coursework at school? Are you having a tough time figuring out what to do to help your child learn and feel good about themselves?

There are a wide range of developmental, attention, learning, emotional, and behavioral difficulties that can get in the way of appropriate functioning and learning. In-depth testing can help you and your child’s teachers discover how your child learns best, and get practical recommendations on how to best support their learning, happiness, and success.

At Monarch Behavioral Health, we specialize in providing expert, in-depth evaluations, utilizing tools and practices backed by a large body of research. Often, evaluations and institutions do not utilize a full range of testing tools, resulting in inaccurate or incomplete results. At Monarch Behavioral Health, our doctors are dedicated to providing the most in-depth look possible at your child’s functioning so that accurate and effective services and treatment may be provided. We pride ourselves on using our knowledge of brain functioning and development to help you and your family put the puzzle pieces of learning and development into place, to create a picture of success and happiness. The experts at Monarch Behavioral Health can’t wait to help your child uncover their true potential.

To find out more:

Schedule your appointment with an expert at Monarch Behavioral Health today.

What is Neuropsychological or Psychoeducational Testing?

When we engage in Neuropsychological or Psychoeducational Testing, we use standardized evaluation tools and tests to measure an individual’s performance on tasks. Standardized evaluation means that the tests are administered the exact same way across many (often thousands) of individuals so that we can get view an individual’s functioning as compared to others’ their same age, gender, and level of education. How an individual performs on these tests and tasks gives us an understanding of their underlying brain functioning.

There are many areas of functioning we test when engaging in Neuropsychological or Psychoeducational testing. Areas of evaluation often include intelligence (IQ), memory and learning, attention and focus, executive functioning, language processing, social skills, as well as emotional and behavioral functioning. Understanding an individual’s functioning in these areas helps us to provide accurate diagnosis and recommendations for treatment and accommodations at school or work.

The Testing Process

The testing process is generally completed over 3 appointments.

Intake Appointment: Parents attend this first appointment alone, which lasts 60 minutes. During the intake appointment, a clinical interview will be conducted with parents/caregivers only, to gather important data regarding your child’s development and the issues you are seeking testing and help for, as well as to answer any questions regarding the testing process.

Testing Appointment: When your child visits for testing, we will first bring you and your child into the testing space to get comfortable in the environment and discuss how the day will unfold. When your child is comfortable, we will begin testing activities. We take as many breaks as necessary to keep motivation, attention and energy levels up. During breaks, we have snacks, lunch, play, and relax. We do our best to complete testing procedures in one visit, which usually lasts between 4 and 6 hours. However, we want to ensure the most accurate and valid results, and at times individuals do need to return for a second testing appointment to finish up tasks.

  • Please be sure to bring snacks and lunch for your child.
  • Please be sure your child sleeps well the night before testing.
  • If your child is currently taking medication, we will address if s/he should take this during testing when we meet for the intake appointment.

Feedback Appointment: After testing is complete, you will meet with your clinician 7-10 days later for a 60-minute appointment to discuss the results of the test and initial recommendations. This is often a parent-only appointment. Many parents choose to schedule an additional appointment for their child to engage in a child-centered, empowering explanation of testing results. Sometimes it is appropriate for the child to be present at the parent feedback session. This will be discussed at intake.

Report: Your report will be completed within 30 days of your feedback appointment. Your report will contain all information gathered (i.e., from the neurodevelopmental interview conducted at intake, all data from testing tasks, data from questionnaires) with written interpretation of findings, as well as diagnoses, recommendations, and referral sources.

School Advocacy: Many parents choose to have their clinician attend school meetings to communicate testing results and recommendations to school staff and administration. This in-person meeting greatly facilitates communicating important information about needed accommodations and best practices to educators, and also allows educators to ask in-depth questions to find the best ways to support your child.

Common Referral Issues or Questions for Testing

Parents often wonder if seeking an in-depth neuropsychological or psychoeducational testing is appropriate or useful for their child? There are a wide range of learning and developmental issues that testing can help diagnose, describe and provide recommendations for treatment, accommodation, and support.

  • Parents often arrive at our offices asking the following:
  • Does my child have ADHD or a Learning Disability?
  • My child seems to have some difficulties with learning. What is going on?
  • My child struggles to keep up in class. What is the problem?
  • We are trying everything, and our child is still so frustrated, please help us understand what will help my child.
  • Is my child gifted, and if so, what can we do to support their unique strengths and challenges?
  • My child seems to read well, but then doesn’t perform well on reading comprehension or tests.
  • I think my child may need extra help or accommodations at school. How do we make this happen?
  • My child seems very unhappy at school, how can we help him/her be a happy and engaged learner?
  • We are hearing about behavioral issues at school and aren’t sure what to do. Could there be an underlying cause for this?
  • My child isn’t performing well in school. Is it anxiety, ADHD, or a Learning Disability?
  • I feel my child would benefit from services in school, but it has been difficult to ascertain which services would be appropriate. It has been difficult to get the school on board.
  • Does my child have Autism?
  • Why is my child so disorganized? S/he has a lot of trouble planning and getting things done.
  • My child is refusing to do school work. What can we do?