HELP!! Meeting with the NeuroPsychologist!

Bring a list(esp. if you don’t feel well, and might forget) of concerns relating to your child at home(that’s the piece schools can’t speak to), and be ready to describe your child’s everyday functioning. Besides all the test results, ask about further testing; at the eval clinic where I worked, we used the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children(for ages 3-12yrs.), it looks at sequential and simultaneous processing and gives info. about cognition and achievemnt in a way that schools can use. Also ask about the BASC scales, Behavior Assessment System for Children, that looks at attention, depression, anxiety and behavior problems with a set of forms for parents, teachers and the child to complete. Good luck.

I was so anxious myself that even with the list I forgot to ask several of the questions that I wanted to. Plus, I tend not to have questions until I’m lying in bed that night replaying the course of events. Don’t fret, my neuro basically asked me questions after I did the intial talking and things seemed to flow from there. I was so worried about making sure that I said everything that I forgot a lot, but they are the professionals and seem to know what info is relevant and important and will guide you. Most likely, you will be in there several more times (if you choose to go ahead with the eval), so there’s always the chance of bringing up stuff you forgot at the next appointment. It was just comforting to know that I was finally in the right place, someone who knew exactly what I was trying to describe. Good Luck to you! Hope you feel better soon.

I had my meeting with the neuropsychologist. She reviewed the testing that the public school did for my son in March and April.

She said that the test were thorough and that I was right to have him evaluated so young because there are some learning disabilities showing up. She said he has auditory processing issues and since it runs so heavily in his family that it is good to catch it now. She said you should always be proactive and trust your gut. You know your child better than anyone.

She suggested Earobics and calling the Boston Children’s Hospital because they have someone who just handles assistive technology and that they could tell me what other programs to use after reviewing his testing. She also said, to makes sure to stay on top of his strengths. You don’t ignore the weakness’s but you makes sure the child has things that he/she can do that make them feel great about themselves and when that happens the weakness’s will become a little bit easier.

She was a big advocate of computers. She said that it helps the child feel independent and accomplished. She said she obviously feels that the education they are receiving needs to be competent but that she makes sure all her LD kids can use the computer better than most adults.

I also found out that she was the head of neuropsychology for 18 yrs at Harvard Medical School and that when she left there she went to Hartford Hospital to run that department. So I really trust what she says.

I just thought I would post what she said because she was really informative and she said that testing your child young can be extremely helpful. I know that most of what she said was pretty common knowledge but it was good to hear someone tell me that I am doing the right thing and all the people telling me that he is only five and wait until he is 7 and in 3rd grade before I really become worried.

She made me feel a little better about everything and I thought maybe her info could help someone else!

K.

Did she give you a diagnosis that the public school will use to classify your child for services? How did she determine which learning disabilities will show up?

She said based on the speech and language eval he would need to be seen by an audiologist who she said will more than likely diagnose with Auditory Processing Disorder.

She said that is what she is seeing right now. Unfortunately, I talked with the audiologist who said that they don’t normally give the AP screen until age 7. However, she did agree to see him in September when he starts 1st grade.

So basically he won’t get services through the schools system until then and even then it will be complicated because he attends a private school that is 30- 45 min away from the public school. I am trying to find out what funding is available for children in private schools to see if I can get them to come to him or at least find a location closer to school. We decided on private school after I got a first hand look at how this school district treated and helped children with very similar problems to my son’s.

I discussed schooling with the neuropsychologist and she agreed that a small group setting, 8 kids per class, was best for him. She also suggested trying to always pick a teacher who, for lack of a better description, talks slowly. I volunteer at the school which is very small, 60 children in k-7, so I have gotten a good look at how the first grade teacher is and I am confident that it is the right place for my son. The first grade teacher has a child now who has some learning problems and I have gotten to see the progress he has made over the year in her class.

I guess what that very long post attempted to say was that yes she said he had auditory processing disorder but she couldn’t make a formal diagnosis because he needs to see an audiologist.

K.