Outpatient Assessment Experience Electives

The ADHD & Learning Differences Program at Children’s National is a specialized outpatient experience that provides advanced training in the diagnostic and psychological evaluations of children and adolescents (ages 6–18) presenting with concerns related to neurodevelopmental difficulties - ADHD, learning differences, executive functioning, behavioral challenges, and anxiety and mood disorders.

Interns will develop competency in the full psychological assessment process, including diagnostic interviewing, battery selection, test administration, interpretation, report writing, and feedback delivery. Interns are welcome to carry a small treatment caseload of no more than two patients/week depending on interest and clinic waitlist. Trainees will be expected to complete approximately one comprehensive psychological evaluation per month, following a structured assessment model. Over the course of the six-month rotation, interns will complete six comprehensive psychological and some additional diagnostic evaluations under the supervision of licensed psychologists with expertise in ADHD and learning differences.

In addition to assessment activities, interns will participate in individual supervision and case consultation, weekly group case discussions, exposure to evidence-based assessment practices for neurodevelopmental, behavioral and emotional disorders, and receive opportunities to observe and collaborate with providers. This rotation is ideal for trainees seeking concentrated experience in pediatric psychological assessment and differential diagnosis within a leading academic medical center dedicated to improving outcomes for youth with ADHD, learning differences and cooccurring mental health concerns.

The Child Development Program, located at the main hospital, provides developmental evaluation and diagnostic assessment of children ages birth to 4. Interns are supervised in administration, scoring, interpretation and feedback with instruments that are specialized for this young population (e.g., Bayley Scales, DAS-II, ADOS-2). Most of our patients are referred for evaluation by pediatricians, therapists, other specialists, or caregivers, based on concerns about developmental delays, including language delays and/or concerns about autism. Other children are referred due to an increased risk of developmental challenges based on their medical histories, such as conditions, birth complications, neurologic injury, chronic illness, etc. Patients reflect a broad cross section of sociocultural circumstances. Parent education/training is emphasized as part of the assessment and feedback process.

The Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology provides outpatient evaluations to children from preschool through young adulthood. Children commonly seen for neuropsychological services include those with known medical or neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy, brain tumor, leukemia, sickle cell, genetic conditions, congenital heart disease, concussion) as well as those with neurodevelopmental disorders. Interns will gain experience in clinical interviewing, test administration, scoring, interpretation, report writing, and verbal communication of results to families and other professionals, supervised by a neuropsychologist. Interns are invited to participate in the weekly Pediatric Neuropsychology seminar and other didactic opportunities.

The standard rotation (one day/week for six months) can be described as an exposure to clinical neuropsychology using the taxonomy for education and training guidelines. An enhanced pediatric neuropsychology experience (two days/week for six months; can combine two rotations in neuropsychology and/ or the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD)) can be made available to those for whom this is a specialty interest area or who wish to prepare for a future postdoc in neuropsychology. Interns may be exposed to one or more of the following specific clinical populations:  

• General medical/neurodevelopmental disorders
• Attention and executive function disorders (Executive Function Clinic)
• Mild traumatic brain injury/sports concussions

The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD), within the Division of Pediatric Neuropsychology, provides multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment services for children with autism and their families. Interns completing this rotation will be involved in assessing individuals having, or suspected of having, autism. Interns completing this rotation will administer and interpret tests, write assessment reports, may have opportunities to conduct school consultations, and present results at both multidisciplinary meetings and in feedback sessions with families. In addition, the CASD offers intervention services for families, including behavior management, social skills and executive function skills groups for children, parent education groups and school planning assistance. 

Interns may choose to spend part of their afternoons involved in group therapy within the Center. Additionally, co-supervision can be coordinated with the Outpatient Psychology Department for interns to provide individual therapy for autistic youth. The standard rotation in the CASD(one day/week for six months) provides an exposure to working with autistic individuals (per the taxonomy for education and training guidelines). An enhanced experience (two days per week for six months) may be available to interns with a particular interest in autism or neuropsychological assessment (two rotations within the CASD or can combine the CASD with another Neuropsychology rotation). Options in the CASD include:

• Developmental or diagnostic assessment of younger children
• Neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents (for interns with prior experience in neuropsychology and/ or autism assessment)
• Diagnostic evaluation of Autism in school aged youth and adolescents (e.g., exposure to the ADOS-2, CARS or other diagnostic tools)
• Psychological assessment of children and adolescents with co-occurring intellectual disabilities and/or limited speaking skills (for interns with prior experience in developmental and/or autism assessment)
• Group intervention targeting executive functioning skills in children/adolescents diagnosed with autism