Evaluating differences based on parent or teacher raters and the student's diagnostic group on the neuropsychological processing concerns checklist

Date

11/25/2014

Authors

Rouse, Lynnika

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Woman s University

Abstract

When conducting a complete neuropsychological evaluation, it is important to have a clear understanding of the concerns for the student. In gathering information, it is best to receive information from people who know the child well and to obtain information across different settings. Thus, there is a need for a tool that not only guides assessment, but also allows parents and teachers to identify their concerns for the student while also providing a framework for assessment specialists such as school psychologists. The Neuropsychological Processing Concerns Checklist (NPCC-1, Miller 2007; NPCC-2, Miller, 2010; NPCC-3; Miller, 2013) was developed with the intent to provide professionals with a framework to organize neuropsychological assessment, interpretation, and intervention. The third version of the NPCC (NPCC-3) includes nine neuropsychological areas: sensorimotor functions, learning and memory processes, visuospatial processes, auditory processes, executive functions, attentional facilitators, working memory facilitators, and speed, fluency, and efficiency of cognitive processing facilitators. Acquired knowledge within the areas of language, reading, writing, and mathematics are also included in the NPCC-3 to give professionals more information about academic concerns. The purpose of this study was to determine if the NPCC issensitive to differences between parent and teacher raters and differences between six diagnostic groups: (learning disabled [LD], Attention -Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], LD/ADHD, neurologically/medically impaired, Autism Spectrum Disorder[ASD], and severely emotionally disabled [SED]. MANOVAs and ANOVAs were run to determine differences between raters and differences between diagnostic groups. The results revealed significant differences between raters in areas that would be expected, such as academic concerns being noted more by teachers than parents. The results also revealed group diagnostic differences across several of the NPCC domains, such as students with the most severe impairments (e.g., neurologically/medically impaired group) having the highest ratings.

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Keywords

Psychology

Citation