What is a Neuropsychological Evaluation?

A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation studies the relationship between the brain and one’s behavior. The evaluation specifically examines brain functioning, which can provide information regarding:

Illustration of a human brain in blue outline.

Cognitive Ability or IQ

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Language Skills

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Executive Functioning

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Academic Ability

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Learning and Memory

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Behavioral/Emotional Functioning

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Visual-Spatial/Motor Skills

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Attention and Concentration

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Social Development

We help people better understand the way they think, act, and process emotions. Often, medical, developmental, psychiatric, and social issues can impact our daily functioning. A neuropsychologist can make sense of a patient’s skill set to provide an individualized set of treatment recommendations so they can feel comfortable in their daily activities.

For our child and adolescent patients, this can help create a more harmonious home environment and a less-stressful school experience. 

For our adult clients, a neuropsychological evaluation can help inform potential issues related to brain function, diagnose specific conditions, and develop personalized treatment plans to address managing daily activities, identify work and school accommodations, and understand emotional functioning.

Types of Conditions We Evaluate

At Clarity Neuropsychology, we treat our patients with expert, understanding care and provide informed treatment recommendations to help them reach their full potential.

Types of conditions we evaluate include:

    • Autism Spectrum Disorder

    • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

    • Learning disabilities

    • Intellectual disabilities

    • Communication disorders

    • Social Development Concerns

  • Neurocognitive Effects

    • Epilepsy or Seizure Disorder

    • Chiari Malformation

    • Genetic/Metabolic Disorders

    • Traumatic Brain Injury/Concussion

    • Neurotoxic Exposures

    • Depression

    • Anxiety

    • Substance-Related Concerns

    • Bipolar Disorder

    • Trauma (e.g. PTSD) or stressor related issues

    • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

    • Impulse Control Disorders

    • Personality Disorders

Types of Evaluations Offered

  • Designed to understand a client’s unique strengths and challenges. These comprehensive evaluations can last 4 to 8 hours in duration depending on the concern and age of the client.

  • Psychoeducational evaluations may be appropriate for some families with very targeted questions about a child’s learning or if the child is struggling in school. These evaluations involve assessing an individual’s intellectual and academic abilities as well as aspects of mood and behavior. Such evaluations can answer targeted questions and provide recommendations related to potential learning disabilities or need for academic or behavioral accommodations.

  • Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs) are full neuropsychological evaluations that are funded by public school districts. In these cases, school districts will approve us as a provider, and we sign a contract directly with the school district.

  • For clients seeking disability services as an individual with a possible developmental disability (such as intellectual disability and/or autism).

  • This is a targeted evaluation designed to determine if an individual has autism spectrum disorder as well as to provide information about their social abilities. Because this evaluation is confined in scope, overall conceptualization, recommendations, and the ability to rule-out other conditions can be limited.

    For broader referral questions that include a question of autism, the autism assessment battery can be added to a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.

  • For families seeking private school admission, this includes administration of an IQ test and a brief summary of results that can be used for private school applications.

  • Examples of consultation options include review of updated IEPs/504 Plans, review of school-based testing to help families better understand the results, consultation with providers or school team members to help guide academic or treatment planning.

  • Determined on a case-by-case basis, a targeted evaluation may be considered to answer an autism-specific referral question or to determine continued eligibility for accommodations (with recent prior testing).