Lighthouse

Psychoeducational

​Services

Frequently Asked Questions...

These are questions that prospective clients often ask. If we have forgotten your particular question,

please don’t hesitate to ask when you contact us.

Q: There are so many different types of evaluations. I’m confused!

A: An educational evaluation is normally conducted by a certified educator or school psychologist. It

usually consists of just academic testing.

 A psychoeducational evaluation can be done by a school psychologist or clinical psychologist. A

typical assessment would include measures of cognitive ability, school achievement, and socialemotional

functioning.

 A school neuropsychological evaluation uses measures of IQ, achievement, and social-emotional

functioning but also measures of attention, memory, language, visual and auditory

processing, visual-spatial thinking, visual-motor integration, fine and

gross motor abilities, abstract reasoning, and executive functions.

Q: So does every child need a school neuropsychological evaluation?

A: NO! There is no “one size fits all” evaluation type. The type of assessment is based on a number of

factors including: what previous testing has been done and how long ago, the referral problem,

parent concerns, teacher concerns, medical and developmental history information, and the

suspected problem. We don’t like to do unnecessary testing because it is inconvenient to both parent

and child and financially irresponsible; yet we also want to be sure we are thorough and address all

possible areas of concern.

Q: How do you determine your recommendations after you complete an evaluation?

A: LPS is very conscious of the importance of choosing remediation programs and interventions that

are evidence-based. That simply means techniques that have been shown to work, not techniques

that someone thinks will work.

Q: Why is further testing sometimes recommended? Don’t you do all the testing that is needed?

A: While LPS can administer a variety of assessment tools, input from other specialists with their own

areas of expertise is sometimes needed. Thus, neurological, audiological, medical, psychiatric,

occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech, and language evaluations may be recommended

based on test results from LPS.

Q: How are fees determined?

A: Evaluations are a set fee that includes everything from preliminary information-gathering to the final written

report. The type of evaluation, from a simple educational assessment to a more complex psychoeducational

assessment to a comprehensive school neuropsychological assessment, determines the price. Direct services

such as counseling, tutoring, advocacy, consultation, and computerized brain training are billed at an hourly

rate. Coaching would be billed by the month.

Q: Why are evaluations usually much more costly than direct service?

A: An assessment involves not only the time actually spent testing the child or youth but also a lot of “behind

the scenes” work such as gathering a social history, reading results of evaluations previously done, speaking to

other professionals working with the child, scoring the various tests administered, researching information for

accuracy, writing the report, deciding on appropriate interventions, consulting with colleagues, etc.

Q: Is LPS HIPPA compliant?

A: Yes, our HIPPA policies are given to you when you come to the office for the first appointment.

Q: What is your cancellation policy?

A: We require a minimum of 24 hrs. notice when you wish to cancel or reschedule an appointment. Otherwise

you will be charged for missed appointments. Your time is valuable and ours is too.

Q: Do you accept medical insurance?

A: LPS is in the process of applying to various medical insurance panels. However, this is a time-consuming,

bureaucratic process. Currently LPS will accept direct payment and will provide you with an invoice of service as

an out-of-network provider so that you can be reimbursed by your insurance company until LPS gets accepted

on insurance panels.