How will Comprehensive Assessment Help Me?

Assessment can contribute to a better understanding of the unique strengths and weaknesses in an individual’s learning profile, clarify a complicated learning, emotional, or behavioral diagnosis, and result, most importantly, in recommendations of specific interventions that will facilitate the individual’s success and overall development.

We offer the following types of evaluation:

Psycho-diagnostic | Developmental
Neuropsychological | Forensic

• Psycho-diagnostic
  Available to all ages, used to clarify nature of a psychological or emotional difficulty, and/or barriers to treatment. Includes cognitive and personality assessment.
  
  Based on symptoms and specific referral questions a battery of psychological tests is administered to provide accurate diagnosis and analysis of cognitive and emotional dynamics involved in the overall clinical picture. Comprehensive psychodiagnostic assessment is especially useful in complex cases where differential diagnosis is an issue, in cases in which the client is not responding to treatment as expected, and in cases in which previous attempts at treatment have failed. It can provide valuable information to therapists, psychiatrists, and physicians and aid in providing overall direction for clients in their care. These services are available for children, adolescents and adults.
  
  Psychological testing services are also provided which include cognitive and personality assessment using self-rating inventories, intelligence tests, objective and projective personality tests and computer-assisted personality assessment.
  
  Pre-Post Surgical Evaluations:
  
  Pre-surgical Psychological Evaluation: To assess psychological readiness for surgery and to identify psychological support needs after surgery.
  
  Psychological Evaluations Post-surgery: For patients who may have difficulty adjusting to life-style changes.

• Developmental
  Identifies specific problems in learning and attention/concentration. Includes, cognitive disorders associated with neurological illness, general medical conditions, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, and developmental disabilities.
  
  A comprehensive neuropsychological assessment is recommended for a range of childhood disorders. More generally, if an individual is failing to adapt to their learning, social, or work environment, an evaluation can assess different functional domains in order to better understand what is contributing to their difficulty. It is especially valuable for pervasive developmental disorders (e.g., autism, Asperger syndrome) where there is usually considerable scatter in the child’s profile. In this case, when skills are widely divergent, an overall IQ score can be misleading as the child shows areas of notable strength as well as areas of deficit.
  
  Attention Deficit (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  Attention deficit disorder is among the most common sources of academic and professional failure in children and adults. Left undiagnosed and untreated, ADD and ADHD prevents the individual from attaining his/her peak performance level. Precise diagnosis is the key to a successful treatment of ADD and ADHD. We offer comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for ADD and ADHD in children and adults.
  
  Learning Disabilities
  Several forms of learning disabilities are common both in children and adults. They include language based learning disabilities (including dyslexias) and nonverbal learning disabilities. Precise neuropsychological diagnosis is the key to a successful treatment of a learning disability. We offer comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for a variety of learning disabilities in children and adults.
  
  We also offer comprehensive psycho-educational testing, including: intelligence testing, achievement testing, learning disorders, and gifted and talented testing.

• Neuropsychological
  Examines the relationship between the brain and cognitive abilities. Useful for identifying specialized interventions and establishing a cognitive baseline. Typically evaluates cognitive difficulties secondary to a medical condition, head injury, ADHD, or learning disability.
  
  The neuropsychological assessment provides information that is important for diagnosis and program planning. Concerning diagnosis, specific developmental patterns and profiles of cognitive functioning are associated with particular disorders. A comprehensive assessment can yield information to assist in distinguishing one disorder from another as well as better clarifying its nature. The diagnostic referral question may also involve discriminating between neurological and psychiatric disorders, which is addressed in collaboration with other professionals.
  
  New research on the brain and the development of innovative test instruments have enhanced our ability to assess the source, extent and dimensions of problems that involve cognitive as well as emotional factors. Disorders of learning, attention and memory, among many other disorders, are now accessible to thorough examination.
  
  Attention Deficit (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  Attention deficit disorder is among the most common sources of academic and professional failure in children and adults. Left undiagnosed and untreated, ADD and ADHD prevents the individual from attaining his/her peak performance level. Precise diagnosis is the key to a successful treatment of ADD and ADHD. We offer comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for ADD and ADHD in children and adults.
  
  Learning Disabilities
  This assessment utilizes a battery of tests specifically selected based on the child’s age, and symptoms, to differentially diagnose the Attention Deficit Disorders and Specific Learning Disabilities. Several forms of learning disabilities are common both in children and adults. They include language based learning disabilities (including dyslexias) and nonverbal learning disabilities. Precise neuropsychological diagnosis is the key to a successful treatment of a learning disability. We offer comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for a variety of learning disabilities in children and adults. A comprehensive report is generated that identifies overall intellectual level, cognitive strengths and weaknesses, overall level of academic achievement and academic strengths and weakness.
  
  Cognitive Rehabilitation Following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Stroke (CVA) and other Neurological Disorders
  Cognitive deficit is common following TBI, CVA and other disorders. The deficit may range from mild to catastrophic and may affect memory, attention and concentration, planning, problem solving, cognitive flexibility, language, perception, and other functions. Cognitive rehabilitation has proved to be an effective approach to the treatment of these deficits. Precise neuropsychological diagnosis is the key to the design of an effective cognitive rehabilitation program. We offer comprehensive neuropsychological assessment for a broad range of neurological disorders in children and adults.
  
  Sports Concussion Injuries
  At the forefront of proper concussion management is the implementation of baseline and/or post-injury neurocognitive testing. Such evaluation can help to objectively evaluate the concussed athlete's post-injury condition and track recovery for safe return to play, thus preventing the cumulative effects of concussion. In fact, neurocognitive testing has recently been called the "cornerstone" of proper concussion management by an international panel of sports medicine experts.
  
  We can provide this comprehensive evaluation that measures attention, memory and other cognitive skills and is more sensitive to the effects of mild head injury than MRI, CT, or neurological exam.
  
  Memory Assessment
  Memory impairment is common in a number of conditions, such as traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's type dementia and other forms of dementia, and depression. Even people who are generally in good health sometimes experience subtle difficulties with memories. We will assess the extent of memory problems and discuss relevant treatment recommendations with the patient, care providers, and family members as appropriate.
  
  Evaluations include assessment of cognitive and adaptive deficits associated with primary degenerative and vascular conditions, infections, hereditary processes, and acute insults to the brain. Final reports address treatment recommendations to help patients cope with problems such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse or difficulty coping with losses and transitions as necessary.

• Forensic
  Used to clarify issues regarding competency, severity of mental impairment and/or developmental disability, and general psychological profile. In school settings, results may assist with obtaining Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) and/or service eligibility.
  
  Forensic Neuropsychology
  Neuropsychological evaluation can be helpful in both criminal and civil cases. In criminal proceedings, the evaluation can clarify issues such as fitness for trial, determining sanity at the time of the alleged offense, and even fitness to waive Miranda rights. Evaluation data can also be applied to situations such as fitness for sentencing in capital litigation cases. In civil court proceedings, the assessment can be particularly useful for plaintiffs and defendants in traumatic brain injury cases to identify brain impairment, to estimate severity, and to assist in making a prognosis. In school settings, the evaluation findings can be used to help children obtain services that are not provided by school systems because of disagreements over a student's meeting eligibility criteria for special services.
  
  Plaintiff and defense attorneys, judges and juries are often faced with critical questions concerning whether and to what extent an individual has suffered a brain injury warranting monetary compensation, rehabilitation or other benefits. Neuropsychological assessments are an invaluable tool in the medical-legal field because they can offer key quantitative and qualitative data to support or refute the presence or absence of a brain injury. Assessments also provide important information regarding the effects of the injury on a person's life and family, their everyday functioning and their ability to return to work and function effectively in the future.
  
  Medical-legal evaluations are provided for: worker’s compensation, disability and QME, AME cases. Clinical consultation and peer review services are also available.
  
  Worker’s Compensation
  We provide QME and AME evaluations and take great pride in the thoroughness of all our examinations and always document clinical opinions and ratings with evidence based on behavioral (objective) sources. For each opinion we provide the evidence for it. We then specify what information the attorneys could develop that would potentially impact the findings.
  
  Disability
  We provide a full range of clinical services to Disability Insurance Companies and Independent Review Programs throughout the United States.
  
  Neuropsychological assessments provided by Dr. Riffel are an invaluable tool in the disability field because they can offer key quantitative and qualitative data that can support or refute the presence of a brain injury.
  
  To meet the expanding needs of the disability marketplace we expanded our clinical practice to include case/peer and utilization review services. Since Dr. Riffel has the knowledge and treatment experience required to perform accurate and fair-minded assessments of appropriate treatment and medical necessity.
  
  Peer Reviews & Consulting
  Includes full documentation of all records reviewed and detailed professional reporting on diagnostic validity, treatment efficacy and appropriateness, apparent degree of disability, severity of reported symptoms, back-to-work prognosis, and recovery potential.
  
  Dr. Riffel is also available to discuss review findings and follow-up case management recommendations. Available for disability, no-fault, workers compensation), liability, and fitness for duty cases.
  
  
  Psychological & Neuropsychological AMEs
  Includes record review and a full listing of all records reviewed, extended interview time when authorized, administration of psychological and/or neuropsychological testing when requested and indicated, detailed responses to all referral issues and questions, and peer review of a draft report before submission.