A neuropsychological assessment helps assess your child’s thinking, behaviour, and problem-solving skills. It helps to get a sense of your child's abilities. It also shows how much your child’s school performance is affected by the tumour or treatment. It consists of a series of assessments and observations. A neuropsychologist will look at the results across all the results and compare them to other children who are the same age. The assessment is used to determine the best learning environment for your child.
A neuropsychological assessment is important for several reasons:
- It shows your child’s thinking abilities at the moment.
- It may be needed to get extra services for your child.
- It can be repeated in the future to show changes that have happened over time.
A neuropsychological assessment that is done shortly after diagnosis (but before treatment begins) is called a baseline study. Any further assessments done during or after treatment can be compared to the baseline study results to determine the impact of surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiation. Once a child returns to school, the assessment may be repeated to help guide the school staff regarding any special assistance the child may need. The assessment is usually repeated after treatment is finished and every two to three years thereafter, or if any problems emerge. It may also be done during important developmental milestones in a child’s life, such as going from junior high school to high school, or from high school to job planning. You can seek a neurological assessment for your child by asking your treatment team for a referral.
The assessment usually takes half a day for preschoolers and a full day for school-aged children. There are different assessments for preschool children and school-aged children. As a parent or main caregiver, you will also be interviewed and will fill out questionnaires about your child.
You can tell your child that this assessment is like a day at school. For example, your child will be asked to answer questions, do tests on paper, solve puzzles, and work on the computer. Many children enjoy the experience.
The general skills that are being assessed are:
- Intelligence: Your child’s overall knowledge, broad thinking, and problem-solving skills will be assessed.
- Perception and motor functions: This will assess how well your child’s brain integrates information coming in, such as visual or auditory perception. For example, your child may be asked to copy shapes or listen to sounds.
- Attention: Your child will be assessed on their ability to focus and maintain their attention over time.
- Memory: your child will be assessed on how well they learn and remember new information. For example, the person conducting the assessment may tell your child a story and ask them questions about it.
- Language skills and vocabulary: The number of words your child knows and can use will be assessed.
- Concept formation and problem solving: Your child will be asked to solve new problems that they haven't seen before.
- Planning and organization: The person conducting the assessment will look at how your child plans and organizes.
- Processing speed: Your child will be tested on how quickly they can think.
- Academic skills: The person doing the assessment will look at how well your child can do the basics -- reading, writing, and math.
- Behaviour, emotions, and personality: The person doing the assessment will consider whether your child is depressed, anxious, or has any behaviour problems. This is based on what they see during assessment as well as what you report on behaviour at home or school.
Once the neuropsychologist has interpreted the results, they can identify your child’s strengths, future challenges, and strategies that might help them.
Who gets a neuropsychological assessment?
A neuropsychological assessment might be recommended for a range of childhood disorders where learning is affected. For example, it could be used for children with:
- brain tumours (particularly in children who received craniospinal radiation)
- learning disabilities
- attention deficit disorders
- brain injury
- seizure disorders
- genetic disorders
What happens with the neuropsychological assessment?
Once the assessment is complete, the neuropsychologist will provide a written report for you, the treatment team, as well as your child’s school and the school board as needed. The report will indicate the impact of treatment on your child’s ability. It may include:
- background information (your child’s history and current concerns)
- the names of the assessments that were administered
- your child’s results on the assessments
- the neuropsychologist’s interpretation of the results
- a summary of results and how they are related to your child’s medical condition and development
- recommendations for parents and school staff, and referrals to other specialists
The report may be used by the school board, principal, and teacher to determine what services or special help your child needs. In some provinces, it may be the only tool that enables your child to get extra services.
What is the difference between a neuropsychological assessment and a speech-language assessment?
If your child’s speech is affected, they may need a speech-language assessment in addition to a neuropsychological assessment. Although the speech-language pathologist and the pediatric neuropsychologist may use some of the same assessments, there is a difference in what they assess and treat. The neuropsychologist looks at a broader range of skills involving cognition (problem solving, attention, information processing). The speech-language pathologist looks specifically at speech and language and the role of cognition as it relates to communication (speaking, listening, social interaction) in your child’s life.
For more information, see “Speech Therapy.”