06 Aug The Process of Psychological Testing
The process of psychological, or psychoeducational, testing is a three to five appointment process beginning with the initial consultation. At the initial consultation, family and medical background of both the parents and the child is reviewed, with a careful eye toward the child’s development from early years on. Taking a history is important because sometimes, the effect of small medical or developmental problem can be magnified in later years. Early personality quirks like extreme clinginess often are germane to the child’s eventual psychological status.
Testing usually occurs in two-hour segments and may require as many as two or three segments to be completed. The student does not receive a “one size fits all test battery” but testing is sculpted to their reason for referral. Some tests focus more on Autism and social skills, while others focus more on focus or academic skills. Others concentrate on feelings, anger, anxiety, and peer relationships.
Once the testing segments are complete, the psychologist meets with the parents to review all the results, discuss the diagnosis if any, set up 504 or IEP recommendations if any, make medicine recommendations if any, and teach parenting changes. The final report, arriving 2-3 weeks later, will be sent to the parents and primary provider.
Cost Associated With Above
Both insurance and common sense dictates a cost associated with the above, including not only the office contact hours but the multiple hours of test scoring, reviewing files, and writing and editing the final report. For the full battery, insurance patients will notice that there are as many as four “dates of service” charged beyond the dates of which they were in the office. Typically, it takes the doctor one hour to prepare the test results to present at the feedback meeting, and an additional hour to dictate and proofread the report. Should parents ever find an error or mistake in the report, please contact the office immediately so this can be resolved.
Dyslexia and Learning Disability Testing Online
Due to the challenges of COVID, having a virtual dyslexia or learning disability assessment online is now routine and universally accepted. The doctor is able to present reading, math, processing, IQ, focus and personality tests by sharing screens. Writing tests and some dyslexia testing have to be done with paper and pencil so the student receives a packet via overnight mail to be completed during the virtual testing session. All test data is returned to the doctor’s office in Littleton, Colorado. You can read more about virtual dyslexia and learning disability testing here.