Developments in Clinical Neuropsychology: Implications for School Psychological Services

Abstract

Schools are being asked to support the physical, cognitive, and emotional development in students, particularly those identified with chronic physical and mental health challenges. Dissatisfaction with minimal screenings, the growing awareness of the neurology of learning disorders, and the passage of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 obliges all school-based mental health providers to consider how to fully integrate the tools of clinical neuropsychology into school-based psychological services.

Building Statewide Infrastructure for Effective Educational Services for Students With TBI

“…22,24 Finally, because students with TBI may experience both skill recovery and skill deterioration over time, assessment should be formative, with built-in progress monitoring, so that services can be appropriately modified as the student's needs change.…”

“…A comprehensive assessment can include evaluation of cognition, language, memory and concentration, sensory recognition and perception, academic achievement, social and emotional skills, and behavior. 22,23 Test procedures might need to be modified to accommodate potential TBI sequelae such as mental fatigue, hypersensitivity to sound and light, or difficulty with memory or attention, requiring standardized and nonstandardized administration of cognitive and achievement tests. Appropriate interpretation of assessment results requires an understanding of the potential effects of TBI on students' learning and response patterns.…”

Integrating Neuropsychology and School Psychology: Potential and Pitfalls

“…The union of school psychology and neuropsychology is logical and apparent, especially when it comes to the special education eligibility evaluation of children with suspected handicapping conditions such as LD, TBI, and other health impairment (e.g., seizures and ADHD), disabilities known to have a neurological basis (Cleary and Scott 2012). However, controversy regarding training and practice requirements has slowed the integration of these disciplines.…”

“…including school health (Cleary and Scott 2012) and school counseling (Martin, Block, and Olvera 2012). Clinical child neuropsychology has always, by necessity, included considerations of school functioning in academics and behavior among children with brain-based disorders or injuries (Miller 2013a) and current school psychology LD assessment practice incorporates neuropsychological constructs, such as cognitive processing in Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory (Flanagan, Ortiz, and Alfonso 2013;Miller and Maricle 2012).…”

Neuropsychological Differences Among Students With Learning Difficulties, Without Learning Difficulties, and With High Capacity

“…One of the diagnostic criteria of this disorder clearly indicates that “the academic aptitudes affected are substantially and quantitatively below what is expected for the chronological age of the individual and that interfere with academic performance” (American Psychiatric Association, , p. 39). Similarly, Silver et al () describe LD as “a neurobiological disorder of cognitive and/or language processing caused by atypical brain functioning” (p. 217), which can affect language, reading, numeracy, and writing (Cleary & Scott, ). Hence, it is important to use appropriate neuropsychological evaluations to identify these difficulties early in children to apply the correct intervention program (Cleary & Scott, ; Silver et al, ).…”