Testing and Assessments for children, teens, and adults

People use a lot of different terms when talking about testing. Some speak of “educational testing,” some request “neuropsychological evaluation,” and others may request “diagnostic testing.” Of course, people are wildly complex! That is why we emphasize a holistic approach to testing that individualizes to your expressed needs. That means that an evaluation at The Center may take on characteristics of any number of approaches to testing—educational, neuropsychological, developmental, and/or diagnostic. During our intake interview, we’ll collaborate together to come up with a plan that suits your family’s needs.

But to help you out before hand, here are a few helpful ways of thinking about things:

Educational testing helps determine IQ, learning style, and aptitude. Such testing can often be useful in clarifying educational strengths and needs.

Neuropsychological-type testing helps clarify skills and abilities that we know to be specifically linked with certain brain functions. This can, but does not have to be, related to brain development, injuries, or medical irregularities. This kind of testing often looks at things like attention, memory, language development, visual-spatial skills, and the like.

Developmental testing aims to identify and strengths or irregularities in ongoing development. This type of testing can clarify behaviors and brain capabilities as they align with what we know about developmental trends.

Psychological-type testing, more broadly, might be thought of as an effort to understand one’s mind and personality. In addition to several activities listed as part of the other types of testing, psychological assessment also aims to understand the emotional experiences, behaviors, and personality functions of an individual as they likely contribute clarity to the questions we are trying to answer.

As you might guess, all of these types of testing can be quite useful. For example, academic concerns can impact psychological well-being just as emotional concerns can impact academics. That is why, as mentioned above, we take a holistic approach that integrates several of these assessment-types to address the specific needs of each family that comes to us. We want to ensure that we have a full picture of what is happening both academically and psychologically and how it may be impacting your life, or your child’s life in different areas. Thus, our process is quite collaborative and individualized.