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The specialty of pediatric neuropsychology employs knowledge of the developing brain and its relationship to cognition and behavior in the evaluation and treatment of children with known or suspected neurological dysfunction.

The specialist in pediatric neuropsychology is trained to diagnose cognitive and behavioral problems of the developing child as related to their neurological status. The specialist will provide a comprehensive report that clarifies your child's neuropsychological profile and provides a treatment plan for both home and school.

Pediatric neuropsychology services at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital are provided on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Services include brief and in-depth evaluation, consultation to the referring professional to assist with ongoing management or treatment, and consultation with the family and patient.

Indications for Service

Neuropsychological evaluation is indicated for a variety of disorders including: problems of learning or behavior thought to be related to a neurologic origin (e.g., epilepsy, acquired brain injury); medical disorders which affect neurological functioning (e.g., endocrine, cardiac, respiratory, neoplasms, neurotoxins); or psychiatric conditions that would be more fully understood with in-depth examination of neuropsychological factors.

Goals of Service

The goal of the service is to provide an in-depth understanding of the child's functional strengths and weaknesses with pragmatic recommendations for short-term and long-term treatment planning. The pediatric neuropsychological evaluation examines a wide spectrum of functions in children that can be affected by neurological dysfunction including:

  • Academic skills
  • Adaptive functioning
  • Attention/concentration
  • Executive control functions
  • Intellectual abilities
  • Language-related processing
  • Learning and memory capacities
  • Motor/sensory capacities
  • Social, emotional and behavioral functioning
  • Visual/nonverbal processing

Neuropsychological consultation can complement ongoing pediatric, neurologic and psychologic/psychiatric services by defining the neurologically-related aspects of the child/adolescent's functional difficulties.

Neuropsychology Training Programs

Referrals

Appointments for neuropsychological services can be arranged directly by contacting the outpatient number at 410-367-2222.

Requests for services should include the nature of the problem, relevant history, and any pertinent medical, psychiatric, or educational findings. Questions regarding potential referrals can also be directed to the department at 410-578-5080.

Indications for Referral

The pediatric neuropsychology service provides inpatient and outpatient evaluation and treatment to children of all ages, infancy to young adult, whose cognitive and/or behavioral functioning is compromised due to neurological dysfunction. Common groups of children seen for neuropsychological services include:

  1. Children with known neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy, cerebral palsy, lead poisoning or other neurotoxic states, stroke, tumors, head injury, HIV infection, respiratory disorders, obstructive sleep apnea, in utero drug/alcohol exposure, metabolic conditions, cardiac conditions affecting CNS, endocrine dysfunction, etc).
  2. Children for whom baseline and follow-up data would assist drug treatment, surgery, cranial radiation, or other treatment procedures.
  3. Children with learning disabilities and attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder.
  4. Children with emotional or behavioral problems that may be related to or exacerbated by neurological conditions, neuropsychological deficits, and/or learning disabilities.
  5. Children for whom a differentiation of neurological vs. environmental factors contributing to their disorder in cognition or behavior is important.

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