Evaluation & Assessment

The Brooks Powers Group Assessment Team provides a range of assessments at the request of caregivers and schools. Our evaluations are intended to provide information about a child’s profile of strengths in addition to identifying potential diagnoses and areas in need of intervention and support. Our providers have experience and training in understanding how information obtained from a clinical evaluation is used in an educational setting. We aim to provide information that can be useful in the process of developing educational plans, counseling and therapy interventions, parenting supports, and coordination of care among providers.
Evaluations may include diagnosis and/or diagnostic clarification and update, assessment of specific skills and skill areas, identification of functional levels, and more. Our evaluation goals include answering questions brought by families, and identifying each child’s individual profile of strengths and challenges. We provide specific recommendations for how to use the information obtained through the evaluation. BPG specializes in helping develop a bridge clinical and educational providers and needs. Assessment information provided by BPG may also be used for application to private schools and to specialized programs within public schools (such as Highly Capable and other “Gifted and Talented” programs), and accommodations for standardized testing. Assessment activities typically involve:
  • Interview of caregivers
  • Interview of community-based providers (when appropriate)
  • Interviews of school staff (when appropriate)
  • Review of records
  • Individual administration of assessment tools (direct testing)
  • Administration and interpretation of teacher, student, and caregiver questionnaires, surveys, checklists, and structured interviews
  • Observation of a child in school or other settings (when appropriate)

Areas of Evaluation

Cognitive/Intellectual Functioning
Academic Achievement
Executive Functioning
Learning and Memory
Social Skills and Social Communication
Language and Communication
Visual Motor Integration and related skills
Adaptive Functioning
Behavior
Mental and Emotional Health
Sensory-Motor Processing
Many children referred to BPG are experiencing some form of School Refusal. We can provide evaluation of the factors contributing to school refusal, and help teams develop and implement (depending on availability) plans to address school refusal or avoidance.

Diagnostic Assessment

Many children and adolescents referred to us are highly complex, and many have multiple co-occurring disorders. Conditions typically assessed and diagnosed by the BPG evaluation team include:
  • Autism spectrum disorders
  • ADHD
  • Learning disorders (including Dyslexia and Dysgraphia)
  • Learning and communication disorders
  • Mental health (various)
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Depression
  • Mood regulation challenges
  • Behavioral disorders
  • Trauma-related disorders
  • Other neurodevelopmental disorders
  • Intellectual giftedness
  • Trauma-related conditions
BPG uses a team-based approach to assessment and evaluation. In addition to weekly consultation within the assessment team, our assessment team consults regularly with our schools and counseling teams to ensure our evaluations and recommendations are comprehensive. Among the assessment team, areas of expertise that can be relevant in evaluation and development of recommendations include:
  • Autism
  • Early childhood development
  • Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
  • Specific learning disabilities (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalcula)
  • Trauma
  • Significant behavioral challenges
  • Anxiety
  • Intellectual disability
  • Nonverbal communication
  • Executive function deficits
  • TEACCH and Structured Teaching
  • Gifted/ Highly Capable learners
  • Twice exceptionality