Is your child experiencing any challenges with attention, organization, or regulation? Are they having struggles academically, socially, or emotionally? Navigating the many options to support your child—and figuring out what might be getting in the way of their success—can feel overwhelming. One option to consider is a neuropsychological evaluation – a comprehensive assessment that can help uncover what’s going on beneath the surface.
What is Neuropsychology?
Neuropsychology is a specialization in psychology that focuses on brain-behavior relationships. A neuropsychologist is a licensed psychologist with advanced training in how the brain affects learning, behavior, and emotions. They hold a doctoral degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) and have completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship focused on neuropsychology.
What to Expect in a Neuropsychological Evaluation?
A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation will help you learn about your child’s individual profile of strengths and challenges, see how they perform relative to others their age, and find out about interventions and strategies that can be put in place to support them by enhancing their strengths and addressing their vulnerabilities.
While the structure can vary from one provider to another, usually it involves an extensive interview with parents/caregivers, reviewing records and collecting collateral data from school and other providers, direct testing, and both verbal and written feedback regarding the results and recommendations. Testing is a combination of interview questions, paper-and-pencil tasks, computer activities, puzzles, and other hands-on activities. These tasks are designed to assess various areas of functioning such as attention and executive functioning (e.g., sustained attention, planning and organizational skills), language, learning and memory, academic achievement, visual thinking, and social/emotional functioning.
When Should You Seek Out a Neuropsychological Evaluation?
Some common reasons to seek out a neuropsychological evaluation may be due to difficulties with your child’s learning, attention/sustained focus, ability to regulate, behavior, stress or anxiety levels, friendships or social skills, or general emotional well-being. Not everyone needs this type of evaluation, so it is helpful to consider the following questions:
1-Have the challenges persisted for more than six months?
2-Have others – like teachers, doctors, or coaches – noticed similar difficulties?
3-Are these issues affecting your child’s schoolwork, friendships, or emotional well-being?
If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” that is a sign to seek out more supports, services, and possible evaluation. However, even if the answers are all “no,” but you continue to worry, then trust your instincts and reach out to specialists to find out more.
The path that you and your child may take to understand if formal interventions or evaluation are needed can look different than the path another parent and their child will take. It is important to ask questions and see what will be best for you. Asking providers you already know like your child’s pediatrician or school professionals can be an excellent start to the process. In addition, reaching out to neuropsychologists to ask them direct questions can also be helpful as many offer a free intake consultation to determine if an assessment would be appropriate.
It is possible that you may choose to go straight to intervention if you have a concern. Getting a math tutor, seeking out a therapist to help with your child’s anxiety, and/or meeting with a psychiatrist for medication management can be all be excellent approaches. However, there are also times that starting an intervention without knowing the underlying cause of challenges can be less successful. So, if you see slow or no progress with intervention talk with the professionals involved and ask whether an additional assessment might be helpful.
Differences Between School Evaluations and Neuropsychological Evaluations:
Another option can be to seek out testing through public school. It is important to note that there are differences between a neuropsychological evaluation and an assessment that a school can provide. A school assessment can be very helpful in many situations but is limited in scope and cannot provide diagnoses, which may lead to more limited recommendations (e.g., not about therapeutic services outside of the school setting). Here are some key differences between a school and neuropsychological evaluation:
School Evaluation | Neuropsychological Evaluation | |
Purpose | Determine eligibility for school services to provide support and accommodations in the school setting | Identify strengths and challenges, provide diagnostic clarification, and guide treatment |
Evaluator | School psychologists (who may have doctoral or master’s degrees), special education staff, sometimes a speech and language therapist and/or occupational therapist | Neuropsychologists (who have a doctoral degree), specialized in brain-behavior relationships |
Diagnoses given? | No | Yes |
Scope | Majority focus on academic and cognitive abilities although they can also include speech and language testing as well as testing of fine motor abilities | Cognitive, visual-thinking skills, language abilities, learning and memory, fine motor skills and visual-motor integration, academic, emotional, and social |
Recommendations | Focused on accommodations in the classroom and support within the school | Comprehensive recommendations and referrals for school, home, and other therapies |
Cost | Free | Insurance may cover it, but many private practitioners are out of network with insurance providers |
Navigating the complexities of testing can be overwhelming and there is usually not only one track for you to choose. So, take time to review all the options, ask questions, and make sure you and your child are feeling seen and heard by the professionals you work with. Remember that we all have strengths and challenges- but seeking out supports, services, or evaluation can be helpful in situations where you observe barriers to your child thriving.
 | About the author: Dr. Yael Rothman is a pediatric neuropsychologist and owner of Rothman Pediatric neuropsychology (rothmanpediatricneuropsychology.com). She specializes in comprehensive evaluations for children, adolescents, and young adults with a wide range of conditions that impact learning, behavior, social skills, and/or emotional functioning. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Rothman has presented at national and international conferences, published over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals, and given lectures to parents and schools. She is the co-author of the Different Thinkers series, which is designed to teach elementary-aged children about their diagnoses. Different Thinkers: ADHD was published in January 2024 and Different Thinkers: Autism was published in March 2025. She shares an Instagram account with her co-author (@neuropsychmoms) to provide evidence-based information to parents/caregivers. |
