Parents usually reach out after noticing their child is struggling at school. Homework takes twice as long as it should. Grades don't match how hard your child is working, or they're clearly bright but can't seem to get things done. Teachers suggest that this may be more than what they typically see. Sometimes you recognize in your child the same attention or reading struggles you had.

It is often difficult to tease apart attention, reading, and emotional difficulties. A child who can't focus on homework might have ADHD, a reading difficulty, anxiety about being called on, or a mismatch between how they think and how the classroom moves.

Attention struggles show up differently at different ages:

• Early childhood: high energy, irregular sleep, big emotional swings

• Elementary school: trouble finishing seat-work, disorganization, friction with other kids

• Middle and high school: late or missing assignments, forgotten deadlines, grades that don't reflect the effort

Reading and learning differences follow their own timeline:

• Early childhood: speech delay, trouble learning the alphabet

• Elementary school: slow, effortful reading; continuing to reverse or confuse letters; spelling words the way they sound rather than how they're written; reading reluctance

• Adolescence: reading more slowly than peers, avoiding it when possible, homework taking far longer than it should

Math difficulties are often overlooked in comparison with reading and attention disorders. A child who never develops automatic recall of basic math facts, still counts on fingers well after peers stop, or struggles in math and science despite trying, is worth a closer look too. Learning and attention issues are not due to sensory deficits, poor school instruction, or a child's overall intelligence.

Kids with ADHD tend to have co-occurring issues, including oppositional behavior, anxiety, and learning disorders, and also face more peer rejection and conflict. Family stress or an undiagnosed learning difference can sometimes manifest in ways that mimic ADHD even when the child does not have it.

I conduct evaluations for families across the Denver area, including a detailed interview covering developmental, medical, and school history, direct testing of attention, learning, and cognitive functioning, input from teachers when it's useful, and rating scales from the adults who know your child best. Testing can also support an IEP or 504 evaluation.

What ages do you assess?
Children, adolescents, and adults, from age seven through adulthood.

How long does an assessment take, from start to feedback?
The process begins with a detailed interview, followed by about five hours of one-on-one testing. I also gather collateral information where relevant, such as records from your current clinical team or questionnaires completed by family members. From there, scoring, analysis, and report writing take another four hours or so, and we finish with a feedback session where I walk you through what the testing showed. Altogether, most assessments span ten to twelve hours.

A giftedness evaluation for a school application or program placement is typically shorter and more focused than a full workup.

Will you always recommend comprehensive testing?

Not every child needs a full evaluation to get an answer. Sometimes a detailed interview is enough to rule something out, with a clear next step. Other times, it points clearly enough toward ADHD that a referral for treatment is more useful than further testing. Reading and learning concerns generally do call for testing, since fluency and processing are hard to assess through an interview alone. Comprehensive testing matters most when the picture is unclear or when a school needs documentation for accommodations. 

How much does an assessment cost?
Assessment fees are billed at $330 per hour. A comprehensive evaluation typically costs $3,300 to $3,960. A more focused evaluation involves fewer hours and costs less. I can give you a clearer estimate once I understand what you're looking to have evaluated. 

You don't need to have it figured out before you call. That's what an evaluation is for.