Evaluations
Who We Treat
Our primary goal at San Antonio Pediatric & Adolescent Neuropsychology Specialists is to provide psychological and neuropsychological evaluations and assessments to improve the quality of life for children who have medical, and/or developmental conditions or disabilities that could prevent them from accomplishing their goals and living a fulfilled life. While we see kids from the ages of 4 to 25 who have a wide range of neurological and developmental conditions and disabilities, we pride ourselves on also being there for our families.
We receive a wide range of children, adolescents, and families and welcome them all with compassionate hearts, sharp minds, and open arms. We are LGBTIQ-affirmative.
Some of our clients live locally in South Texas, while others may travel to us from various parts of the U.S. Regardless of their location, these families come to us because they know that their children or adolescents will be treated with the utmost respect, empathy, concern, diligence, passion, expertise, and patience.
San Antonio Pediatric & Adolescent Neuropsychology Specialists are not only knowledgeable but also open to learning from you because no one knows your child better than you!
How Can We Help?
Our pediatric & adolescent neuropsychology specialists are highly trained and skilled at evaluating the needs of children, teens, and young adults with developmental conditions or disabilities. When there is a possibility that a child’s or adolescent’s diagnosis is or could be affecting their thinking, learning, or development, their doctor or family will refer them to us.
We, in turn, assess multiple areas of your child’s or adolescent’s cognitive function, along with their experiences, to determine if deficits exist and if so, the cause of them. Evaluations, provided by our specialists can help you, your child’s or adolescent’s doctor, along with their teachers, therapists, and other influential people in their life help your child reinforce their strengths, and improve their weaknesses, so they can reach their full potential in life.
Our brains control our thought processes, and our ability to communicate with others, learn and retain new material, control our emotions and behaviors, regulate our body functions, and so much more. There are a variety of things that can affect a child’s or adolescent’s cognitive function (brain activity), such as illnesses, genetic disorders, disabilities, injuries, medical treatments, surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation therapies, etc.
Our job, at San Antonio Pediatric & Adolescent Neuropsychology Specialists, is to help everyone in your child’s or adolescent’s environment understand their unique challenges. With your help, we can get your child or adolescent on the path to a happier, brighter, and more productive future by restoring as much functionality as possible.
Neuropsychological Evaluations
These evaluations are geared toward children and adolescents who are between the ages of 4 and 25 and their families who are looking to better understand how their children process information, so they can get them the tools and resources they need (i.e., at school) to be successful in life.
Pediatric Psychotherapy
Pediatric psychotherapy involves a type of evidence-based, focused therapy that is often brief, and mostly aimed at working with kids, between the ages of 5 and 17, and their caregivers. This included issues such as parenting skills, behavior, adjustment to medical conditions and treatments, emotional problems (i.e., anxiety, depression), and improving adherence to medical care (e.g., pill swallowing, medication compliance, preparing/reducing anxiety for medical procedures like dental work or blood draws.
Executive Functioning Coaching & Academic Tutoring
All academic subjects are covered under this service, however, it is especially beneficial for learners with ADHD and/or those with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia.
Psycho-vocational Evaluations
These evaluations are designed for adolescents transitioning into the workforce, young adults, and college students with disabilities. The assessment looks at an individual’s intellectual capacity, core academic skills, career interests, work aptitudes, transferable skills, and personality/psychological functioning (as it relates to work) with the purpose of helping to plan or re-evaluate career decisions.
Career/Vocational Assessments
Career/Vocational Assessments can help clients in exploring career possibilities, top areas of occupational interest, as well as identifying academic/work/cognitive strengths and weaknesses, ideal learning styles, and related vocational options.
Neuro-Psycho-Vocational Evaluation
Neuro-Psycho-Vocational Evaluation is a type of assessment designed for individuals who have a psychological disorder(s) (i.e., depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.) and for those who have a neurological disorder(s) (such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, head injury, stroke, etc.). A Neuro-Psycho-Vocational Assessment is a comprehensive assessment that is designed to evaluate a client’s intellectual functioning, memory, academic skills, work-related aptitudes and skills, vocational interests, visual-motor skills, emotional functioning, and general personality characteristics. A Neuro-Psycho-Vocational Assessment combines both the elements contained of a neuropsychological evaluation as well as a psycho-vocational assessment. As such, the individual is measured in terms of cognitive functioning, but with emphasis on vocational and employment planning.
Academic or Learning Disability Evaluations
These evaluations are designed to identify why you (in the case of young adults) or your child or teen is having problems making progress at school or in a certain subject. Families who request an academic or learning disability evaluation from us usually do so because their child or teen is falling behind at school and they want to know why.
ADHD Evaluations
The goal of ADHD evaluations is to determine if your child’s hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention at home, school, and in other situations may be linked to ADHD. These evaluations take into account various factors, such as if and how much your child’s symptoms are affecting their personal, social, school, health and well-being, and daily life.
Pre-Surgical Psychological Assessments
Pre-Surgical Psychological Assessments are typically assessments required by an individual’s medical team as a standard practice prior to a significant surgery such as spinal cord simulator implantation, obesity-related surgeries, epilepsy surgery, or bone marrow transplant.
Telehealth Services
Telehealth services are available for children and adolescents who are unable to attend in-person psychotherapy sessions. They are also available for evaluation interviews, and/or follow-up feedback appointments.
On Your First Visit
Let’s face it, a new doctor can be a big deal for anyone, but especially young children and teens. So before visiting one of our pediatric neurologists, show your child or adolescent a photo of our staff, especially our doctors and social workers. Also, keep in mind that if you have a young child, they may feel less anxious if you “act out” the visit with you or their cherished stuffed animal or toy as the “patient.”
Explain in advance to your child or adolescent that the visits may take a little longer than normal.
Parents: The first appointment will involve intake interviews with caregivers and the child or adolescent.
Also, explain to your child that once you are called back, you two will meet with a pediatric neuropsychologist — a specialist who “studies” how a child’s brain is “working” and “helps” children and their family understand what they might need help with. During the intake interview, the neuropsychologist will ask questions about their symptoms, development, concerns, hopes, etc., and talk about previous test results. Based on this evaluation, testing may be recommended to rule out or diagnose certain developmental conditions or learning disabilities.
Testing
Testing may occur during the first appointment or over an additional one to three appointments, depending on the specifics of your child or adolescent, and their symptoms, signs, or concerns. Testing may occur over several hours in one day or it may be broken up into segments over time, it just depends on your child or adolescent and their individualized needs.
Please bring the following items with you to the sessions or ask your child’s or adolescent’s doctor to send them to our office:
- Medical records
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)study results
- MRI and other diagnostic imaging study reports/results
- Psychological/cognitive evaluations
- IEP records, report cards, 504 Plan, and/or school testing results, notes from teachers
Feedback
Once testing has concluded and the test results are back, you will set up a feedback appointment. During this appointment, we will go over your child’s or adolescent’s report summary and offer recommendations to help them succeed in life. The neuropsychologist will go over in detail the results of the test with you, the caregiver, and ensure you walk away with concrete recommendations.
If you need further explanation or clarity, for say, an IEP meeting, additional feedback is available for your child’s or adolescent’s IEP team.
***This feedback appointment can be an in-person or telehealth visit.
Therapy
If your child or adolescent is receiving therapy, an initial therapy evaluation with a parent is required. Following the initial therapy evaluation, individual therapy may be recommended, based on your child’s or adolescent’s needs. Caregivers are often asked to attend a session with their child from time to time to provide feedback.
Arrival
Please arrive about 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment so we can complete the registration process. That way, we can more quickly concentrate on what’s most important —taking great care of your child.
Other Important Notes
- Make sure that your child or adolescent is well-rested for each session or appointment.
- Snacks and drinks are allowed, and we have a breakroom for both parents and their children for those long days of testing.
- Parents must remain in the office for all evaluations and/or therapy sessions.
- Parents must also be present during all telehealth sessions (in the home but does not have to be in the session) and appts (for minors only).
- Appointment requests are available via our website, or you can call the office to inquire about our services and/or to schedule a consultation or appt.
- Please bring or send divorce decree or other legal paperwork if there is a custody agreement to show the caregiver bringing in the child may consent for treatment.
Important Insurance Information
At this time, we are only accepting private pay, but anticipate accepting health insurance plans in the future. Our tentative goal is to accept insurance by 2024. Payment is due at the time of service. What does this mean for you? It means that you must pay the intake fee before we can conduct an intake, the testing fee before your child or adolescent can be tested, etc. Coaching and tutoring services are NOT covered by insurance.
Understand that it often takes a tribe to help a child. We, along with you, are part of that tribe. The good news is that with San Antonio Pediatric & Adolescent Neuropsychology Specialists, you have a variety of “experts” at your service and in your child’s corner, rooting for their success.
