Finding the right NeuroPsychologist

The questions you should ask should relate to what you suspect are your kiddo's issues -- and making sure the neuropsych has knowledge/expertise in that area. And that the np can write a report that will get you what you need for kiddo (referral to therapy, IEP with the school, etc.) My 5-year-old STBAS has been through two rounds of np testing. The first time, I was totally ignorant and he ended up with a np whose expertise was autism. So even though there were NO indications that STBAS was on the spectrum, her approach was to test him to "rule out autism" and then see what was left. He ended up with a "communications disorder" diagnosis and the np's report was pretty useless and totally dismissed by our local school district who denied him an IEP. Second time around I still had to go back to the same place (because it's the only one who would take STBAS's insurance), but we lucked out and got a np who understood foster kids and prenatal exposure and actually LOOKED AT HIS OLD RECORDS and LISTENED TO ME when I shared what my concerns were. The tests were basically the same, but her report was SO much better because it painted a more accurate picture of STBAS. This time, he got a diagnosis of ADHD, complicated by PTSD and prenatal exposure. And the report is something we can actually use to get him some services.

Thank you MassMom! I hear you. I was naive with the Dev Ped too. I have a call into the NeuroPsych department to find out if anyone has the experience. It is worth a shot to ask. I would love to take the Queen to see Dr. Federici in Virginia but I can't afford him at this time. Plus the airfare, place to stay etc.

For those that have experience with neuropsychologists or neuropsychiatrists, how successful has it been? I feel like we're running around in circles and getting different diagnoses for a 13year old girl from every doctors, psychiatrists and therapist. Every one seems to just add to the alphabet soap (ODD, PTSD, GAD, MDD, SPD), she has signs of autism and that helps explain her behavior, but she has not been diagnosed. If we could see an expert who could give us more definitive answers. Everyone is looking at symptoms and her behavior problems, rather than looking at causes and what might be wrong with the way her brain functions. She is unwilling to cooperate at all or participate in tests at her psychiatrist, so we can't really find out what's going. For example, we can't tell whether issues related to her refusing to talk are related to low IQ, lack of vocabulary or perhaps how her brain functions, or if she is doing this on purpose. We've reached the point that if we could take her across the country to an expert, we'd do it. The big issue we have is how much cooperation on her part is necessary because I can see us wasting a lot of money and her refusing to talk or do anything.

wren24 - Our appointment is not until August 19th. So, I can't give you direct feedback from our personal experience with a neuropsych.I have heard that Dr. Ron Federici in Virginia is Great. He has a lot of indepth experience with trauma & adoption. Dr. Federici & Healther Forbes are teaching a class together July 27 & 28th. Here is a link for more [url=http://www.beyondconsequences.com/startingover/]Starting Over[/url]