Each school year is filled with opportunities to learn and explore. While attending school can be fun and engaging for some students, it can be challenging and stressful for others. Even students who have historically done well in school may unexpectedly begin to struggle. Balancing assignments, relationships with peers, and extracurricular activities can be a lot. Although some children thrive under pressure, many begin to act out or experience feelings of stress and anxiety. School problems are not just contained in the classroom, and can impact many areas of a child’s life. As a parent, not understanding why your child is overwhelmed can be unsettling.

Psychoeducational evaluations can help you better understand your child and provide a plan to successfully support or advocate for them. These evaluations are comprehensive and can provide a full picture of your child’s abilities. Psychoeducational evaluations give you more details and more answers so you can encourage your child’s strengths, address learning difficulties, and better understand their mood and behaviors.

Many families may consider having their child participate in a psychoeducational evaluation, but remain wary. So, what’s holding you back?

“Psychoeducational Testing costs too much.”

Focused assessments, determining diagnosis, and providing a plan for treatment requires a commitment of both time and finances. At C&FD we understand the financial concerns our families may have and our team is well versed in helping you navigate this service. In many cases, comprehensive testing can be partially or fully reimbursed by insurance. Itemized statements can be provided to use for out of network benefits, or use of an HSA or FSA plan.

• Although the educational portion of this testing service is not billable to insurance C&FD is In Network with BCBS, Aetna, Medcost and Healthgram for the psychological portion of the testing. Submitting the psychological testing portion to insurance can help reduce financial worry and stress when concerned about psychoeducational testing costs.

 “My child’s school can do psychoeducational testing.”

At C&FD, psychoeducational evaluations are more comprehensive than an evaluation completed at school. When a child participates in an evaluation at school, the assessments are used to determine if the child qualifies for school-based services. The assessments used by your child’s school can vary and may only consider their academic development in one specific subject area, depending on the concern. Psychoeducational evaluations take a more diagnostic approach that focuses on the complete picture of your child’s development including, underlying learning difficulties, attention and behavior. This way, interventions and supports can be targeted with the whole child in mind.

“We already filled out a questionnaire at the pediatrician’s office.”

Your pediatrician may recommend a psychoeducational evaluation when there are significant concerns related to attention, learning or mood. If further evaluation is not suggested after discussing your concerns with the pediatrician, you may still have questions about your child’s mental health and development. A comprehensive evaluation can help you better understand how your concerns are related.

“If my child does receive a diagnosis, I am not sure that I want to share that information with anyone.”

Disclosing the results of a psychoeducational evaluation is a family decision. While we often encourage parents to share the information with selected individuals to ensure that the child is well supported, we understand that each situation is unique. At C&FD, the results of an evaluation are shared only with the parents and referring physician if applicable. Our providers will guide you in how to share this information with your child’s school, related therapists or other professionals within the community.