what age neuropsych?

[Anonymous]

Just wondering, after reading the thread about cost and waitlist for less expensive possibilities. Our son is only 4, but what has been dx'd as ADHD seems to have some other ocmponents, I wonder about LDs and other issues. But is it better to wait until grade school when academic challenges are more obvious?

[Anonymous]

Talk to your developmental pediatrician. KKI recommended and my son's first one was one when he was 4. We are referred every 2 years for one.

[Anonymous]

Our neuropsych suggested that we wait until age 7. I had to pay privately and cannot afford to have them done more than necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk to your developmental pediatrician. KKI recommended and my son's first one was one when he was 4. We are referred every 2 years for one.

Same but the one DS had when he was 4 was done by the school: Our school contracts out with private psychologists. It was well done and we were happy with it. We had another one done privately when DS was 6 at Stixrud. It was well done also. The main difference between the two neuropsychs is what test is used for IQ testing which is part of any neuropsych, it was WIPPSI when he was 4 and a WISC when he was 6. Most people consider the WISC (and being older) a better indicator of IQ so that's probably why the recommendation is to wait until the child is older for a neuropsych if you are planning on doing only one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talk to your developmental pediatrician. KKI recommended and my son's first one was one when he was 4. We are referred every 2 years for one.

Same but the one DS had when he was 4 was done by the school: Our school contracts out with private psychologists. It was well done and we were happy with it. We had another one done privately when DS was 6 at Stixrud. It was well done also. The main difference between the two neuropsychs is what test is used for IQ testing which is part of any neuropsych, it was WIPPSI when he was 4 and a WISC when he was 6. Most people consider the WISC (and being older) a better indicator of IQ so that's probably why the recommendation is to wait until the child is older for a neuropsych if you are planning on doing only one.

I don't think the WIPPSI/WISC difference is the reason people say to wait to do neuropsych. Both are IQ tests. Both have to have shown some predictive value over time in terms of a child's general intelligence. It may be that the WIPPSI, which is given at an earlier age, might be slightly more influenced by the quality of early childhood education/contact, but the reality is that it would not be so widely accepted as an IQ measure if it weren't highly validated. If a child got significantly different WIPPSI and WISC scores, then that would raise a major red flag as to what caused such a huge difference.

I think the reason that many advise to wait on neuropsych, particularly for ADHD assessment, is that kids under age 6 aren't deemed to be skilled enough to follow instructions and complete the tasks that are used to evaluate ADHD or it would be developmentally normal for them not to have acquired a certain skill yet. The same is true for other issues like Central Auditory Processing Testing, and "reading" assessment (although it is possible to assess language and phonics at an early age.)

I also think that it's wrong to say broadly "wait on neuropsych". There are many issues for which I would still seek a neuropsych at an early age -- any significant memory issues, failure to acquire language, suspicion of autism, and many others.

I think the decision whether or not to wait on neuropsych depends very much on what you think the "other issues" are. In our situation, it was very clear that our child had language issues at an early age. There was a question whether the issues were language based, auditory (after long history of ear infections and tubes) or ADHD-related. Because DC was too young for CAPD and ADHD testing, we opted not to do neuropsych and got instead, a very comprehensive language assessment, which was incredibly helpful. I wish, in retrospect, we had spent more time and money on speech therapy at that early age. But, having the assessment was helpful and by the time DC was old enough for CAPD, ADHD and full neuropsych, including academic achievement assessment, the earlier speech and language established a marker from which we could clearly demonstrated that DC's skills were declining despite the "general education" offered by the school (which was proof that he needed an IEP with "special instruction").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talk to your developmental pediatrician. KKI recommended and my son's first one was one when he was 4. We are referred every 2 years for one.

Same but the one DS had when he was 4 was done by the school: Our school contracts out with private psychologists. It was well done and we were happy with it. We had another one done privately when DS was 6 at Stixrud. It was well done also. The main difference between the two neuropsychs is what test is used for IQ testing which is part of any neuropsych, it was WIPPSI when he was 4 and a WISC when he was 6. Most people consider the WISC (and being older) a better indicator of IQ so that's probably why the recommendation is to wait until the child is older for a neuropsych if you are planning on doing only one.

I don't think the WIPPSI/WISC difference is the reason people say to wait to do neuropsych. Both are IQ tests. Both have to have shown some predictive value over time in terms of a child's general intelligence. It may be that the WIPPSI, which is given at an earlier age, might be slightly more influenced by the quality of early childhood education/contact, but the reality is that it would not be so widely accepted as an IQ measure if it weren't highly validated. If a child got significantly different WIPPSI and WISC scores, then that would raise a major red flag as to what caused such a huge difference.

I think the reason that many advise to wait on neuropsych, particularly for ADHD assessment, is that kids under age 6 aren't deemed to be skilled enough to follow instructions and complete the tasks that are used to evaluate ADHD or it would be developmentally normal for them not to have acquired a certain skill yet. The same is true for other issues like Central Auditory Processing Testing, and "reading" assessment (although it is possible to assess language and phonics at an early age.)

I also think that it's wrong to say broadly "wait on neuropsych". There are many issues for which I would still seek a neuropsych at an early age -- any significant memory issues, failure to acquire language, suspicion of autism, and many others.

I think the decision whether or not to wait on neuropsych depends very much on what you think the "other issues" are. In our situation, it was very clear that our child had language issues at an early age. There was a question whether the issues were language based, auditory (after long history of ear infections and tubes) or ADHD-related. Because DC was too young for CAPD and ADHD testing, we opted not to do neuropsych and got instead, a very comprehensive language assessment, which was incredibly helpful. I wish, in retrospect, we had spent more time and money on speech therapy at that early age. But, having the assessment was helpful and by the time DC was old enough for CAPD, ADHD and full neuropsych, including academic achievement assessment, the earlier speech and language established a marker from which we could clearly demonstrated that DC's skills were declining despite the "general education" offered by the school (which was proof that he needed an IEP with "special instruction").

Thank you! That's interesting and you are right about "depends very much on what you think the 'other issues' are". We did our second neuropsych at 6 to see whether DC had other common comorbid conditions that comes with an ASD diagnosis like ADHD and anxiety. We already had an IEP but wanted to make sure we hadn't missed something.