Wondering whether your child could benefit from psychological testing?  I’ve worked with many families as an experienced school psychologist, and most parents have found that psychological testing can actually feel like a gift. 

A psychological evaluation can help you understand your child’s unique strengths and weaknesses and provide strategies for supporting your child at home and school, including identifying ways to support them either through academic accommodations or with specific behavioral strategies.

How Do You Know If Psychological Testing Could Help Your Child?

Here are five of the most common reasons I see in my practice that your child might benefit from psychological testing.

1.) Your child is struggling academically.

If your child is having trouble with schoolwork, experiencing low test scores or lagging their peers in learning, a psychological evaluation can uncover any learning disabilities or psychological issues that could be preventing them from reaching their true academic potential.

2.) Your child behaves impulsively, is constantly moving or fidgeting, and may often be “in trouble”.

At home, your child is in constant motion, running around or fidgeting. They may also act impulsively and interrupt others. At school, your child may chat with peers with they should be listening to a lesson, need instructions repeated multiple times, or be constantly “in trouble” for not listening or following class expectations.

These behaviors might be a sign that your child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD is one of the most common psychological disorders affecting children.

Psychological testing can confirm if your child meets the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis, so they can get the help they need, such as a behavior intervention plan or accommodations at school.

3.) Your child is shy and quiet, often wanting to avoid playdates or school. They might even experience physical symptoms in the face of academic or social pressures.

Children experiencing anxiety may not engage with peers as much as others and avoid social situations. Your child may also be absent from school frequently due to somatic complaints, such as having a stomachache or headache. Older children may have test anxiety or panic attacks. 

With a psychological assessment, you’ll be armed with strategies that can help your child manage their anxiety and the ability to secure necessary accommodations at school.

4.) Your child seems angry or irritable most of the time.

There is always a root cause or underlying emotion for your child’s angry outbursts or behavior issues. In my work as a psychologist working with children, I find that anger and irritability stem from anxiety, fear or sadness. 

A psychological evaluation can help us uncover the underlying issue — whether it’s anxiety, fear, impulsivity or another emotion or condition — and help alleviate the resulting behavior problems.

5.) Your child appears really sad, often lashing out others.

Children act out when they don’t have the tools to cope with intense emotions, like sadness and depression. 

A psychological evaluation can help uncover your child’s depression and allow us to develop interventions to help them learn to cope with their sadness, rather than act out. There are so many tools we can use if we take the time to fully understand the problem. 

What’s Typical Behavior vs. Behavior That Benefits Further Psychological Testing?

Emotions are an important and normal part of life, but constant, frequent experiences of the same negative emotions on a daily basis — and inability to cope with those emotions — is not normal, and it’s no way to live.

It’s normal for your child to feel nervous about a big final exam, but it’s not normal to feel anxious about every test you take. It’s normal for your child to feel angry when something disappointing happens, but it may be something to investigate further if your child is holding on to their anger or having a hard time moving on.

If your child is experiencing stress, anxiety, sadness, anger or impulsivity on a daily and regular basis, it would be very appropriate to seek out a psychological evaluation to best help your child cope and help you and their teachers with a home-based intervention plan, school-based intervention plan, school accommodations or extra support for academics.

What Type of Psychological Testing is Right for Your Child?

There are two types of evaluations: a psychological evaluation and a psycho-educational evaluation. We’ll discuss your child’s needs during your consultation, and make a recommendation on which type of assessment is best for your child.

A psycho-educational evaluation is best if your child is middle school age or younger and/or has any indications of learning difficulties with reading, writing or math. A psycho-educational evaluation will allow us to understand your child’s psychological and learning challenges, so we can ensure they are able to succeed at home and school. 

Psycho-educational evaluations include 8-10 hours of one-on-one, in-person assessment using a variety of psychological and educational assessment methods. Parents and teachers will also complete electronically-administered assessments to incorporate information from home and school settings. 

If you aren’t seeing any learning difficulties and/or your child is high school age or older, a psychological evaluation would be best. Psychological evaluations include 1-hour of one-on-one, virtual assessment using a variety of psychological assessment methods, with an additional 1 hour of rating scale assessments. Parents also meet for a 2-hour virtual assessment session, and end with a 1-hour feedback session.

Following both types of testing, you’ll receive a detailed 20-25 page report which includes parenting strategies, positive behavioral plans, and recommendations on how to further your child’s educational success, including advocating for school-based supports such as an IEP, 504 plan or classroom and testing accommodations.  [GUEST POST BY JACLYN SHLISKY, PSYD]

Want to See if Psychological Testing Could Help Your Child?

Park Slope Therapy offers virtual psychological evaluations for children & teens in New York and in-person psychoeducational assessments for children & teens from our offices in Brooklyn, NY and the Upper East Side. Schedule a free consultation call to see if psychological testing might help your child.

LEARN MORE ABOUT park slope therapy’S PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING SERVICES