FAQ
Arizona Developmental Psychology
Psychological Assessments & Consulting
What are Testing, Diagnostic & Evaluation Services?
Typical areas we test include psycho-educational testing
- IQ
- Academic Skills Assessment
- Learning Styles
- Executive Functioning
- Attention and Focus
- Social Skills
- Behavioral Difficulties
- Strong Emotions
- Sensory
Areas of “speciality” include ADHD, Specific Learning Disorders, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Autism, and Giftedness.
Do you offer Speech-Language or Occupational Therapy testing?
Yes. We are partnered with several speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists.
What is the Cost of Psychological Testing?
Testing typically ranges from $2,200 to $4,200 – depending on the type of assessment and the level of information needed.
Evaluations are valuable investment that helps parents and families better understand their child’s strengths and needs to guide educational and treatment planning. Our highly skilled team is thorough and careful in all our assessments because every individual’s treatment plan relies on us.
Do You Accept Insurance?
No. We are Private Pay.
We offer many options to make evaluations affordable for families:
- Care Credit
- HSA/FSA
- ESA
- Cash/Check
- All Major Credit Cards
- Out-of-Network Insurance Reimbursements – Many of our clients receive “out-of-network reimbursements” from their insurance provider after the evaluation is complete. Contact us for more information and to verify your benefits.
Do I need a referral in order to schedule an appointment?
If you feel that you or your child may be struggling with a Specific Learning Disorder, Dyslexia, ADHD, Autism, or other concerns - please get in touch to talk about how psychological testing could be helpful.
What are Testing, Diagnostic & Evaluation Services?
Psychological Assessment
The psychological assessment uses a combination of tests to better understand the reported difficulties – with the ultimate goal of creating a clear action plan for parents and educators.
Psychological testing is available for both children and adults.
Evaluations are helpful to clearly identify strengths and needs – to optimize learning and performance.
Arizona Developmental Psychology is dedicated to helping provide greater insight into how one’s behavior, personality, and learning style.
An accurate diagnosis is important because it helps to identify what support will be the most helpful.
Evaluations can be shared with your personal support system—physicians, teachers, family, therapy providers, and other professionals who play a role in your everyday life.
We provide the clarity you need.
Psychological Testing
What Does Testing Include?
While there is often variability in testing depending on your specific question(s), core elements typically include:
The Psychologist will speak to a client about his or her concerns, needs, and reasons for seeking an evaluation. This also includes obtaining background information such as social-emotional, developmental, and medical history.
3-4 hours of face-to-face testing (IQ, learning style, executive functions, memory, cognitive processing, and personality). An assessment can include numerous components such as psychological tests, informal tests and surveys, interview information, school or medical records, medical evaluation, and observational data.
Assessments may also include interviewing other people who are close to the client, such as teachers, coworkers, or family members. (Such interviews, however, would only be performed with written consent from the client.) There will also be several paper-and-pencil questionnaires & behavioral checklists to capture additional information that may not be observable during the face-to-face testing session.
A clinician may conduct an observation at your child’s school, as appropriate and agreed upon with parents.
Once the testing has concluded, the clinician will calculate the results, analyze the findings and write up a comprehensive report.
Upon completion of the report, clients are provided with a personalized written evaluation and recommendations aimed at focusing on a successful path forward.
This may include school/personal recommendations, mental health therapy, medication management, speech therapy, or occupational therapy.
The report can be shared with the client and their support systems, including family, physicians, teachers, and professionals that work with the client’s everyday life.
Testing is typically covered in one day, although sometimes testing is needed on multiple days. We typically schedule testing days from 9 am to 3 pm with a mid-testing break for snacks, lunch, or being able to walk and stretch. The testing day depends on the areas we will plan to take a look into; but generally, testing days may consist of brain games, puzzles, academic-type work like reading and writing, and perhaps some clinical-type interviews. Your clinician will make sure to walk you through what the testing day will look like and how to prepare yourself or your c for it.
Testing Day Tips:
- Get a good night’s sleep the night before
- Eat a big healthy breakfast
- Bring snacks and/or water (breaks will be provided during testing)
- Copies of any previous records to include in prior evaluations, as well as school or medical records.
- A list of past or current medications, including vitamins, herbs, and over-the-counter medicines, and their dosages.
- A list of all the changes that you and others have observed in your child s behavior
- Notes of any observations from other adults and caregivers, such as babysitters, relatives, and teachers.
- If your child has been evaluated by an early intervention or school program, bring this assessment.
- A history record of developmental milestones.
- Be prepared to describe how your child plays and interacts with other children, siblings, and parents.
- Make a list of questions that you want to ask as the initial appointment can be overwhelming for parents