IEP/ADHD EVAL
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Anonymous
| when my daughter needed an evaluation, she was in private school and we used a professional neuropsych for her evaluation. Her 3rd grade brother, also private school, needs an evaluation for ADHD as well. But I understand that we can self-refer him to the MOCo system. Our insurance covers about 1/3 of the cost, which is substantial. Should we use the County services instead? If so, what differences can we expect? |
Anonymous
| If you can afford it, you will get a more thorough, high quality evaluation if you go private. |
Anonymous
|
At your peril, OP!
Our insurance covered none of it, and we still went private, even though we're not rich. The evaluations are NOT THE SAME. First, MCPS "psychologists" are not top of the pile at all - they earn less than their private counterparts and some don't even have PhDs, which is the standard in the field. Second, MCPS does not provide nearly as many tests as a private practice might, in order to tease out learning disabilities and ADHD. It's not exactly in their best interest to spend an inordinate amount of time and money on those things, is it? My son had 8 hours of testing at Stixrud during his full neuropsychological evaluation, everyone one of them useful and distinct. MCPS will never do that. |
Anonymous
| The testing by MCPS may be done by a school psychologist, who does NOT have the same education, training, clinical experience as a licensed psychologist. Please if you can at all afford it, get your own outside testing. |
Anonymous
| The problem with private testing is that if you are paying a doctor to find ADHD, they will. You are paying for the service of receiving a diagnosis. If you go with the county you are getting professionals who deal with a lot of kids and are reasonably objective about the outcome of the tests. I'd go through MCPS and put aside the money for your kid's first car. |
Anonymous
I would fear this as well. I don't know anyone who had this done and found out their child did not have ADHD. |
Anonymous
No private psychologist or medical doctor will diagnose a disability that doesn't exist. They have their reputations and license at stake which is more than the MCPS school psychologist. Private testing is expensive because of the amount of testing and documentation that is needed. For my children - educational and neuropsyc testing took about 8 hours which occurred over 2 sessions so the child could perform at his best. The psychologist interviewed myself and my child separately to try to determine the type of problems my child was having. He also gave me teacher forms for two of my child's teachers to fill out and mail back to their office. He reviewed my child's binder and assessments to gather information on the types of mistakes my child made as well as areas of strength. MCPS spent 1 hour with my child and didn't go into the depth of an evaluation that the private psychologist did. MCPS missed the disabilities that my child had but they didn't disagree with what the private psychologist identified. |
Anonymous
School administrator here, and this is so true. If you pay, you will be given a diagnosis, whether or not it's legit. |
Anonymous
| An ADHD diagnosis by a medical doctor, standing alone, usually isn't enough to get an IEP. That's why you need a throrough evaluation by a qualified psychologist to identify strengths and weaknesses in learning and cognition. |
Anonymous
I'm curious, what school system do you work for and what are your qualifications to determine if a child has a "legit" disability? Many children with ADHD are discriminated by school administrators due to a lack of understanding and ill formed stereotypes of what ADHD looks like. This recent Dear Colleague Letter from the US Department of Education highlights many of the ways school systems fail to identify and understand children with ADHD. The result is that kids with ADHD are often denied a Free Appropriate Public Education. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf When my child was privately evaluated, I shared with the Ph.D. psychologist that the school's reading specialist thought that she was dyslexic. The IEP team had found no disability, but the school reading specialist actually urged me to have her privately tested in light of the IEP team's decision. The private psychologist, after gathering mounds of data and conducting over 8 hours of testing in which she looked at the types of mistakes my child made, not just the quantity, disagreed with the reading specialist. The data indicated my daughter had ADHD Inattentive Type, something the school IEP team never considered. My daughter was given an IEP based on the private report and the accommodations with the goals and objectives recommended allowed my daughter to not only achieve on grade level performance, but over time, achieve above grade level performance. No parent wants their child to be mislabeled and misidentified. To be improperly identified means their child is not getting the correct type of help and education that they need. Parents do not choose a doctor or a psychologist because they will agree with them. To do so would be a waste of money (over $5,000) and time. Parent's want a thorough evaluation so there's a blueprint of what the issue is and how the child can be helped. Period. Our family is not rich by any means and the $5,000 we paid for the private evaluation was after waiting YEARS for the school system to help my child. School systems are too quick to assume kids do not have a disability because frankly, they are responsible for providing services and accommodations if needed. No one in the school system beurocracy wants another child on their caseload. |
Anonymous
|
NP here who has gone both testing routes. What is your ultimate goal once you have the test results in your hand?
If you will be using the diagnosis to determine what private and/or supplemental intervention you need, get the private eval - it is a lot more thorough and will a lot more specific. If you only want the results so you can properly justify and document an IEP, the County eval will suffice. |
Anonymous
This is incorrect. MCPS psychologists are also licensed and also would be jeopardizing said license for identifying a disability if there isn't one. Also, I've seen reports from psychologists diagnosing a child with a language disorder on the basis of a single subtest. The comprehensive test wasn't even given! Also, MCPS is tasked with identifying disabilities not disorders. Private practitioners identify any and all disorders. Did you end up with an IEP or a 504? |
Anonymous
Having ADD doesn't obligate schools to provide an IEP. Perhaps a 504 plan service and some students don't need service at all. It is meant to be individualized to each student. No blanket statements apply to any disorder or condition. |
Anonymous
New poster here. We just did a private eval too. 6 hours and all the forms for the teachers and me as well. It was covered by insurance. I've paid $45 out of pocket so far. Although one portion may be as high as $350. I asked for testing for ADHD, anxiety, executive functioning, and learning disabilities that might contribute to reading and writing challenges. So maybe that's why mine was only six hours vs. eight. Just wanted to let folks know there are insured private options out there, that cost less. Maybe it as comprehensive as stixrud-type, which don't accept insurance. But it seems more comprehensive than the County. |
Anonymous
| MCPS psychologists, the ones who are school psychologists, are certificated employees who are certified to work in schools. That is not the same thing as being a licensed PhD psychologist. There are some PhD psychologists employed by MCPS yes, but certified school psychologists are not licensed and there is no licensing authority to complain to if they screw up or worse, completely mis diagnose your child. |