Assessment Practices and Procedures in Children and Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury

This in-depth examination and discussion of how to assess the impact of traumatic brain injury on children and adolescents has a special focus on reintegrating students to school and the community. It is a much needed and valuable resource for rehabilitation clinicians, educators, psychologists, neuropsychologists and counselors in hospitals, schools, and private practice. Pediatric neuropsychologist Dr. Stephen Hooper addresses the limitations of many current assessment methods with particular attention to the developmental impact of childhood trauma on cognition. He then provides a detailed framework by examining specific assessment constructs and procedures for motor functions, sensory functions, attention, language, visual processing, memory and learning, executive functions, and social and behavior functions. Each chapter has a special section on research findings and clinical practices for children and adolescents with traumatic brain injury (TBI) with recommendations for assessment procedures and measures with detailed tables for reference. This book is essential for all clinicians working with school age children. The first section, Foundations, contains three chapters. Chapter 1 provides a basis for conducting various kinds of assessment with children and adolescents with brain injuries. Chapter 2 addresses different types of assessment that children may receive and includes discussions of neurological, psychological, and neuropsychological assessment. Chapter 3 describes various approaches to neuropsychological assessment and introduces neuropsychological constructs as a method for operationalizing a flexible battery, or expanded battery approach to children and adolescents who have sustained a brain injury. The second section, Specific Assessment Constructs and Procedures, describes the targeted neuropsychological construct, specific findings in childhood brain injury, and details specific assessment procedures. Detailed discussions of child neuropsychological batteries and the psychoeducational tasks including intellectual functioning are included and are helpful for the examining clinician. The final section, Related Assessment Issues, addresses additional, but important assessment issues that the evaluator or team should be aware of in order to conduct a thorough assessment of a child or adolescent following a brain injury. Finally, the book concludes with brief recap of the major issues and themes and asserts areas of need for future directions in assessment of children and adolescents following a brain injury.