What to Expect

The in-person portion of a full assessment can take up to three hours and may be spread over two or more sessions.

Assessments are very thorough. In addition to working directly with the student, it includes a review of all of the student’s school records (including past report cards, reports from other professionals, and preschool documentation when available), as well as interviews with parents and teachers. 

Cognitive Testing

Cognitive testing of the student (also known as IQ testing) shows how the student is able to learn, whether on verbal tasks or nonverbal areas like solving puzzles or recognizing patterns.  It also assesses the working memory of the student (to see how well the student can take in information from the teacher), as well as the student’s speed on simple tasks (to see how quickly they are able to work when they know what they are supposed to do).  Cognitive testing measures some useful things, but doesn’t measure others, such as the student’s character, motivation, and frustration tolerance. Understanding of these areas is found during testing and in interviews with others who know the student well. 

Academic Assessment

Academic assessment is also usually a part of such an assessment.  This includes an understanding of fundamental skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.  This more formal assessment shows what the student can do independently. Often, this looks different from what the student is able to show in a classroom setting with a teacher or nearby peers who are able to help them with assignments. 

Dr. Reynolds does all of the in-person portions of the assessment himself.  Working directly with the student is the best way to understand how they approach tasks and manage difficult activities. 

Interviews and Questionnaires

As part of the assessment, parents and teachers are often asked to provide information, both in interviews and through questionnaires. Interviews provide valuable information about the student from people who know the student well. Questionnaires allow the parent(s) and/or teacher(s) impressions of the student to be compared with those from the general population. 

Completion

After the testing and information-gathering is completed, a report (usually 10 or more pages, or about 6000 words) is generated. This report will provide a summary of background information, interview information, test results, consultations, recommendations, and a diagnosis if applicable.  Dr. Reynolds will also conduct a debrief with the family and/or school to discuss the results in person.  The debriefing is set up as a conversation with the school/family to talk about real-life strategies that can help out.  This usually takes an hour or so. In this way, everybody will have enough time to ask as many questions as they need.