Types of Neurocognitive Assessment

Learning Disabilities Assessment

Suitable for: Children who are struggling to keep up with their peers at school and are falling behind. It can also be done for adults.

Diagnosis: This assessment can diagnose specific learning disabilities such as reading disorder (dyslexia), writing disorder (dysgraphia) and maths disorder (dyscalculia).

Tests include (According to age & presentation):

  • Intellectual Functioning: Wechsler tests (Preschool, Child or Adult version): Includes measure of verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, working memory & processing speed
  • Tests of academic achievement: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- 3rd Edition: May include tests of reading accuracy, pseudoword decoding, reading comprehension, spelling, sentence structure, essay composition, numerical operations, maths problem-solving.
  • Phonological Processing (where appropriate): Phonological memory, phonological awareness, rapid naming
  • Visual Processing (Visual memory, visual discrimination & spatial skills)
  • Auditory Processing (auditory figure-ground, filtered words)

ADHD Assessment

Suitable for: People ages 4-60 years who appear to be struggling to focus or who are easily distractible and home, school or workplace.

Diagnosis: This assessment can diagnose the three subtypes of ADHD: Inattentive Presentation, Hyperactive-impulsive Presentation & Combined Presentation.

Tests include:

  • Intellectual Functioning: Wechsler tests (Preschool, Child or Adult version): Incudes measure of verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, working memory visual-spatial skills & processing speed
  • Screening of academic achievement: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- 3rd Edition: Reading accuracy, spelling, numerical operations
  • Tests of attention: Visual attention span, auditory attention span, visual sustained attention, auditory sustained attention, switching attention, divided attention, selective attention.
  • Impulse control: hyperactivity, impulsivity & distractability (including motor speed)
  • Executive Functioning: Planning, organisation, time management, verbal fluency.

 

Comprehensive Neuropsychological Assessment

Suitable for: People who are generally concerned about their cognitive processing skills and want a broader assessment than just learning and ADHD. This is most suitable for people with neurological and genetic conditions.

Diagnosis: This assessment can diagnose deficits in intellectual ability, attention, memory, executive functioning, visual processing, auditory processing.

Tests (may) include:

  • Intellectual Functioning: Wechsler tests (Preschool, Child or Adult version): Includes measures of verbal reasoning, nonverbal reasoning, working memory visual-spatial skills & processing speed
  • Academic achievement: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test- 3rd Edition: Reading, spelling, writing, numeracy, phonological awareness (in as much depth as required- see above)
  • Tests of attention: Visual attention span, auditory attention span, visual sustained attention, auditory sustained attention, switching attention, divided attention, selective attention.
  • Impulse control: hyperactivity, impulsivity & distractability (including motor speed)
  • Memory: Visual memory span, auditory memory span, visual immediate memory, visual delayed memory, auditory immediate memory, auditory delayed memory.
  • Visual processing
  • Auditory processing
  • Executive functioning