Autism
Behavior Disorders
ADHD
Intellectual Disabilities
Psychological Conditions
How Psychological Evaluations Work
A psychological evaluation involves gathering information about the child’s behavior and abilities, from parent report, observations, and their performance on age-appropriate assessments. Though the type of information gathered varies according to the purpose of the evaluation, this typically involves an interview with the parent about the child’s background and functioning, rating scales completed by the parent about their typical behavior at home, a developmental assessment which looks at their receptive and expressive communication, cognitive development, and fine and gross motor skills, and a play-based assessment to evaluate social-communication skills. These assessments use books, toys and puzzles to see how the child plays and what they are capable of doing. We might do an observation with them at their school or daycare, if it would be helpful for me to see how they interact with other kids. By using standardized assessments, we can compare a child’s performance to the way other children the same age typically to see if there are any areas of concern.
Online evaluations work for many children, but for some families, testing may not be necessary or recommended at this time. For this reason, consultation appointments are an opportunity for a family to share information, discuss concerns, and form a plan with Dr. Myszak or Dr. Long which may or may not include testing. In some cases, a comprehensive evaluation might not be necessary. If you are looking to confirm or rule out ADHD, or if you need an updated evaluation to continue receiving existing services, a more specific evaluation may make more sense for your family.
We are excited to announce that we have immediate availability for some types of children’s evaluations! If you have difficulty taking time off of work or need weekend availability, Dr. Rovane would be a great fit for your family! Dr. Rovane is a post-doc with availability for many types of children’s evaluations. Reach out to learn more about scheduling with her!
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If you are looking for services for yourself or your child, send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Did you know?
For many children, evaluations can be conducted online. Signs of autism and developmental delays can be evaluated through parent interviews, detailed checklists, and observations through video or telehealth. Dr. Myszak has more than 10 years of experience working with young children, and she is comfortable working with families online to help them identify areas of concern and recommended next steps.
COVID-19 has significantly changed the way that people interact with one another, and how safe people feel in public settings. Dr. Myszak recognizes that families may not want to bring their young children to unfamiliar settings right now, but she does not want this to prevent families from receiving needed care for their loved ones. Children who are showing early signs of autism and children who have already been identified with autism but are needing reevaluations to continue therapeutic services cannot wait months or years for help.
Online evaluations work for many children, but for some families, testing may not be necessary or recommended at this time. For this reason, consultation appointments are an opportunity for a family to share information, discuss concerns, and form a plan with Dr. Myszak which may or may not include testing.
The total cost of an evaluation includes all sessions, a report of results and recommendations, a parent feedback session to explain results and answer any questions that you may have, and if appropriate, a child-appropriate feedback session to share results with them. To do a comprehensive evaluation for older children, the maximum estimated cost is $6,500, though the cost is prorated based on time, and for many children, the total cost is less. For younger children (7 and under), the cost is typically between $2500 and $3500. If autism has not already been diagnosed in an older child, it may be a more subtle form of autism and require assessment of the subtleties of pragmatic language—additionally, to justify a diagnosis and need for supports and services in school, it can be beneficial to evaluate multiple areas of functioning. We also ask about how children experience different social situations—rather than just seeing what we can observe—if autism is present, these answers are very different from the responses in neurotypical individuals. We are patient and able to find rapport with most patients—when working with PDA, we understand that sessions may sometimes need to be adjusted or shortened, and we are willing to do that to get the best results from a child.