NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AGE
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WHAT'S THIS'
The neuropsychological evaluation consists of a series of meetings in which the neuropsychologist collects useful information to understand the reported problem, through interviews and the administration of standardized tests.
The tests are tests that investigate the functioning of different cognitive areas: the performances performed using these tools are then compared with the average scores obtained by children of the same age, to verify if there is an actual difficulty, or if the child's cognitive level fall within the norm.
WHAT IT'S FOR
The objective of the evaluation is to investigate the causes of the reported difficulties and to know the strengths and weaknesses of the child, to understand how to enhance his abilities and strengthen the areas in which problems arise.
HOW IT WORKS
The neuropsychological evaluation is divided into several meetings structured as follows:
- a first anamnestic interview, in which the parents report to the neuropsychologist the reasons that led them to request a neuropsychological study;
- a series of individual meetings with the child, in which neuropsychological tests are carried out. The number of meetings depends on the level of detail required by the case and can vary from one to four meetings;
- a final restitution interview in which the parents are explained what emerged during the evaluation and in which the report describing the results of the tests with the relative clinical interpretations is delivered.
HOW IT IS STRUCTURED
To evaluate the child's performance and identify the reasons for his difficulties, we propose three levels of in-depth analysis of the neurocognitive functions:
1st level - COGNITIVE EVALUATION
2nd level - ATTENTION ASSESSMENT
MEMORY
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
3rd level - LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT
LEARNING
FACE-PERCEPTIVE SKILLS
WHAT'S THIS'
Through an accurate neuropsychological assessment it is possible to identify the cognitive areas that can benefit from a neuropsychological treatment.
The neuropsychological treatment consists of a training built ad hoc on the characteristics of the child and allows to intervene directly on the cognitive abilities concerned, enhancing them through the use of computer programs or games that involve these functions.
It is a real "gym for the mind", which, through specific and fun exercises, develops and increases certain brain functions, such as attention, memory, executive functions, visuospatial skills, language and learning.
HOW IT IS STRUCTURED
For a training to be effective, it must last for at least three months. To meet the different needs, however, it can be structured in two ways:
The first involves two or three one-hour sessions on a weekly basis for a period of three months. In these meetings, the child will intensively train the skills that need strengthening, with the use of special software and paper and pencil tasks. At the end of the training, a brief evaluation of the cognitive function concerned will be carried out again, to verify the degree of improvement obtained. In addition, indications may be given to parents, to continue the cognitive training even at home, in order to support the progress achieved
A second modality provides that the first part of the training is performed at our center, while the second will be performed at home in tele-rehabilitation mode. The parent will therefore be directly involved in learning how to manage the training in order to be able to continue to apply the treatment consistently in the following months, with the possibility of supervision by the neuropsychologist. At the end of the period agreed, a short reassessment will be carried out to verify the progress achieved.
WHERE WE CAN INTERVENE
ATTENTION:
• Exercises to increase alertness, inhibition of distracting stimuli, concentration for prolonged times
MEMORY:
• Exercises to keep more information in memory, strategies to remember the information learned for longer
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS:
• Exercises to increase the ability to stick to the instructions given, to plan the steps to carry out a task efficiently
LANGUAGE:
• Project shared with the Speech therapist
LEARNING:
• Exercises to support reading, writing and calculation skills
FACE-PERCEPTIVE SKILLS:
• Exercises to train space management skills, increase accuracy in carrying out graphic tasks, improve orientation