If a student in your classroom is struggling with the material more than their peers, it’s possible that they could have special learning requirements.
Child
Neuropsychological evaluation
If a student in your classroom is struggling with the material more than their peers, it’s possible that they could have special learning requirements.
In many cases, the school and the child’s parents are already aware of this, as symptoms typically develop before they attend education. Still, there are also instances where children don’t receive a diagnosis (or manifest symptoms) until later. You might conduct an internal evaluation if you suspect the child’s condition gets in their learning. Neuropsychological evaluations are similar to these internal tests but can also give the child a professional diagnosis.
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What is a neuropsychological evaluation?
A neuropsychological evaluation might sound intimidating or like a rigorous, invasive test. Still, it’s typically just a way of testing individual brain functions in a child, using questions and basic activities. Schools apply many of the same assessments during a psycho-educational evaluation – which they conduct when they think a student has special educational needs. This evaluation aims to determine if a child has difficulties with skills or brain functions which can hold them back from progressing at the same rate as their classmates. The evaluator might recommend certain school-based services or accommodations depending on the results.
The difference between a school and neuropsychological evaluation
Both of these evaluations aim to check the student’s ability to complete schoolwork – with these two approaches utilizing many of the same checks and activities. The key difference is cost, as neuropsychological evaluations are private and can cost thousands of dollars for each child. However, parents often select this due to it also including a diagnosis. Getting a diagnosis allows for medication and other treatments, a possibility without psycho-educational evaluations. Both evaluations, however, can determine if a child needs the school to provide them with special education services.
Suppose you’re a teacher wishing to assess a student for potential difficulties. In that case, a psycho-educational evaluation is enough to fulfill this, but it’s up to the parents which route they take. Explain the cost to them and that they use the same tests. Suppose the assessments reveal any clear indicators of a condition. In that case, you could inform the child’s parent or guardian, who might opt for a medical diagnosis – this could be a much cheaper approach. In either case, the endpoint is the child receiving the school help that they require.
Who conducts a neuropsychological evaluation?
Pediatric neuropsychologists conduct these evaluations; they usually have doctoral degrees and years of training to understand brain development and how specific developmental issues might manifest in children. A strong focus of this position is knowing how the educational system could support students with disabilities and other factors that affect their development. A pediatric neuropsychologist might have a private practice or operate in a hospital. These professionals can diagnose children with a wide range of conditions. They could recommend certain treatments – but they aren’t medical doctors and cannot give out prescriptions.
The importance of evaluating children
When kids struggle in class, it’s important to intervene quickly, so they can get the assistance they need, if any exists. For example, a child might find it difficult to focus on class for long periods – evaluations help the school and family determine if this is due to a condition such as ADHD. These assessments look for the exact skills and interactions that a student may struggle with and use these tests to determine what teachers, and the school at large, can do to help make their learning experience as fair as possible.
Whichever assessment a parent selects for their child, it could be the first step towards figuring out a diagnosis or how to accommodate any special requirements, even outside a school setting. Both parents and teachers use these results to calibrate how they interact with the child and what they expect from them, including their strengths and weaknesses across various areas. The sooner a parent understands if their child has these needs, the quicker they can arrange appropriate treatment. This also helps the child understand why they might think differently from their peers, which could otherwise cause them significant distress.
What exactly does a neuropsychological evaluation involve?
This one-on-one evaluation usually doesn’t rely upon technology, though a computer might help the pediatric neuropsychologist deliver the test. The child might use a pencil and paper, answer questions, and play with objects. The examination process lasts six hours, spread across several days, which is vital for determining the student’s unique strengths and weaknesses. Conducting this evaluation all at once may be exhausting for the child, as their attention spans vary by age, impacting the quality of their answers. The tests check a student’s core abilities, including:
- Academic skills, such as reading, writing, and math proficiency, are key expectations for school curriculums. The evaluation might test this using basic sums while asking them to read a passage aloud or write down the answer to an open-ended question.
- Executive function abilities refer to a person’s capacity to make plans, focus on, and juggle numerous tasks simultaneously. The examiner could check their working memory or use a stop signal test to see if the student can stop and start on cue.
- Language skills include constructing complex sentences and easily interpreting other people’s words. A professional may test this simply by conversing with the child and asking questions to assess the complexity of their responses.
- The motor function includes the child’s dexterity, locomotion, and general coordination. The practitioner might ask them to solve a puzzle while watching to see how easily they assemble it or to quickly walk from one side of the room to the other.
- Visual-spatial processing is a person’s ability to intuitively understand where an object is, such as how far you would need to reach to grab it. The relevant evaluation might involve asking the child to solve a simple maze puzzle or to note which object is furthest away.
What accommodations can the school make?
Depending on the results of this evaluation, there are various accommodations that the school could make to meet the child’s needs. Some of these special measures include:
Providing additional resources
If students struggle with their academic skills, it’s possible to help with this by providing them with more accessible resources, including audio (and visual) equivalents of written texts. For children with difficulty writing, you might give them a sheet of notes before class begins.
Setting different homework
A child with executive dysfunction might find it difficult, or even impossible, to complete the same amount of homework as everyone else. You may look into giving them extra time compared to other students, or you could ask them to, for example, only complete every odd-numbered question.
Rearranging the classroom
Someone with special requirements can especially struggle with concentration when around a disruptive influence, so it helps to rearrange the classroom to accommodate this. Ensure you give the child a peaceful space without separating them from the rest of the class.
A neuropsychological evaluation, like a psycho-educational evaluation, assesses a child’s skills across key areas to determine their special educational requirements. Though the latter is free, and the former can cost thousands of dollars and only sometimes comes under insurance, neuropsychological evaluations can provide students with a helpful diagnosis. Whichever evaluation a parent selects, your job as an educator is to make arrangements that accommodate the child and assist with whichever areas they struggle with.
