Pediatric Services
Psychological Evaluation:
Brain injuries, depending in part on the location and extent of lesion, can result in changes to one’s temperament, personality, behavior control, and emotional state. Sometimes, previously existing behavior problems or mood disturbances are worsened by a brain injury or illness. Psychological evaluations at NBA, LLC. assess ones emotional, behavioral, and social adjustment to an injury or illness for guiding therapy and other interventions. A psychological evaluation involves detailed analyses of the following for the sake of diagnostic clarity and treatment planning:
- Intellectual Processes: information processing abilities that are important to do well in an academic setting
- Emotional & Behavioral Functioning: depression, anxiety, opposition, etc.
Psychotherapy:
Every child and family reacts differently to a disabling injury or illness. Hospital stays and disruption of daily life, as well as adjustment to an illness can cause additional stress. The psychologists at NBA, LLC. help children and their families adjust to these difficult life situations as well as treat preexisting mood or behavior problems. Therapy with a psychologist takes different forms depending on the needs of the patient, including play therapy, behavior therapy, and parent education.
Neuropsychological Evaluation:
For children, neuropsychological tests identify specific brain related problems such as learning disorders (e.g., dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD), developmental delays (e.g., Autism), and thinking or memory disturbances related to an injury or illness. The evaluation guides appropriate interventions that capitalize upon a child’s strengths, as well as to rehabilitate existing impairments. Doctors often meet with parents and teachers to help develop tailored education plans incorporating test results.
A neuropsychological evaluation typically involves detailed analyses of the following for the sake of diagnostic clarity and treatment planning:
- Executive Functions: attention, inhibition, planning, set-shifting, organizing, etc.
- Motor Functions: strength, speed, dynamics, praxis, etc.
- Sensory Functions: auditory, visual, tactile, proprioception, etc.
- Perceptual Abilities: auditory, visual, tactile, etc.
- Memory and Learning: auditory, visual, encoding, consolidation, decoding, retrieval, etc.
- Intellectual Processes: information processing abilities that are important to do well in an academic setting
- Emotional & Behavioral Functioning: depression, anxiety, opposition, impulse-control disorders, etc.
Educational Consultation and Academic Coaching:
A brain injury or illness can interfere with a child or teenager’s education, both by taking time away from school due to absences, as well as by causing thinking, learning, and behavior problems. Psychologists and neuropsychologists at NBA, LLC. can consult with teachers and other school staff towards tailoring a child’s or teenager’s education with their strengths and weaknesses in mind. We can assist their school in developing individualized education plans and provide individual sessions with an academic coach to learn strategies that will be helpful both inside and outside of the classroom. Our team also has access to a wealth of subject-specific tutors in our community if supplemental instruction is needed in order to remedy gaps in skills and content due to a medical leave from school.