In select cases, a neuropsychological evaluation can help families learn how to support their child’s healthy development into adults.
Listen in as Dr. Laurie Brenner discusses more about these evaluations from a UVA expert in pediatric neuropsychology
Selected Podcast
How a Pediatric Neuropsychologist Can Help Your Child
Featured Speaker:
Dr. Laurie Brenner
Dr. Laurie Brenner is a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in assessments of neurological conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke, central nervous system tumors, and genetic disorders. Transcription:
How a Pediatric Neuropsychologist Can Help Your Child
Melanie Cole (Host): In select cases, a neuropsychological evaluation can help families learn how to support their child’s healthy development into adults. My guest today is Dr. Laurie Brenner. She is a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in assessments of neurological conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke at the UVA Health Systems. Welcome to the show, Dr. Brenner. When would a child benefit from a neuropsychological evaluation and what does that even entail?
Dr. Laurie Brenner (Guest): Hi. Thank you for having me. The neuropsychological evaluation helps us understand how the medical condition is affecting the child’s ability to process information, learn new skills, and use the skills he or she has. When we have a better understanding of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, we can now plan for the child’s future and also identify services that might be helpful for the child. In some cases, that also helps the child’s doctors to make more informed decisions about treatment.
Melanie: What’s involved during a neuropsychological evaluation? Is this an easy thing for the child? Or is it harder for the parents?
Dr. Brenner: Good question. Some children actually enjoy it because the tests that I do are more like puzzles or games oftentimes, as well as an interview with the parents and the child. I ask a lot of detailed questions so that I have a good understanding of the child’s history and how they’re currently doing and what’s happened up until this point in time. I ask a lot of questions to make sure that I understand what the parents’ concerns are, and then I spend between four and five hours with the child and that’s when we do assessment of attention and memory and problem solving and language and visual spatial skills, executive functioning to really get a sense for how this child thinks and learns and feels. Then the family comes back for a feedback and that’s when I construct a coherent summary for the family so that they really understand what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are and what they can do to help their child.
Melanie: Dr. Brenner, do you get any pushback from parents when you say maybe that your child has a little aggression or that they had a little problem solving issue? And do parents ever not want to hear that kind of information, because you have a delicate situation there when you are telling parents about attention and intellectual capabilities of their child?
Dr. Brenner: Sure. It’s very much a discussion. Oftentimes, the parents know that there are concerns and that’s usually why they’ve come to me. This is really helping them to understand the nature of the child’s difficulties. Sometimes, it can be hard for parents to hear, but because we’re working together to identify the problem and then figure out how to fix it, it’s much more of a constructive approach, so most families leave their feedback, feeling hopeful that they now know what they can do.
Melanie: What do they take away from these evaluations and what are the next steps based on your findings?
Dr. Brenner: They oftentimes will report feelings that are clarity. They have a plan for the future. They have a better understanding of their child and how their child thinks and learns and interacts with the world and what will be helpful for their child going forward. It’s like providing a blueprint for them so they know where to devote time and energy to optimize their child’s development, and this oftentimes does include concrete steps that they can take to address their child’s needs, whether that be services in the community, a revised education plan, or changes in the medical treatment.
Melanie: This can be an ongoing thing, such as early intervention might drop off at three. What are the general ages that the parents would bring their child in for a neuropsychological evaluation?
Dr. Brenner: It really depends and it can be helpful to have this evaluation at points of transition in the child’s education and in their development. Because oftentimes, we see the medical condition affecting the child differently depending on what the environmental demands are and the changing expectations for the child, so usually we recommend reevaluation every two to three years. I see ages all the way down to age two up to 18, early 20s. It really depends on the referral question.
Melanie: Then what? How is this evaluation going to help them? Do the parents tell the school what happened? Do you work with the school to help the child work on some of these situations in the school environment? How does it all tie together for the child?
Dr. Brenner: A comprehensive report is generated as a result of the visit. I write up all of the findings so that they have with them a written document that they can share with other providers, certainly with the school, and then the school works with the family to develop an appropriate treatment plan for the child or intervention plan for the child. In some cases, yes, I would talk to the teachers and talk to the school to help make sure that they are interpreting my findings accurately and providing the child what they need.
Melanie: That’s where I was going with that, to match those specific strengths and weaknesses to what the school can give them. Now, what if what you’ve identified, Dr. Brenner, the school cannot provide that level of care? Do you then provide that extra care? Do you recommend them to somebody else to help work on maybe anxiety, depression management, any of the other things that you might have found?
Dr. Brenner: Yeah. Oftentimes, the treatment plan or the intervention plan is really comprehensive in the sense that it takes community services, and that may include therapy. It may include a visit to a psychiatrist in addition to detailed school plan. It usually is a combination of different resources and I help put the family in touch with the resources that would be beneficial for them.
Melanie: Then do you keep an ongoing record and see how the child is progressing when they’ve been seeing another specialist?
Dr. Brenner: The evaluation is usually only every two to three years, but I am certainly available for consultation. If the family is having trouble translating my recommendations into the reality of the services available in their community, I certainly am available to help problem solve and figure out what might be helpful.
Melanie: Give your last bit of advice to parents, Dr. Brenner, on if they think that their child might be having issues and why they would come see a pediatric neuropsychologist and why families should come to UVA for their evaluation.
Dr. Brenner: Yeah. The first step would be to talk to your doctor, or if you have a neurologist, definitely speak to the neurologist. Then in terms of why come to UVA, I think the main thing is the collaborative nature of care here. There are a lot of experts here who work well as a team, a lot of resources at their fingertips, and we can really be committed to each child and their individual needs.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Laurie Brenner. You’re listening to UVA Health Systems Radio. For more information on UVA Neurosciences, Brain, and Spine Care and on pediatric neuropsychological evaluation for your child, you can go to uvahealth.com. That’s uvahealth.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening and have a great day.
How a Pediatric Neuropsychologist Can Help Your Child
Melanie Cole (Host): In select cases, a neuropsychological evaluation can help families learn how to support their child’s healthy development into adults. My guest today is Dr. Laurie Brenner. She is a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in assessments of neurological conditions such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke at the UVA Health Systems. Welcome to the show, Dr. Brenner. When would a child benefit from a neuropsychological evaluation and what does that even entail?
Dr. Laurie Brenner (Guest): Hi. Thank you for having me. The neuropsychological evaluation helps us understand how the medical condition is affecting the child’s ability to process information, learn new skills, and use the skills he or she has. When we have a better understanding of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, we can now plan for the child’s future and also identify services that might be helpful for the child. In some cases, that also helps the child’s doctors to make more informed decisions about treatment.
Melanie: What’s involved during a neuropsychological evaluation? Is this an easy thing for the child? Or is it harder for the parents?
Dr. Brenner: Good question. Some children actually enjoy it because the tests that I do are more like puzzles or games oftentimes, as well as an interview with the parents and the child. I ask a lot of detailed questions so that I have a good understanding of the child’s history and how they’re currently doing and what’s happened up until this point in time. I ask a lot of questions to make sure that I understand what the parents’ concerns are, and then I spend between four and five hours with the child and that’s when we do assessment of attention and memory and problem solving and language and visual spatial skills, executive functioning to really get a sense for how this child thinks and learns and feels. Then the family comes back for a feedback and that’s when I construct a coherent summary for the family so that they really understand what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are and what they can do to help their child.
Melanie: Dr. Brenner, do you get any pushback from parents when you say maybe that your child has a little aggression or that they had a little problem solving issue? And do parents ever not want to hear that kind of information, because you have a delicate situation there when you are telling parents about attention and intellectual capabilities of their child?
Dr. Brenner: Sure. It’s very much a discussion. Oftentimes, the parents know that there are concerns and that’s usually why they’ve come to me. This is really helping them to understand the nature of the child’s difficulties. Sometimes, it can be hard for parents to hear, but because we’re working together to identify the problem and then figure out how to fix it, it’s much more of a constructive approach, so most families leave their feedback, feeling hopeful that they now know what they can do.
Melanie: What do they take away from these evaluations and what are the next steps based on your findings?
Dr. Brenner: They oftentimes will report feelings that are clarity. They have a plan for the future. They have a better understanding of their child and how their child thinks and learns and interacts with the world and what will be helpful for their child going forward. It’s like providing a blueprint for them so they know where to devote time and energy to optimize their child’s development, and this oftentimes does include concrete steps that they can take to address their child’s needs, whether that be services in the community, a revised education plan, or changes in the medical treatment.
Melanie: This can be an ongoing thing, such as early intervention might drop off at three. What are the general ages that the parents would bring their child in for a neuropsychological evaluation?
Dr. Brenner: It really depends and it can be helpful to have this evaluation at points of transition in the child’s education and in their development. Because oftentimes, we see the medical condition affecting the child differently depending on what the environmental demands are and the changing expectations for the child, so usually we recommend reevaluation every two to three years. I see ages all the way down to age two up to 18, early 20s. It really depends on the referral question.
Melanie: Then what? How is this evaluation going to help them? Do the parents tell the school what happened? Do you work with the school to help the child work on some of these situations in the school environment? How does it all tie together for the child?
Dr. Brenner: A comprehensive report is generated as a result of the visit. I write up all of the findings so that they have with them a written document that they can share with other providers, certainly with the school, and then the school works with the family to develop an appropriate treatment plan for the child or intervention plan for the child. In some cases, yes, I would talk to the teachers and talk to the school to help make sure that they are interpreting my findings accurately and providing the child what they need.
Melanie: That’s where I was going with that, to match those specific strengths and weaknesses to what the school can give them. Now, what if what you’ve identified, Dr. Brenner, the school cannot provide that level of care? Do you then provide that extra care? Do you recommend them to somebody else to help work on maybe anxiety, depression management, any of the other things that you might have found?
Dr. Brenner: Yeah. Oftentimes, the treatment plan or the intervention plan is really comprehensive in the sense that it takes community services, and that may include therapy. It may include a visit to a psychiatrist in addition to detailed school plan. It usually is a combination of different resources and I help put the family in touch with the resources that would be beneficial for them.
Melanie: Then do you keep an ongoing record and see how the child is progressing when they’ve been seeing another specialist?
Dr. Brenner: The evaluation is usually only every two to three years, but I am certainly available for consultation. If the family is having trouble translating my recommendations into the reality of the services available in their community, I certainly am available to help problem solve and figure out what might be helpful.
Melanie: Give your last bit of advice to parents, Dr. Brenner, on if they think that their child might be having issues and why they would come see a pediatric neuropsychologist and why families should come to UVA for their evaluation.
Dr. Brenner: Yeah. The first step would be to talk to your doctor, or if you have a neurologist, definitely speak to the neurologist. Then in terms of why come to UVA, I think the main thing is the collaborative nature of care here. There are a lot of experts here who work well as a team, a lot of resources at their fingertips, and we can really be committed to each child and their individual needs.
Melanie: Thank you so much, Dr. Laurie Brenner. You’re listening to UVA Health Systems Radio. For more information on UVA Neurosciences, Brain, and Spine Care and on pediatric neuropsychological evaluation for your child, you can go to uvahealth.com. That’s uvahealth.com. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening and have a great day.