When we get to your child's place on the waiting list, clinic staff will contact you to begin the process of completing paperwork and scheduling your appointment. During this process, you will complete several forms through our client portal, and you will have the opportunity to upload relevant records (e.g., school records, IEP or 504 Plans, standardized test scores, therapy summaries, prior evaluation reports).

If your child has had any prior evaluations, we ask that you provide the ACC with a copy of the report. This is especially critical if your child has been evaluated within the last year, because many assessment measures cannot be repeated within a short period a time; information about the prior evaluation is essential to avoid re-administering measures in a manner that would lead to invalid and unusable test results.

If your child has recently participated in an evaluation and was referred to the ACC for additional testing, please indicate this on the Request for Services Form or to our clinic staff when contacted for scheduling. ACC staff will then review the prior records and, if additional assessment is warranted, an appropriate assessment plan will be developed and communicated to the family.

Although both the ACC and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) are part of the University of Iowa, they are completely separate clinics and do not share a medical record system. If your child was previously evaluated at UIHC, please request to have the report sent to our clinic. Likewise, the results of an evaluation at the ACC will not be shared with any UIHC providers unless a parent or legal guardian requests the information be shared and signs a Release of Information form.

As you are preparing for your appointment, you will receive and complete many forms. Federal regulations require that we also make our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices available on our website and in our physical clinic space.

Preparing Your Child

It is natural for children and adolescents to experience some anxiety about the idea of visiting a new place and participating in an evaluation. We do initially have parents accompany their child to the assessment room, at which time we talk with the parent and child together in order to ease that transition. We recommend not emphasizing to the child that they are being “tested,” but rather letting them know that they are going to be doing some activities to help us understand how they think and learn best. Many children and adolescents find several of the activities to be enjoyable, such as putting blocks together or looking for patterns in pictures. The goal is not for the client to correctly answer every question, but rather for the examiner to better understand how a child approaches and thinks about different types of problems. They are simply asked to try their best. Additionally, the ACC is a warm, supportive, and friendly environment. Clients will have opportunities to take breaks, and they are always welcome to ask questions if they are uncertain about anything.

Getting Ready

In most cases, the child should take his/her prescribed medication prior to an assessment, unless the purpose of the evaluation is to determine whether the child meets criteria for ADHD. If the diagnostic question is ADHD, or if the parents would like a second opinion on their child’s ADHD diagnosis, the child should NOT take his/her ADHD medication. Any other medications (e.g., anxiety, depression) should be administered prior to testing. If you are unsure whether or not to have your child take his/her medication, it is recommended that you do not administer the medication, but do bring it with you to the appointment. Please indicate to the evaluator prior to starting the testing process that you would like assistance in determining whether to have your child to take his/her medication as prescribed.

Arriving

The closest campus parking options to the Blank Honors Center include the North Campus Parking Ramp, and the Iowa Memorial Union (IMU) Parking Ramp. If you park in either of these parking ramps we will provide you with a parking pass to cover the cost of parking both mornings of assessment testing.

The Assessment and Counseling Clinic is located on the 5th floor of the Blank Honors Center. The receptionist area is right off the elevators. Visitors to the University of Iowa (UI) Campus can enjoy free guest wireless service without having to obtain a guest ID. Guests can take advantage of this service by selecting the UI-Guest network when connecting to a wireless network. More information is available in the Assessment and Counseling Clinic waiting area.

Upon arriving for your child’s evaluation, the examiner will explain the consent forms, clarify the purpose of the evaluation, and discuss a general evaluation plan. Typically, tests are referred to as “activities” so as not to cause anxiety for the student. All ACC evaluations include a full assessment of intellectual ability, full assessment of academic achievement, and a screening of psychosocial functioning. Additional measures will be administered based on the referral question and patterns of performance observed during initial aspects of the evaluation. Should a parent wish to know more about the specific measures that will be used, that information is available upon request.

The Appointment

At the start of the assessment, the clinician will meet with you and your child to go over consent forms and review how they plan to proceed. At that time, they will provide information on when they need parents to be present, such as during the child’s break and the parent interview. If you plan on leaving the building, please make sure you provide your cell phone number to the receptionist before leaving. Please do not plan on leaving the building if you anticipate that your child may have difficulty transitioning to testing, may feel anxious, or may be more comfortable having you remain in the clinic area. Parents of young children are recommended to remain in the building for the duration of the evaluation.

Additionally, if parents bring siblings of the child being evaluated, we ask that that parents do not leave these children unattended. Our clinic is small, and the waiting area is right outside the testing rooms.  There may be other families here for services with another clinician at the same time. We have a play area next to the waiting area with some books, toys, and games that children are welcome to enjoy during their breaks.

A majority of the assessment protocols are individually administered verbally and using paper-and-pencil forms. ACC staff strictly adhere to standard administration practices as indicated by the developers of the assessment tools being administered. There are a few measures that involve computerized administration, and most of these are self-report, parent, or teacher rating scales. Very young children are administered questionnaires via a structured interview with the examiner rather than completing a computerized form.

The ACC staff are trained to carefully observe the behaviors of our clients and to implement strategies that allow them to best demonstrate their knowledge and abilities. At the same time, ACC staff are vigilant about following standard administration procedures in accordance with the psychology code of ethics. Some behavioral strategies commonly used at the ACC include providing a client with a visual schedule, providing frequent breaks, high density praise, positive reinforcement, encouraging the client to “provide their best guess” when they are unsure of the answer, and taking time to develop a relationship with the client in order to put them at ease. Despite these efforts, at times, the examiner may observe that a child’s performance seems to have been affected by anxiety, inattention, low effort, etc. The examiner will take this into consideration when interpreting the findings in the comprehensive assessment report.

Because the examiner scores and compiles aspects of the full evaluation after the evaluation has been completed, the examiner is typically not able to provide diagnostic impressions until the report has been written, nor can any specific scores be provided. However, in some instances, the examiner may observe certain patterns of behavior or performance, or may learn information during the interviews that can be shared with the parent as preliminary results at the conclusion of the testing period.