cognitive testing at 3? and neuropsych

[Anonymous]

Any utility to cognitive testing at 3? We don't think we're looking at intellectual disability, I do have concerns though - she just seems out of it/not quite with it and/or a bit slow to catch on. No real diagnosis, just delays - language, motor, attention. The school didn't do cognitive testing, found her eligible.

Wondering if pursuing on our own has any use or at this age and/or with other delays is unlikely to provide useful info.

Also any use to neuropsych as independent eval for school services at this age?

[Anonymous]

Have you seen a developmental pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you seen a developmental pediatrician?

This would be the most useful.

(Psychologists do psycho-educational testing b/f age 5 or a neuropsych evaluation after 6.)

[Anonymous]

Yes, we paid a lot of money for one and, looking at things now, got not much useful out of it (not much in the way of formal eval, not much beyond very general conclusory statements), certainly nothing specific enough to be useful for the school, though the ped also didn't think we were looking at intellectual disability. We parted ways a bit after the ped became less helpful when we didn't follow some of the recommendations (for financial and other reasons). I suppose we could get on the list for others, but I'm now highly skeptical that they're useful....

[Anonymous]

Neuropsych really isn't even as valid until 7. Definitely wait. I know you might not get all the answers right away, and that's hard. 3 is still really little, and things will be evolving for a long time, most likely.

It doesn't feel great - it's a cloud of uncertainty, but you just have to roll with what works for your kid at that particular moment.

[Anonymous]

I've posted about this before - when my youngest was 2, I signed him up for an NIH study on ASD and other developmental delays. At that point, we knew he had delays but didn't know they extent of them. I'd not yet heard of a developmental pediatrician (DS was evaluated through EI). A multi-disciplinary team spent 2 half days testing him. I got an great oral debrief and an excellent written report. Not only was it excellent information about his development at the time, it also provided a baseline for how quickly he developed and obtained skills. DS is now 9 and that report (and the follow up report from them 6 months later) have been used over and over. They've been especially helpful to the subsequent developmental pediatricians and neuropsychologists who have evaluated DS.

You can definitely do a lot of testing and learn a lot about your DC at very young ages but 3 is too young for a neuropsych - and it's very expensive. I'd find a research study.

[Anonymous]

If you suspect something is not comete normal with your kid, talk to professionals. It is much easier to help them when they are young. Doing great in school doesnt mean your kids dont need help on social and emotional development. My DC had very few friends and doesnt really know how to interact with others. We thought he will learn eventually. In college, he was finnaly challenged in acadamic classes and couldnot handle it but dont know how to get help. Wish we have thought about helping him when he was young n still listen to us.

[Anonymous]

If you suspect something is not comete normal with your kid, talk to professionals. It is much easier to help them when they are young. Doing great in school doesnt mean your kids dont need help on social and emotional development. My DC had very few friends and doesnt really know how to interact with others. We thought he will learn eventually. In college, he was finnaly challenged in acadamic classes and couldnot handle it but dont know how to get help. Wish we have thought about helping him when he was young n still listen to us.

[Anonymous]

DS got an psychoeducational eval when he was 4, three days of testing/observation done at school. Our charter does this as part of the IEP process. He was also evaluated for speech, OT and PT. Got an IEP. The results /report were also used by our developmental pediatrician and the psychoeducational report and he both agreed that DS has ASD/Asperger's.

We found the psychoeducational testing very helpful in forming the IEP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS got an psychoeducational eval when he was 4, three days of testing/observation done at school. Our charter does this as part of the IEP process. He was also evaluated for speech, OT and PT. Got an IEP. The results /report were also used by our developmental pediatrician and the psychoeducational report and he both agreed that DS has ASD/Asperger's.

We found the psychoeducational testing very helpful in forming the IEP.

DS is 8 now and got a neuropsych at 7. The results were consistent with the results he got when he was 4, including the IQ score, but he was also diagnosed with ADHD, combined type, in addition to ASD.

DS does well at school, socially and academically, fully mainstreamed and the IEP gets the main credit.

[Anonymous]

We just went for it at age 4. It's fully covered if done at Children's or KK so we figured why not. We want as much info as possible prior to starting an IEP and for better determining what therapies to focus on.