Child and Adolescent Psychological Evaluations

Parents often recognize that their child is struggling before they know exactly why. A child may be bright and knowledgeable but unable to demonstrate those abilities consistently. Another child may struggle with communication, behavior, friendships, learning, emotional regulation, or everyday independence.

A comprehensive evaluation can help identify the factors contributing to these difficulties while also documenting the child’s strengths.

Dr. Nicholas Ward provides individualized psychological evaluations for young children, school-age children, and adolescents.

Reasons Families Seek an Evaluation

An evaluation may be helpful when a child or adolescent experiences:

  • Delayed language, communication, motor, or social development

  • Difficulty learning to read, write, spell, or complete mathematics

  • A significant difference between verbal knowledge and written output

  • Inconsistent academic performance

  • Difficulty remembering instructions or newly learned information

  • Slow work completion or difficulty working under time demands

  • Problems with attention, organization, or task completion

  • Strong emotional reactions, anxiety, withdrawal, or behavioral concerns

  • Difficulty making or maintaining friendships

  • Sensory sensitivities, repetitive behavior, or a strong need for routines

  • School avoidance, declining performance, or increasing emotional distress

  • Concerns about autism, ADHD, learning disorders, intellectual development, or emotional functioning

  • Advanced abilities accompanied by unexpected learning, social, or emotional difficulties

Areas That May Be Evaluated

Depending on the referral question, testing may examine:

  • Cognitive and developmental functioning

  • Verbal and visual reasoning

  • Working memory and processing speed

  • Academic achievement in reading, writing, and mathematics

  • Attention and executive functioning

  • Language and communication

  • Learning and memory

  • Autism and social development

  • Adaptive behavior and daily living skills

  • Emotional and behavioral functioning

  • Personality and coping patterns for older children and adolescents

  • The effects of anxiety, mood, trauma, or stress on functioning

Understanding the Pattern Behind the Difficulty

Testing may identify more than a diagnosis. It can help explain why a child:

  • Understands material orally but struggles to produce written work

  • Learns information but has trouble retrieving it later

  • Performs well in some settings but becomes overwhelmed in others

  • Appears capable but needs substantially more prompting or time

  • Has strong reasoning skills alongside weaknesses in attention, processing speed, language, or academic fluency

  • Experiences emotional or behavioral difficulties secondary to an unidentified learning or developmental need

A Developmentally Appropriate Process

The evaluation is tailored to the child’s age, language, abilities, and developmental level. Information may be gathered from parents, teachers, school records, prior evaluations, and other providers when appropriate.

Testing sessions include breaks and adjustments to support engagement while preserving the meaning of the results. Young children may participate in play-based and developmental activities, while older children and adolescents complete age-appropriate cognitive, academic, emotional, and behavioral measures.

Families receive a comprehensive report and feedback session with individualized recommendations for home, school, treatment, and additional services when needed.