Jump to content

Menu

Why is it so hard to find a great pediatric neuropsychologist? Portland or Seattle folks?


Kaitfish
 Share

Recommended Posts

*Tiny Vent Session* Ok, it's taken me months to figure this out.... I need a great pediatric neuropsychologist to help me sort my kiddo out. She needs someone that can test her memory, IQ, processing speed, etc, while also being able to give us suggestions when the test is finished...not like here are your numbers good luck...but more like this is the way she processes things, how her memory is working, and what you should do next.

 

I need someone that will actually do the test themselves, and has amazing patient rapport, because if my daughter feels at all rushed or feels like the test administrator does not approve of her, she will lock up and shut down. I've interviewed about four places, been through the chain of college professors trying to help, and I am still not locked in on an appointment calendar. The scary thing is I feel like I have found a possible neuropsych, but then they end up not being board certified, or are not taking referrals, or are only a psychologist, or they have terrible reviews. I don't just want her IQ tested so she will get approved for stuff, I want someone to help me figure out this little adorable puzzle!! *vent over* 

 

Our education therapist has kind of freaked me out over this- she says I need to put in the time and interview the doctors to find the exact fit, "which could mean I have to go to California to find the right one, or across the country". Does anyone have any advice for me? What was your experience like? My doctor has absolutely no ideas either.

 

Traveling to Portland or Seattle would be ideal for us, as we live in North Idaho, but we will go anywhere to find the best doctor. I feel like maybe it would be easier if I just got my doctorate in neuropsychology at this point. ;) Thank you for your time! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was given the name of a neurologist in Seattle that works at testing kids for learning challenges and helps the parents understand how their child learns best. I have not followed through with this after the pediatrician mentioned it, but can find the name for you. The pediatrician said he had many other parents that were very happy with him in gaining a better understanding how their child learns and how to help their children. I can look up his information later today. Also, Susan Barton has a list of people that test for dyslexia and other learning struggles that she will email if requested. There were several psychologists (I think most were educational psychologists when I checked over a year ago) on the list near Seattle (I did not check Portland). If dyslexia is part of what you are looking at with testing, Susan Barton also sends a list of interview questions you can ask before any testing begins. It sounds like you have some people you are working with locally that may also help with knowing what type of interview questions to ask. An interview beforehand would be beneficial as the actual testing will require a lot of time and money and you may be able to know from an interview if someone will be a bad fit. Some people on here have had great experiences with some testers and not so great with other testers.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was given the name of a neurologist in Seattle that works at testing kids for learning challenges and helps the parents understand how their child learns best. I have not followed through with this after the pediatrician mentioned it, but can find the name for you. The pediatrician said he had many other parents that were very happy with him in gaining a better understanding how their child learns and how to help their children. I can look up his information later today. Also, Susan Barton has a list of people that test for dyslexia and other learning struggles that she will email if requested. There were several psychologists (I think most were educational psychologists when I checked over a year ago) on the list near Seattle (I did not check Portland). If dyslexia is part of what you are looking at with testing, Susan Barton also sends a list of interview questions you can ask before any testing begins. It sounds like you have some people you are working with locally that may also help with knowing what type of interview questions to ask. An interview beforehand would be beneficial as the actual testing will require a lot of time and money and you may be able to know from an interview if someone will be a bad fit. Some people on here have had great experiences with some testers and not so great with other testers.

 

Thanks for the response! I am looking specifically for a neuropsychologist because memory seems to be a bigger issue, which is not helping with her dyslexia remediation process. I will check with Susan Barton webpage though because maybe one of those education psychologists have a recommendation! Great idea! Thank you!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

*Tiny Vent Session* Ok, it's taken me months to figure this out.... I need a great pediatric neuropsychologist to help me sort my kiddo out. She needs someone that can test her memory, IQ, processing speed, etc, while also being able to give us suggestions when the test is finished...not like here are your numbers good luck...but more like this is the way she processes things, how her memory is working, and what you should do next.

 

I need someone that will actually do the test themselves, and has amazing patient rapport, because if my daughter feels at all rushed or feels like the test administrator does not approve of her, she will lock up and shut down. I've interviewed about four places, been through the chain of college professors trying to help, and I am still not locked in on an appointment calendar. The scary thing is I feel like I have found a possible neuropsych, but then they end up not being board certified, or are not taking referrals, or are only a psychologist, or they have terrible reviews. I don't just want her IQ tested so she will get approved for stuff, I want someone to help me figure out this little adorable puzzle!! *vent over* 

 

Our education therapist has kind of freaked me out over this- she says I need to put in the time and interview the doctors to find the exact fit, "which could mean I have to go to California to find the right one, or across the country". Does anyone have any advice for me? What was your experience like? My doctor has absolutely no ideas either.

 

Traveling to Portland or Seattle would be ideal for us, as we live in North Idaho, but we will go anywhere to find the best doctor. I feel like maybe it would be easier if I just got my doctorate in neuropsychology at this point. ;) Thank you for your time! 

 

DS was tested by a regular psychologist, not a neuropsych. She did all those things, and did them very well IMO.

Edited by Pawz4me
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had better experiences with an ed psych than a neuropsych. Both came highly recommended.

 

That's what I'm wondering about- it seems like some of the psychs are more personable, but I also want someone very intelligent, that has studied memory, and can help us come up with a solid plan. I don't want to go to a psych and then after that, they will send us to a neuropsych. What made you decide to just go with a psych? Thanks!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I'm wondering about- it seems like some of the psychs are more personable, but I also want someone very intelligent, that has studied memory, and can help us come up with a solid plan. I don't want to go to a psych and then after that, they will send us to a neuropsych. What made you decide to just go with a psych? Thanks!!!

 

She came recommended for 2e kids (gifted plus learning or other disabilities). We were not initially there for testing but to consult. We had found a good 2e psych closer to us, but his ADHD was making keeping appointments hard (if we had to cancel, rescheduling or even having him remember that we had cancelled was nearly impossible). He had done some preliminary testing of our older son and was helping us iron out school/parenting issues. We just basically transferred to her to continue. She eventually did more testing, and we were pleased. She does the expected IQ/achievement testing and a few mental health questionaires up front. She does a CAPD screening (computerized SCAN-III), and then she looks at those results to see what direction she needs to dig for more specifics. That's nice as it it's a lot cheaper! The NP just hits all the tests at once and charges more. The ed psych let us see a physical piece of paper with test results and preliminary information in it. The NP told us stuff (I don't like auditory-only important conversations, and I didn't know it would be that way), and he characterized all the results that were even slightly normal as normal--so basically, my son could have a 95th percentile score on verbal IQ, but because something language related was in the 25th%ile and therefore "normal," he felt no need to postulate about or make recommendations about those low areas. They were simply 'normal." The ed psych addressed relative deficits without needing to completely pathologize them (though if they fit a pattern that could be insightful, she'd let us know that.)

 

Our ed psych will refer out for individual things that she's not able to do. She also asks for referrals from her clients to places that are 2e friendly for things like OT, speech, PT, etc. that she can't do. She's just very open and not territorial.

 

We sought out an NP because the NP was supposed to be a dyslexia guru, and our psych was just getting into dyslexia testing; also thought my son might get another label that the regular psych might not be able to give (developmental coordination disorder). She was not the least bit offended. The NP told us very little that we didn't already know, and he addressed our concerns in the low areas of testing by saying, "I don't dig into the data looking for trouble."  

 

Some of my son's underlying issues may end up being explained by something outside the realm of either kind of psych (a physical issue that almost always includes somewhat nebulous learning issues and ADHD-ish traits that aren't quite LDs and ADHD), and when we mentioned to the ed psych (the one we like) about this, it turns out a number of her clients have kids with underlying conditions in the same category, lol! 

 

We got pretty lucky with the ed psych referral. The NP was a nice man, and he was not at all rude. He just was also unconcerned and not inclined to get concerned. 

 

If you think it's a memory problem, I would ask the psychs you are interested in what they would do to figure that out, and then see which nice person has the best answer. :-) I would ask if they think that large score discrepancies are helpful for finding good ways to cope even when they are not big enough discrepancies for an obvious diagnosis. That, to me, was the big thing with our experiences. A million little things can be disabling when they are all present in the same person. Our ed psych gets that. I am not sure the NP did, or if he did, he just wasn't the kind of guy that was able to communicate that to us. 

 

All psychs will test IQ, memory, processing speed, etc. That is standard.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I know a psychologist in Seattle who could test for all that, but she specializes in Autism. However, her rapport with kids is amazing, so I'm going to recommend her anyway. She might be worth a call to see if she thinks she could do a good job--she would definitely say no if she thought not, but might have some referrals. Her name is Erin Milhem. I can't say enough good things about her. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...