Get in touch

I’d love to hear from you!

To get in touch, please send a message below and I will get back to you.

Be sure to look at our frequently asked questions section for answers to common queries.

Our location is 56 Winthrop Street, West Concord, MA

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A neuropsychological assessment provides a comprehensive understanding of your child’s functioning in four primary domains: cognitive, academic, attention/ executive functioning/ memory, and social-emotional functioning. Each testing battery includes core tests in each broad domain to gain an understanding of your child’s unique profile and then includes an individualized, targeted battery of tests to answer questions about your child’s strengths and challenges.  

  • Neurodevelopmental testing refers to looking closely at a young child’s developmental profile, including early cognitive, language, play, social and motor functioning. This also includes adaptive measures for parents to fill out. 

  • Parents report emerging concerns, such as:

    • “My child is so smart when he applies himself, but when he’s not interested he seems to just check out”

    • “Her teacher said that her reading is fine, she’s just a little slow to pick it up, but she’s been so fast to pick up everything else”

    • ”He gets so upset when things don’t go his way and he just can’t talk to me about it.” 

    Other parents come to me with more critical concerns, such as:

    • “My child will not go to school and we have tried everything”

    • “My child is reportedly fine at school, but she gets so aggressive at home”

    • “My child has been making statements about wanting to hurt themselves at school and we are so scared for him”

    If your child has struggled with attention, learning, anxiety, behavior, or developing friendships and you’re just not sure what’s getting in their way, a more comprehensive evaluation may be useful. The results of this testing provide invaluable recommendations about how your child learns and functions best. It offers support in advocating for an IEP or learning services in school and/ or referrals to outside supports. It may result in a diagnosis, such as ADHD, learning disorder, autism spectrum disorder or anxiety (among many others). 

  • This depends on a combination of your priorities, needs and finances. Broadly speaking, there are 3 options (or combinations) for psychological/ neuropsychological testing:

    • Public school testing: This can cover psychological, academic, speech and language, occupational therapy and physical therapy. 

    • Insurance funded testing: Providers who are in network and can accept your insurance for neuropsychological testing. 

    • Private pay practice: Out of network with insurance, often will offer a super bill that you can summit to insurance if you have out of network coverage.

  • There are age appropriate tests for children and adolescents as young as one and through adulthood. The timing of your child’s evaluation will depend on the questions to be addressed by the assessment. Dr. Leary will discuss the optimal age of assessment for your child’s specific needs with you. 

  • Typically, testing happens over the course of one full day or two half days of testing:

    • Full day (9 AM - 4 PM)

    • Two half days (9AM - 12 PM or 1 - 4 PM)

    There are a vast number of assessment tools, each designed to look at a different aspect of a person’s functioning or to answer a different type of question. Dr. Leary will collaborate with you and your child to determine what the specific concerns are and will select an appropriate group of instruments based on that information. These tests will include puzzles, word problems, memory games, questionnaires and more traditional academic testing (reading comprehension, writing, mathematics). 

  • Most people say every 3 years. However, the full answer is more nuanced than that. If you are not seeing improvement, if you are seeing regression, if you are concerned about new symptoms, those could all be reasons to evaluate sooner. Conversely, if treatment/ intervention is working and progress is maintained, re-testing just because it has been three years does not make sense. As with everything in my practice, the answer for you will be an answer that is individualized to your specific experience. We talk through the options to land at the best answer for your family.

  • Dr. Leary does not take or bill insurance. Some insurance plans will reimburse you for at least a part of the assessment costs. You should contact your insurance company and see what your policy offers. Dr. Leary can provide you with a Superbill that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. Half of the fee is expected at the first testing session, and payment in full when the report is finalized. Credit cards and HSA/FSA cards are welcome (as is check/cash). The fee for a comprehensive evaluation is $6,000.

  • Families who want to really understand their child in a strengths based and comprehensive manner report being very happy with their choice to work with me. I hear feedback including:

    The report really brought my child to life
    I could easily understand everything Dr. Leary explained to me 
    I felt like I had the time and space that I needed to digest the information and ask follow up questions
    Dr. Leary helped me implement useful recommendations
    I had a partner in ensuring the school understood my child
    My child enjoyed the experience and, ultimately, understood themselves better

    Conversely, there are families that may not be the right fit. You are paying for an in depth service, so families that simply want a diagnosis may feel like they do not need this level of analysis. Similarly, families who have specific recommendations or diagnoses that they are seeking will not be a good fit. I cannot make a diagnosis or recommendation until I have all the data. 

  • I do complete IEEs, but I do not accept the state rate, which often precludes districts from contracting with me. I also take a very limited number of these cases, and am currently booking over two months out. Similarly, targeted testing can often be an appropriate option if testing has occurred in school or there are very specific questions. However, these sessions are also limited and often include a longer wait time.