412 Plymouth Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Appointments: 616.780.0590
Down to Business... What to Expect From Your Evaluation
Preparation
- Before your appointment, please complete the consent and case history forms sent to your email via our online portal. We kindly request that your paperwork be completed at least 48 hours prior to your appointment. If it is not completed 24 hours prior to your appointment, your evaluation may be cancelled/rescheduled. The paperwork is necessary for us to be prepared for you on the day of your appointment and we would like the morning to go as smoothly as possible for you.
- Please Be On Time
- Your appointment may be forfeited if you are more than 20 minutes late.
What to Bring
- Glasses, hearing aids, or other assistive devices
- A complete and up-to-date list of all medications your child currently takes
- Reports from prior neuropsychological or psychological evaluations
- School records: report cards and academic/psychoeducational testing
- Special-education reports including Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP), Individualized Education Program (IEP) report, Behavior Management Plan, or 504 Plan
- RPN has guest WiFi access and families are encouraged to bring laptops, iPads, or tablets to use while waiting during appointments.
Medications
Sometimes there are questions about whether the child should take his/her/their medication before the appointment. The answer is complicated! It depends on the type of medication, what it is used for, if you know it is effective, etc. It also depends on how the medication relates to the referral question. Please call the office and ask to talk to Dr Rush to have these questions answered if you are unsure.
However, if you are certain that the medication is helpful/effective and the child best functions after taking it, please stay on the regular medication regimen. We want to see what your child does at his/her/their best!
Food and Beverages
- Breakfast: Be sure that your child eats breakfast on the morning of the evaluation.
- Snacks/Beverages: Bring any snacks or beverage your child may like during breaks.
- Lunch: You will have an hour long break for lunch for extended/comprehensive evaluations lasting more than 3-4 hours. You may bring your own lunch. There are also multiple restaurants within one to two miles of the office.
Who Should Attend
For minor children and dependents, a custodial parent or legal guardian is required for signing consent forms, to participate in the clinical interview and to complete forms regarding the child (typically using your own smartphone, but an iPad or computer are available if needed). For young children, the parent or an adult designee should remain on the premises while the child is being evaluated (exceptions may be made for older children or those who do not require constant supervision).
A quiet room is available for you to work/relax while your child is busy.
Description of Evaluation
A neuropsychological evaluation does not involve shots or x-rays or other invasive procedures. Instead, it involves an interview and various tests with a neuropsychologist who has specialized expertise in the relationship between the brain and various aspects of human behavior. Those aspects may include attention, memory, mood, and other mental functions that are important for daily life. Typically, children participate in tasks similar to school work and games, often involving pencil-and-paper tasks, looking at pictures, answering questions, or use of a computer. Young children will be tested through play using a variety of toys and pictures.
Length of the Evaluation
In general, plan on the evaluation taking a full morning and a portion of the afternoon (after the lunch break). A typical comprehensive evaluation is about 6 hours. The length may vary depending on the child’s specific needs and complexity. It is typically shorter for very young (<5 years) children and longer for adolescents.
Feedback
The neuropsychologist will usually discuss preliminary results with you at the end of the evaluation. Occasionally, a separate day/time may need to be scheduled for this with appointments typically available within two weeks.
Reports
A formal report will be emailed/mailed/faxed to you free of charge and to the referring agency (most often your physician), usually about two to three weeks following completion of the evaluation. At the time of the evaluation, you may request in writing that the report be sent to other individuals/agencies.
We strongly recommend that you save a copy of your child's report physically and/or electronically. At any future date, the cost for any additional faxed/mailed copies of the report is $20.00 plus printing and mailing expenses to be paid prior to the copy being sent (per Michigan Medical Records Access Act Section 333.26269).
The only circumstance in which the neuropsychologist cannot give you information about the results is when the evaluation is done as part of an IME.
Treatment Recommendations
The neuropsychologist may discuss treatment recommendations with you, but neuropsychologists do not prescribe medications. Any recommendations for prescription medications will need to be discussed with your child’s pediatrician/family doctor. The neuropsychologist may also recommend certain types of therapy, but those may need to be approved by your own doctor and/or your insurance company. Often, the neuropsychological evaluation can help your doctor and educators or other providers decide what treatment or goals may be needed.
Cancelling Your Appointment
If you need to cancel your appointment for any reason, please do so at least 24 hours in advance via phone or text (616-780-0590) or e-mail (SJRush@RushPedsNeuropsych.com, bearing in mind that email is not encrypted or secure). If you fail to show for your appointment without 24 hours notice you will be charged a $150 rescheduling fee.
Independent Medical Evaluations (IME)
The majority of neuropsychological evaluations completed at Rush Pediatric Neuropsychology are done at the request of a physician or other service provider. A much smaller number of neuropsychological evaluations are completed at the request of the lawyer, claims adjuster, or other person involved in a case where there is a disagreement about the nature or cause of the problem. Under those conditions, the neuropsychologist performing an IME agrees to do an impartial, fair, and objective evaluation. In an IME, the neuropsychologist will only do a one-time evaluation, will not continue as your treating doctor, and also will not be able to give direct feedback to you about the child’s test results.
Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE)
Obtaining special education services starts with the school, where the school’s multi-disciplinary team determines if your child qualifies for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). If the school does not approve a parent’s request for consideration of special education services, or there is a disagreement between the school and the parents about school’s findings/recommendations, a second opinion in the form of an Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) maybe be needed.
An IEE is defined broadly by federal law as “an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the child in question.” Some IEEs are conducted at public expense (meaning, the school system pays for the evaluation), and others are paid for by the parents.
If the evaluation complies with the criteria used by the school system, results of any evaluation must be considered by the school system to make any decision about providing your child with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The results may also be presented as evidence in a due process hearing.
Rush Pediatric Neuropsychology has experience in working with parents and schools to perform IEEs through contractual agreements for evaluations at the request of school districts and/or parents.