My guest today is Dr. Stephanie Nelson, a board-certified peadiatric neuropsychologist. Dr. Nelson walks us through the nuances of neuropsychological assessments and how they can help us coordinate care for our patients.   Dr. Nelson specializes in complex differential diagnosis. Her day-to-day work involves comprehensive neuropsychological assessments and outreach to the community through presentations, workshops, and volunteer work. She also spends half her time providing consultation to psychologists and neuropsychologists who specialize in pediatric assessment.   [00:01] Dr. Stephanie Nelson Shares Her Story With Us  Dr. Nelson  wanted to be a teacher at first but ended up as a neuropsychologist She tells us what happened  Dr. Nelson tells us the difference between clinical psychology and neuropsychology

[06:55] Differentiating Dyslexia from Other Learning Disabilities  Neuropsychologists like to say they’re psychologists first, then neuropsychologists second Dr. Nelson tells us why The other things that neuropsychologists test aside from memory  Should you go to a neuropsychologist or clinical psychologist first?  Don’t be confused with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, and Dyscalculia with these explanations from Dr. Nelson!  She talks about Rapid Naming  Factors that affect comprehension 

[18:07] Determining the Right Intervention for the Child  Determining the true situation of the child to choose the right intervention  The top question that neuropsychologists get from parents and pediatricians  Special education in schools  Qualifying for special education services  Resources with informative content for pediatricians and parents  Links below 

[28:11] Determining the Right Intervention for the Child  The role of neuropsychologists in helping children with Down syndrome  Learning multifactorial skills  What Dr. Nelson always tells the parents when asking for a neuropsychological evaluation  How pediatricians should read neuropsychological reports  3 things for families to know more about their children 

[38:32] The Right Time to Seek Evaluation  How Dr. Nelson writes her neuropsychological reports  The challenge in giving treatments to kids who exhibit learning disabilities  Dr. Nelson shares her insights about seeking an evaluation for children  Dyslexia is heritable 

[44:29] Closing Segment   Final takeaways: A neuropsychologist goes one step farther than the clinical psychologist A neuro psych evaluation may be really helpful for specific cognitive concern Neuropsych testing tackles cognitive domains language, sensory-motor, executive function, and social cognition, just to name a few. Consider Dyslexia Math and writing disorders are also multifactorial Special education in schools should address the needs of students  Dr. Nelson's goal of creating a roadmap of needs that meets challenges and come up with a diagnosis that makes sense Family history is crucial  When to consider neuropsychology 

Key Quotes: “Writing is just language on paper. So if you have trouble with language, it's going to show up in your writing.” - Dr. Stephanie Nelson “ADHD has similar heritability numbers as well. So getting that family history, of course, is really important.” - Dr. Stephanie Nelson Email snelson@skylightneuropsychology.com to connect with Dr. Nelson or check out https://www.skylightneuropsychology.com/ (Skylight Neuropsychology) to know more about her work.  Resources Mentioned: Pediatric Meltdown Episode 42: https://apple.co/3h0NZYw (Deciphering Psychological Assessment Reports: What You Need to Know) https://bit.ly/3h4WUs9 (The Orton Gillingham Method) https://www.understood.org/ (Understood.org) https://dyslexiaida.org/ (International Dyslexia Association) https://www.wrightslaw.com...