Neuropsych evaluation - who administers
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Anonymous
| After a long wait, my DC is scheduled for a neuropsych evaluation. I got the information and it seems the doctor does not do most of the testing, but rather an M.A. who helps him. I find that strange for $5000 or so. Is this the normal practice? |
Anonymous
You must be talking about Stixrud. That's how they do it there and it pisses a lot of people off. They pay a lot of money to have their kid evaluated by a PhD, not a student. If this is the practice you're talking about, they have their MAs do a good deal of the testing and grading of the tests - with the doctor diagnosing. DS is going through this process with a very good doctor, she does all of it. None of this farming out to students getting their Masters. You haven't paid yet, you can always change your mind and go elsewhere. |
Anonymous
$5000 sounds outrageously expensive. I am wrong here? My eval with Childrens was a fraction of that, maybe $1k total including the speech eval, and most of this was covered by insurance. In addition, if it isn't the doctor but a M.A. Does your child have a particularly complex problem that requires broad examination over multiple areas? |
Anonymous
$5K is usually the amount when ASD is suspected. Otherwise a complete evaluation with a private psych will run you around $4K. Children's and KKI accept insurance which helps keep costs low, however I don't think they do the educational portion. |
Anonymous
| Psychologist here. Just so you know, it's not unusual for psychologists to use advanced doctoral students under supervision to conduct part of the neuropsych testing. We are all trained to do these evaluations in grad school and supervision by licensed psychologists is fairly intensive. |
Anonymous
| I can see using an advanced doctoral student, but an M.A? |
Anonymous
An advanced doctoral student is an M.A. Someone who has not yet completed their doctorate has a master's degree. |
Anonymous
Yeah not on my kid you're not. I made this mistake the first time around and vowed to never make that mistake again. My DS is already enough of a Guinea Pig in his MoCo public, he's not going to become a specimen for someone working on their Masters. If I'm going to pay that much for a private assessment - its going to be 100% WITH the doctor or I am moving on to someone else. Same as if I were seeing a heart specialist. I'm going to pick the doctor with the most experience and best reputation, not an intern that's still green and wet behind the ears. There are plenty of PhDs out there who do all the testing themselves, and they write their own reports. This is what I demand, or you're not getting my business. |
Anonymous
| PP - where did you get the assessment done? Stixrud and CAAT (Dr. Black) use M.A. |
Anonymous
No did not use Stixrud but this is classic for them. I know because I used to work there. I cannot tell you the number of stunned and unhappy parents when they realized that MAs were administering much of the testing, with the doctor overseeing and diagnosing. Yes, they were supervised but when you pay THAT much money and wait THAT long to see the "doctor" you bet a lot of parents are gonna be pissed off. |
Anonymous
| GMU is non profit and has great reviews. Look at the dcum archives. |
Anonymous
GMU is fine if it is a simple issue- they also use inexperienced students to do the assessments (yes, with supervision). For those of us with children that have more complicated issues, it is important to find experienced assessors that ave "seen it all" and recognize it. I don't mind if it is a PhD or an MA, provided they are qualified, thorough, experienced and capable. |
Anonymous
Right keep telling yourself that when you pay that bill. GMU had phds and mas, we were seen by a phd. Those experienced assessors are just trying to funnel in your dollars to pay for their expensive and unproven experimental unbillable treatments. |
Anonymous
As seen by this thread you don't get much at a private practice except for a big bill |
Anonymous
I think we have done this dance before. I did not change your mind that there are other more competent assessors in the areas than GMU and you did nothing to change my mind that GMU is not a good place to send a child who has a complicated diagnoses. Our experiences were very different. I am very glad that your experiences met with your satisfaction. As I said before, not all independent assessors recommend treatment for which they provide. The recommendations were received were to keep up with the private reading tutor; see a pediatric neurologist and the rest were school based things to get on the IEP. |