Pediatric neuropsychology is a branch of psychology that focuses on how a child’s brain function impacts their development and behavior. Our team supports children with all types of conditions that impact their brain function – from brain tumors to head injuries to heart problems.

We use advanced testing to understand what’s going on in your child’s brain and how that might impact their thinking skills (like attention and memory) and behavior. Then we create custom care plans to help children address challenges and succeed socially and in school.

• Brain Injuries
• Cancers
• Cardiac Conditions
• Demyelinating Disorders
• Encephalitis
• Epilepsy
• Functional Neurologic Disorders
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Neurofibromatosis
• Movement Disorders

Services are available in English and Spanish.

Expert care for your child’s health

Most of our patients are referred to us by other doctors at Children’s Health℠. We’re all part of the same team and we work together to care for all aspects of your child’s health. We offer a variety of assessment and treatment services, including:

Neuropsychological assessments

We start with a thorough examination of your child’s medical history and learn more about the symptoms they’re experiencing. This helps us paint a clear picture of your child’s condition and how it may be impacting daily life. These assessments help us understand how your child’s brain works. We’ll learn more about their:

• Communication, reasoning and information processing
• Executive skills such as impulse control, organization and planning
• Attention, learning and memory
• Motor skills
• Social-emotional and behavioral functioning

In addition to neuropsychological assessments, we provide:

• Intervention: Once we’ve diagnosed your child’s condition, we’ll come up with a custom treatment plan and often make referrals for additional services such as speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, etc. In our inpatient rehabilitation program, team members provide cognitive rehabilitation, a type of therapy that aims to improve brain function. This may include strategies to help improve memory, attention, social skills and other challenges they may face.
• Consultation: We regularly consult with specialty programs throughout the hospital to determine if patients need a neuropsychological evaluation and/or intervention. Our team members serve in specialty programs for concussion, epilepsy, pediatric cancer, heart problems, demyelinating disorders and acquired brain injury, among others.

Advanced research and technology

Even before COVID-19, our team completed a study using a telehealth model in pediatric neuropsychology. We also collaborate on many other research projects including genetic and imaging studies, for example, using the 7-Tesla MRI (one of the most advanced MRIs on the market) to learn more about multiple sclerosis in children.

Advocating for your child at school

When possible, we participate in school meetings across our community and help advocate for support services that could benefit your child. For example, some of our patients do better in school if they’re given more time for tests and classwork. We can talk to school administrators about making those accommodations for your child. Our hospital’s school liaison can also talk to your school’s counselor or administrators to help advocate for your child in school.

Bilingual support

We’re one of the few programs in the country that offers neuropsychological assessments for children who speak Spanish only or are bilingual in English and Spanish. Children who speak two languages require specialized evaluation by a bilingual neuropsychologist to better understand their language development and thinking skills.