Neuropsychology

Developmental and neuropsychological deficits can have different causes and can be present at birth (e.g. genetic / brain malformations) or only occur at a later stage due to a medical condition or brain injury. However, it is also often the case that the causes of your child's problems are not known.

A neuropsychological examination may be useful if your child suffers from one of the following illnesses, for example, and is experiencing problems in everyday life and at school:

• a neurological disease such as spina bifida, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, epilepsy (seizures), neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis or a brain tumour.
• Brain damage due to head trauma, stroke, oxygen deficiency or infection.
• other medical problems such as premature birth, diabetes, chronic heart or respiratory diseases, certain genetic disorders or the treatment of childhood cancer.
• your child was exposed to alcohol, tobacco or certain drugs before birth.
• you notice developmental or school problems in your child, such as a learning disability, partial performance problems in school skills (reading, writing and maths).
• Your child cannot concentrate (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder)

During a neuropsychological examination, various cognitive functions such as general thinking ability (intelligence), processing speed, attention, memory, language, executive functions as well as visual and auditory perception are assessed. Depending on the issue at hand, school skills (reading, writing, arithmetic) can also be the subject of a neuropsychological examination. In addition, areas such as behaviour control and socio-emotional well-being are also included.

The aim of the neuropsychological examination is to objectify the strengths and weaknesses of your child, which then serves as the basis for recommendations for educational measures in school/training and medical therapeutic measures (e.g. occupational therapy or psychotherapy).

At the beginning, a detailed discussion is held with you as parents, but also with the child/young person, depending on their age, to discuss which impairments are present and in which situations they occur. We will also discuss the child's development to date and ask about strengths and weaknesses. In order to obtain a comprehensive picture, you may also be given questionnaires customised to the issue at this appointment. We also ask you to provide us with previous medical and psychological reports in order to avoid duplication and to complete the picture.

This initial assessment is followed by a psychological test. This normally takes place without the presence of a parent. Various tasks are carried out with the child/young person in the form of standardised tests. For young children, this is done in a very playful way (development tests), while for older children, paper and pencil tests are used, as well as some tasks on the computer. Some tasks will be easy for your child, but others will be more demanding and difficult.

The findings are then discussed with you as parents and, depending on the child's age, with the child during the subsequent assessment or counselling session, and questions can be addressed in detail. Potential measures and support options are then discussed and recommended with you on the basis of the findings or possibly also on the basis of a diagnosis.