Services

Our evaluations are designed to look at the whole child. We bring together the best of psychoeducational (learning-focused) and diagnostic (disorder-identifying) assessments to provide you with a complete picture. This means we'll:

Understand How Your Child Learns: We'll explore their unique cognitive strengths and weaknesses, how they process information, and their academic skills in areas like reading, writing, and math. This helps us understand why they might be struggling in school and what teaching methods work best for them.

Identify Underlying Conditions: We'll also carefully assess for specific neurodevelopmental disorders such as:

• • Learning Disorders (like Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia)

  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

  • Behavioral Disorders (e.g., Oppositional Defiant Disorder)

  • Intellectual Disabilities 

We look for clear patterns of symptoms to provide an accurate diagnosis, which is essential for accessing the right support and services.

Explore Social and Emotional Well-being: We also consider how anxiety, depression, or social difficulties might be impacting your child's learning and overall functioning.

What Does the Evaluation Process Involve?

Our thorough evaluations typically include:

• In-depth Conversations: We'll talk extensively with you, the parents or caregivers, to gather a detailed history of your child's development, health, and experiences at home and school.

• Careful Testing: Your child will participate in a variety of activities and tasks that measure their thinking abilities, academic skills, attention, memory, and how they process information. These are engaging and tailored to their age.

• Input from Others: With your permission, we'll gather valuable insights from your child's teachers or other professionals who know them well.

• Observations: We'll observe your child during the assessment to understand their behavior and interactions.

• Review of Records: We'll look at school reports, previous evaluations, and other relevant documents to get a complete picture.

What You'll Receive: Clear Answers & Actionable Steps

You'll receive a detailed, easy-to-understand report that clearly explains your child's strengths and challenges. Most importantly, it will include:

• Formal Diagnosis (if applicable): A clear diagnosis according to clinical guidelines, which is crucial for guiding treatment and accessing services.

• Personalized Recommendations: Specific, practical strategies and interventions for both home and school. This could include educational accommodations (like a 504 Plan or IEP support), specific learning strategies, therapeutic interventions (like counseling or executive function coaching), and referrals to other specialists if needed.

Our goal is to empower your family with the knowledge and tools to help your child thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

Does your child learn quickly, ask endless questions, or show a remarkable talent in a specific area? Intellectual Giftedness Testing helps us identify and understand children and adolescents who possess significantly advanced cognitive abilities and outstanding potential. Our goal is to provide a clear picture of their unique intellectual strengths so you can nurture their exceptional development.

What is Intellectual Giftedness Testing?

This specialized evaluation goes beyond typical assessments to uncover your child's highest levels of thinking and learning. We aim to:

• Confirm Giftedness: Determine if your child's intellectual abilities are truly advanced, often aligning with criteria for gifted programs.

• Map Their Unique Strengths: Understand the specific ways your child excels, whether it's through exceptional verbal reasoning, advanced problem-solving, rapid thinking, or other unique talents.

• Guide Educational Opportunities: Provide specific recommendations for how to best support your child's intellectual growth, including suggestions for advanced classes, enrichment activities, or personalized learning strategies at home and school.

• Identify "Twice-Exceptional" Needs: Sometimes, highly intelligent children also have learning differences like ADHD or a learning disorder. We carefully assess for these "twice-exceptional" profiles to ensure all their needs are understood and addressed.

What Does the Evaluation Process Involve?

Our thorough giftedness evaluations typically include:

• In-depth Conversations: We'll talk with you, the parents or caregivers, about your child's early milestones, interests, unique learning patterns, and any observations you've made about their advanced abilities.

• Advanced Cognitive Testing: Your child will engage in specialized activities and puzzles designed to measure their intellectual potential across various areas, such as their ability to understand complex ideas, solve non-verbal problems, remember information, and think quickly.

• Input from Others: With your permission, we may gather insights from teachers or other professionals who observe your child's abilities.

• Observations: We'll observe your child's problem-solving approaches, curiosity, and persistence during the assessment.

• Review of Records: We'll look at any school reports or prior documentation that highlights their advanced abilities.

What You'll Receive: Clear Answers & Actionable Steps

You'll receive a detailed, easy-to-understand report that highlights your child's intellectual strengths and unique learning profile. Most importantly, it will include:

• Confirmation of Giftedness: Clear findings regarding your child's advanced intellectual abilities.

• Personalized Recommendations: Specific, practical strategies for enriching their learning experience at home and school. This could include suggestions for curriculum differentiation, advanced programs, or resources to support their social and emotional well-being as a gifted learner.

Our goal is to empower your family with a clear understanding of your child's exceptional abilities, helping you to advocate for and foster their optimal growth and development.

If you disagree with an evaluation conducted by your child's public school, you have the right to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). This is a comprehensive assessment performed by an independent professional, like us, who is not employed by the school district. Often, the school district may even be required to cover the cost. An IEE provides an objective "second opinion" to ensure your child receives the appropriate education they deserve.

What is an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)?

An IEE is a crucial tool for parents who feel their child's school evaluation didn't fully capture their needs or lead to the right support. Through an IEE, we aim to:

• Provide an Unbiased Perspective: Offer an objective, comprehensive assessment when you have concerns about the school's evaluation.

• Inform Educational Planning: Deliver new insights and thorough data to help craft a more effective Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan for your child, if appropriate.

• Determin Child's Needs: Equip you with robust information to undersatnd what  special education services, accommodations, or interventions your child needs, based on collected data.

• Uncover Hidden Needs: Sometimes, an IEE can reveal previously missed or under-identified neurodevelopmental disorders (like certain learning disorders, ADHD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder) or other co-occurring conditions.

What Does the Evaluation Process Involve?

Our IEEs are comprehensive and thorough, similar to our other evaluations, but with a specific focus on your child's educational rights and needs. This typically includes:

• Full Psychoeducational and Diagnostic Assessment: We conduct the same in-depth evaluations that we offer privately, looking at your child's cognitive abilities, academic achievement, processing skills, attention, social-emotional functioning, and adaptive behaviors.

• Review of School Records: We'll carefully review all relevant school documents, including the school's evaluation report, IEPs, 504 plans, and progress reports, to understand their perspective and the basis of your concerns.

• School Observation (Highly Recommended): Observing your child in their actual school environment is often vital. It helps us understand how their challenges manifest in the classroom and interact with the curriculum and daily demands.

• Interviews: We'll conduct in-depth conversations with you, teachers and/or other school personnel to gather a complete picture.

What You'll Receive: Clear Answers & Actionable Steps for School

You and the school will receive a detailed, easy-to-understand report that clearly outlines our findings, including any formal diagnoses. Most importantly, this report provides:

• Objective Recommendations: Our recommendations are based purely on the collected data and your's child's needs, providing clear, data-driven strategies for the school setting, making them easily understandable for IEP teams.

• Specific, Practical Recommendations: Clear suggestions for interventions, accommodations, and if appropriate special education services that are tailored to your child's unique needs.

By choosing an IEE with Knight Psychological Institute, you're taking a powerful step to ensure your child receives the Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) they are legally entitled to.