What’s the value of a neuropsych?

amother

Thu, Dec 26 2024, 9:48 pm

Before jumping to respond hear me out .
I have had 4 of my kids evaluated . With each child we evaluated to see is he adhd because he was definitely acting like that and what do you know he was . Each kid we went in assuming what the issue was
This has somewhat been the pattern. It doesn’t take a genius to see when a kid is acting adhd . I feel like most people go into getting a neuropsych knowing what the outcome will be - so what is the point of spending the 5k to do so?
When I brought this up with a professional the response was … it’s beneficial for insurance purposes - when it comes to educating it doesn’t really change or make a difference. If a kid presents with a lagging skill , you teach that skill and modify /scaffold /support accordingly
What she was saying made so much sense but also hard to digest as many schools demand neuropsych and I am 20k poorer because of them and none of them gave me any more info that I didn’t know before

hyhy12

Thu, Dec 26 2024, 9:55 pm

For this reason I did not do neuropsych… my child is presenting as a b and c so we treat as is . We tested for auditory processing and she did not come out with diagnosis but what do you know they recommend treating as if there’s an APD … if it presents as one .
However I have a background in this and that’s why I knew I would not benefit to test other than an official label and out5k

amother

Strawberry ↓

Thu, Dec 26 2024, 10:04 pm

Interestingly I would’ve agreed with you until recently. Ds was “classic textbook” adhd. We could all spot it a mile away. Took him to psychiatrist who diagnosed it “officially” within minutes because obviously it was so apparent there was nothing to talk about, and started the journey to find the right meds. When none of the meds worked and the problems persisting, we went for further eval. Neuropsych showed no evidence of attention issues. The dx was totally wrong. So sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it seems obvious, but it isn’t. Apparently our situation is not so uncommon. Manu kids are misdiagnosed bec there’s a rush to quick diagnosis. My feeling now would be give your theory a little time but if it’s not getting better with the treatment that should get it better, maybe time for neuropsych.

amother

Blonde

Thu, Dec 26 2024, 10:15 pm

My dc is a complex case so we've been to multiple neuropsychologists (what is the difference between neuropsychologist and neuropsychiatrist? I don't know) and I've found it very helpful. If your kids all have the same symptoms and you end up with the same diagnoses then what is the purpose of going for a diagnosis with each child? I will say that you're fairly unique though because my kids all present differently from each other.

Teacher_EW ↓

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 8:28 am

Hi. I'm an educator and sometimes I'm the one referring parents to a neuropsych eval, but only rarely. The only time I find a neuropsych worth the time and money it costs, is when the child is complicated and other options have been exhausted. For example, if we have a student who has been academically remediated for 2-3 years but still isn't progressing and we know there aren't focus issues, vision issues, or auditory processing, we might refer to a neuropsych. Or if a child has tried several medications for ADHD and none of them work, we might refer to a neuropsych.

To me, mostly because of the price, a neuropsych is a last resort for obtaining clarity, when parents and educators are "stuck" and they can't figure out how to help their child/student...

amother

Catmint

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 8:30 am

amother Strawberry wrote:

What was thr actual diagnosis that manifested in a similar way to adhd?

amother

Cyclamen ↓

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 8:47 am

We had similar experience where we were thinking autism spectrum neuropsych ruled that out and instead diagnosed with learning disabilities etc was extremely helpful as we were barking up the wrong tree. Plus we were better able to target the issues with the right therapies and the therapists already working with us found the recommendations very helpful. Was super expensive but worth every penny

amother

Heather

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 9:48 am

A neuropsych is good for a complicated or subtle situation or when there is a concern for learning issues- ie dyslexia. You don't need one for something obvious. But it is helpful/important if you need documentation- especially for standardized testing accommodations like for sat, ap exams...etc

- a neuropsychologist

amother

RosePink

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 10:45 am

Teacher_EW wrote:

For those who posted positive experiences with neuropsychs,would you be able. To post the name/contact of the doctor who performed the evaluation? It's always helpful to have a list of doctors who are great!

Dr Gianna Locascio in Brooklyn was amazing and took our insurance

amother

↑ Strawberry

Fri, Dec 27 2024, 12:15 pm

amother Catmint wrote:

What was thr actual diagnosis that manifested in a similar way to adhd?

So basically he had a very specific reading disorder and since it was hard for him to verbalize why reading and processing was so hard, and he felt so awful about himself in class he was acting out in a way that appeared to be adhd with all e bells and whistles.

amother

Cinnamon ↓

Sat, Dec 28 2024, 2:35 pm

ADHD is a diagnosis of elimination (and so is ASD, in a sense). Meaning, you do the neuropsych to figure out whether the symptoms you are seeing are a result of ADHD, or a result of something else which presents similarly.

Issues which can look like ADHD but aren't (and so medication will make things worse, or just not help at all):
* vision issues
* hearing issues
* trauma
* ASD
* anxiety
* language issues
* sensory issues
* learning disabilities
* sleep issues
* some forms of epilepsy
* ODD

Obviously some of these will require additional testing not included in a standard neuropsych; it is also why ADHD requires the behaviors to show up in two different settings.

I can tell you that for my own kids, I was sure they just had very bad ADHD (and meds even helped them), but at the urging of a school psychologist I took one for a neuropsych, which revealed...ASD. And then I realized that the other one was likely also ASD. The bigger one had already been diagnosed with: ADHD, ODD, DMDD, and anxiety, as well as some kind of sleep disorder. Turns out it's just ADHD (questionable, actually, IMO), ASD, anxiety, and the trouble sleeping that is so typical of ASD. The other one (diagnosed first) just has ASD and ADHD. Smile

I am a BIG fan of neuropsychs now. Even though I wasn't earlier. I watched them be done and was very impressed.

amother

↑ Cinnamon

Sat, Dec 28 2024, 2:37 pm

LovesHashem wrote:

ASD, gifted, ADHD, and many others things can be misdiagnosed for each other, especially in girls.

Say it louder for the people at the back.

Girls and very high-functioning ASD kids are often missed, misdiagnosed, and suffer GREATLY because of that, developing secondary issues which might not have developed had they been properly diagnosed and supported much earlier on.

amother

↑ Cyclamen ↓

Sun, Dec 29 2024, 6:58 am

amother Lily wrote:

Can u explain diff between an eval at a child psychologist and a neurpsych eval? Or is it the same thing?

A neuropsych evaluation is hours of testing they look at iq memory different kind of processing, they actually measure different forms of attention concentration, as far as autism they test the ability to infer facial cues for example take other perspective etc the point is they don't just guess a diagnosis based on symptoms they actually test these different things.

amother

↑ Lily

Sun, Dec 29 2024, 9:09 am

amother Cyclamen wrote:

When would someone get a neuropsych? To clarify, my dd is slightly delayed academically and socially, and I have a consult with a psychologist. Does one go for a neuropsych eval after they tried a regular psychologist?