Childen's Hospital Boston 300 Longwood Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 355-6000
X
Clinical Services (Neuropsychology Program):
Assessment
Image Patients are referred to the Neuropsychology Program at Children's Hospital Boston by sources within and outside Children's, including neurologists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and other physicians and nursing personnel.

We see children and teens of all ages, as well as some adults with developmental or medical disorders dating from childhood.

What is a neuropsychological assessment?
A neuropsychological assessment is a way of determining a child's overall thinking, memory, attention and output abilities. It provides information on how a child's brain works.

It involves a detailed analysis of the child's behavior in different settings and the administration of a variety of psychological tasks. Once the assessment is completed, we provide families with feedback to help promote their child's personal, social and educational functioning.

Assessment

We assess patients to:

  1. Establish the presence of, or rule out, brain damage, brain disease or a developmental abnormality under the following circumstances:
    • seizure disorder
    • brain tumor
    • cerebrovascular disease
    • congenital or developmental disorders, such as spina bifida
    • central nervous system infections, such as herpes encephalitis and HIV infection
    • exposure to agents known to be associated with brain dysfunction, such as lead
    • head injury
    • hypoxic episode (lack of oxygen to brain)
    • metabolic encephalopathy (associated with liver or kidney disease)
    • prematurity
    • treated leukemia
    • other diseases affecting the brain

  2. Determine the clinical and functional significance of a brain abnormality

  3. Identify areas of neurobehavioral dysfunction, as part of a medically necessary evaluation. These areas of functioning include:
    • academic skills
    • arousal
    • attentional functioning
    • auditory and visual perceptual abilities
    • communication, speech and language abilities
    • executive control processes (organization, reasoning, problem solving, behavioral regulation)
    • gross and fine motor strengths, persistences, planning and sequencing abilities
    • sensory abilities
    • social and emotional information processing abilities
    • verbal and non-verbal memory
    • visual/spatial cognition

  4. Provide a diagnosis after reviewing a range of similar neurological/psychological disorders

  5. Come up with an organic or medical basis for neurological dysfunction

  6. Evaluate and document changes in patients' functioning over time

  7. Determine a prognosis for specific disorders related to brain functioning

  8. Assess failure to respond to treatment when a neuropsychological issue may be the primary underlying cause
Our approach includes assessing the child as a whole. This includes the child's behavior in their social, familial, academic and societal environments.
X
X The information on this website should not be taken as medical advice,
which can only be given to you by your personal health care professional.
X
X Copyright © Children's Hospital Boston. All rights reserved.