Outside Neuropsych eval vs School eval?
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Anonymous
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We are looking to get our 8th grader evaluated - the school provides in-school evaluation (observation, testing). We've also consulted with a private service provider that does evaluations.
What is the difference between the two? |
Anonymous
| You're gonna get a range of responses here, with some people saying that the school eval is garbage and you MUST pay $6k to get a comprehensive, and others saying that the school evaluation will be perfectly sufficient. My experience as both a clinical and school psychologist is that an outside neuropsych will give a lot more tests, but that they don't necessarily provide additional diagnostic utility. I will be honest and say there is a range of school providers, and some are going to be more thorough than others. What I would do is allow the school to do their evaluation, and wait to see if you have your questions answered about your child. If there are still lingering concerns and the data doesn't feel complete, then consider the neuropsych. |
Anonymous
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OP here - I found a previous post which provided some good information about the difference between the 2.
Do school evaluations assess for things like adhd or asd? or is it just achievement based? Some things we are seeing in our 8th grader (and this has been consistent for the last 4yrs): - perfectionism - tests very well - exceptional memory for facts, deficient memory for everyday things - takes 4-5x longer for homework, spends 3-5hrs on homework nightly - needs extra time at home to complete work that was supposed to be completed in school -will receive A+ across the board - except for instances where she forgot to turn an assignment in or forgot to write her name on the assignment - time management issues - self-care issues - easily distracted - example - she has 10 minutes to get ready for school, but she is stuck in her room just staring into her drawers or looking at the dust in her plant, or something else. - stubborn and oppositional - socially withdrawn, has not made any friends since 3rd grade (when I essentially forced those connections for her) - emotionally reactive |
Anonymous
It can depend on your child and if you know which diagnostic tests capture where your child may need help. For example, if do know your child may or possibly be dyslexic, you would want to see if the school would include GORT testing (which may not be something they would regularly include). If you are uncertain about your child’s true picture, a private neuro-psych may be valuable. |
Anonymous
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OP, I have a kid pretty similar to yours and we've done private testing. In my experience, school testing focuses on deficits/issues that show up in behaviorally or academically in the school environment/at school and tend to be somewhat narrowly tailored/focused. (Ie, you bring a concern about anxiety and school testing will administer a specific instrument to assess for that.) In my experience, comprehensive private testing considers the gamut of things that may be going on and uses lots of different data to triangulate the picture of your kid.
My kid has had things missed in both school and outside testing, but I feel like we got (a lot) more actionable information from the outside testing. |
Anonymous
| I have two kids with ADHD, but diagnosed in middle school. The school tested DS in 4th grade, the report was he did not have it BUT we should consider Executive function skills training, but DCPS said no condition, no accommodations. He was diagnosed after private evaluation in 6th grade by a psychiatrist. My DD had difficulty starting in 3rd grade, she just seemed not motivated, distracted, etc , etc. School kept sitting her with the loud, obnoxious boys as she seemed to lower the temperature at the shared table. She dragged along until 6th grade. I watched her spend 15 hours trying to do a 20 minute assignment as the beginning of 6th grade. Lightbulb went off for me. School wasn't accommodating getting testing in the school, indicated it will be 3-4 months before they would test her. So found a therapist, who recommended a neuropsychologist for testing. She had many diagnoses, not least of which was anxiety and depression along with her ADHD. Still took a lot of pushing to have the school approve accommodations for ADHD, even with the very through report. So, cannot imagine how long my child would have suffered if we had not done private testing. We were ultimately able to use that testing to get accommodations for SAT, along with school accommodations history and her pediatrician writing a letter based on her through knowledge of my DD. In retrospect I wish I had her tested earlier. So encourage you to consider the advantage of earlier more through testing. Was expensive, but really helped pinpoint which accommodations she needed and helped her understand she is not broken, but has some conditions that need accommodations so she will not be limited by typical approaches to learning and testing, etc which otherwise would limit her ability to reach her full potential. |
Anonymous
I think this a good answer. Try and get issues fixed as they arise. I preferred shorter tests as needed rather than giant, expensive, combersome reports that become outdated in two years. |
Anonymous
| With a high achieving and well-behaved student, you will likely need private testing. |
Anonymous
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OP here and thanks for all the helpful feedback.
I did reach out to our private psychologist with these questions and wanted to share the answer here in case it is helpful for anyone else. A school evaluation is used to determine whether a student meets criteria for an IEP, and in-school supports. It cannot be used for any medical diagnosis. For high achieving kids, Sometimes the school evaluation will not meet the criteria for an IEP. A Private evaluation can yield a formal medical diagnosis, which can be used to advocate for school supports. Most school districts accept external testing and won’t insist on repeating it for an IEP and for in-school supports. I also reached out to the school and got some more information about what the school evaluation entails. It generally includes in-class observation, feedback from teachers, from parents, from the student, and then the actual test itself. The test takes about 2-4 hours to complete, depending on the student. We are in PA and they are required to provide testing within 60 days, after a parent requests it. It sounds like the test portion of the private evaluation is more comprehensive - and can take 8 hours. |
Anonymous
What answer do you want? No joke - this matters. The school provider will give you a rosier picture and fewer accommodations and resources. The external provider will give you a granular picture and you can ask for additional accommodations that the school must provide. I was worried my kid had very slight ADHD. The school never suggested an evaluation and we got one independently before she was applying to MS. Her initial test scores were average and her IQ is very high, so extra time was key for us. The evaluator also asked if she could benefit from having an additional support 1:1 help reading the test (what kid couldn’t benefit from that?!), so we said yes. She got full accommodations for her entrance exams and went from average to top 5%. Not a chance a school evaluation would do that. If you’re in public and don’t want the ‘label’ do it through the school. If you want the additional resources available to your kid, do it externally. Just be expected to pay for the additional resources - we pay an external company to go to the school 3x/wk to help with her accommodations that in public school she wouldn’t need. |
Anonymous
We are not looking for a specific answer. We want to learn how we can best support her, given her strengths and deficits. |
Anonymous
The school evaluation will answer the question of whether she needs specialized instruction and accommodations. A private evaluation will give you a wealth of details about her strengths and challenges and thoughtful recommendations inside and outside of school. |
Anonymous
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The school eval focuses on determining if a student meets criteria for an educational disability as outlined in special ed law. There are 13 categories, including autism, learning disabilities, and OHI (which covers ADHD). If a child has characteristics of autism or ADHD that significantly impact their ability to access general education, they will identify it (as an educational "classification" instead of a medical diagnosis) and qualify. If they have characteristics that do not significantly impact their education, they may note it in the report but won't diagnose.
A private eval will determine if a child meeds diagnostic criteria for a disorder (included autism and ADHD), which is a lower bar than qualifying for an educational disability. You provide that report to the school, and they consider it. They do not need to accept private recommendations. They may qualify your child for a 504 based on the private diagnosis, or they might say an IEP may be necessary and then do their own evaluation. I always recommend doing school testing first, because it is free, faster, and may get you what you need (in school supports). Afterwards, if you want additional information or disagree with their report, you can request an independent educational evaluation at the expense of the district. Or you can do private testing. Maybe get yourself on a private evaluator's waitlist and begin the school process? |
Anonymous
No, schools cannot test for ADHD or ASD. They can fill out screeners for your Neuropsych provider though. You want the outside provider. What you are describing sounds a lot like ASD and ADHD. |