Child Psychological Testing Guide for Parents

Our free Child Psychological Testing Guide is for parents with questions about a child's development, learning, behavior or emotional health. It explains when testing can help and what happens along the way. We test children, teens and young adults ages 2 to 21, in person at our Falls Church and Ashburn offices.

What the guide covers

• What testing can help you understand

• When testing might help

• Which type of testing fits your child

• What happens during testing

• How to prepare your child

• What your family receives afterward

• How to take the next step

• Where to find more resources

Signs that lead parents to testing

Families often come to us after a teacher raises a question, or after noticing that a toddler isn't reaching language milestones. Other common reasons:

• Reading, writing or math is hard despite strong ability

• Homework and tests are a struggle

• Trouble keeping focus, following instructions or sitting still

• Acting without thinking about consequences

• Delayed language, limited eye contact, a strong need for routine or intense focused interests

• Anxiety or low mood that affects schoolwork

• Complex questions and unexpected ways of solving problems, which can point to gifted testing

What testing at THLH involves

Our referral coordinator reads every inquiry and matches your child with the right clinician for their age and situation. You hear from a real person within one to two business days. Then you have a free 15-minute consultation with your matched clinician.

Testing combines parent interviews, standardized tests and watching how your child approaches tasks. When it helps, we also gather input from teachers. Testing takes several hours, in one long session or spread across appointments, depending on your child's age, attention span and the questions testing needs to answer. Licensed school psychologists and licensed psychologists do the evaluations.

Testing sessions are in person at our Falls Church and Ashburn offices. Parent interviews and feedback sessions can be by telehealth.

Start with our child psychological testing page, or go straight to ADHD testing, autism testing, psychoeducational evaluations or gifted testing.

Ages

We test ages 2 through 21: toddlers, school-age children, teens and young adults. Each assessment is adjusted to your child's age.

How long the report takes

We make every effort to finish your report within two weeks of your last testing session. From first consultation to feedback, most psychoeducational evaluations take two to three weeks, and most autism evaluations take three to five.

In the feedback session, your clinician goes through the results and answers your questions. The written report includes recommendations for home and school, and you can share it with your child's school or pediatrician.

Insurance

We're in-network with CareFirst, Anthem and FEP (Blue Cross Blue Shield). Coverage for testing depends on your plan, so ask us to check yours. Cost depends on the scope of the evaluation: the questions it needs to answer, the number of tests and sessions, and the written report. More on our insurance page.

Ready to start?

Request an appointment to set up your free consultation.

This is a sample of the guide. To download the full guide, please see below.