Comprehensive psychoeducational assessment
Comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessment
When something about how your child learns, focuses, or gets through school isn't making sense, one thorough assessment looks at everything at once — not just the presenting question. One evaluation, the whole child, and clear recommendations you can take to the school.
At a glance
What to know before you start
Who it's for
Students of any school age — from about 6 through K–12, college, and beyond — when something about how they're learning, focusing, or managing school isn't adding up.
What it is
One comprehensive psychoeducational assessment that looks at the whole child — cognition, attention, memory, academic skills, processing, and social-emotional wellbeing together.
Where
In person in Pasadena, in-home across the Los Angeles area (additional fee applies), or remotely for any student in California.
How to start
A free 20-minute consultation to hear your concerns and decide whether an assessment is the right next step.
Book a free consultationOne assessment, not à la carte
A comprehensive evaluation — not a menu of separate tests
The way psychoeducational testing is often marketed — separate ADHD assessments, separate dyslexia tests, separate autism evaluations — doesn't reflect how kids actually work. A parent once came to me asking about ADHD for a high-performing high schooler; testing revealed dyslexia he'd been compensating for with his strong intellect for years. Another family arrived with ADHD concerns, and the intake surfaced rigidity, peer difficulties, and sensory sensitivities that pointed to autism. Testing for one thing at a time is how children get missed.
What I do is one comprehensive psychoeducational assessment. It looks at cognition, attention, memory, academic skills, processing, and social-emotional wellbeing together — because the whole picture is what produces useful answers. The areas I specialize in (twice-exceptional and gifted profiles, ADHD and executive functioning, autism, learning differences) are lenses within that one evaluation, not separate offerings.
That matters because a well-rounded assessment gives you something a narrow one can't: an explanation, not just a label. The report is written in plain terms — instead of "weak fluid reasoning," I explain what that actually looks like in your child's day. There are no boilerplate recommendations: the plan is built on your child's strengths and interests, supports them across the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and creative environments, and includes personalized referrals to professionals I know and trust.
I work with students at every school age, from about 6 through K–12, college, and beyond. If your student doesn't fit neatly into one category — or if previous testing left more questions than answers — that's exactly the kind of case where a comprehensive evaluation finds what the narrower one missed.
The whole child
What a full assessment looks at
Cognitive & reasoning
How your child thinks, problem-solves, and reasons.
Memory & processing speed
Working memory, and how quickly information gets taken in.
Attention & executive function
Focus, planning, task initiation, and follow-through.
Academic skills
Reading, writing, and math against grade-level expectations.
Auditory & visual processing
The processing that quietly underlies how a child learns.
Social-emotional wellbeing
Anxiety, regulation, and how your child feels about school.
The assessment process
The Process
Every assessment starts from the whole child, not a single presenting question. If something else surfaces during testing, I widen the lens rather than stopping short.
Free consultation
A 20-minute conversation to hear your concerns and decide together whether a comprehensive assessment is the right next step.
Intake & records
We gather history, school records, and your observations, along with parent and teacher rating scales, so testing begins from a full picture.
Testing sessions
Usually about three sessions — in person in Pasadena, in-home, or remotely across California — paced for your child's comfort and stamina.
Report & review
A detailed, plain-language report, then a dedicated sit-down to walk through findings, recommendations, and next steps together.
How we meet
In person, in-home, or remote
In person — Pasadena
Testing typically takes place at my Pasadena office — the usual option for families in the greater Los Angeles area.
In-home — greater Los Angeles
I can travel to your home for testing sessions. This option works well for students who are more comfortable in a familiar environment. It's available in the Los Angeles area for an additional fee; we'll discuss specifics during the consultation.
Remote — any student in California
Remote assessment is available for any student in California over a secure telehealth platform — the same evaluation, adapted for remote administration, without the commute.
Sound familiar?
What parents are noticing when they call
A bright student hitting a wall
A historically strong student — often in high school, often twice-exceptional — suddenly spends hours on homework, loses papers, forgets to submit assignments, and dreads school. The intellect that quietly carried them for years can't keep compensating as the load increases, and the exhaustion shows up at home first.
Smart, but schoolwork is a battle
A highly verbal, creative younger child — deep into space, Legos, or animals — who refuses to write, struggles with reading fluency, and melts down over simple worksheets. They say things like "school is stupid" or "I'm not smart," despite obvious problem-solving ability in real life.
Constant disorganization
A student losing track of time, missing deadlines, and struggling to follow multi-step directions. Teachers say "quiet" or "daydreamy" — while at home you see a kid who's depleted, emotionally reactive, and stuck on starting even the smallest task.
What a comprehensive assessment covers
Worried about something specific? See how I work with each — and how the assessment gets at it.
Twice-Exceptional & Gifted
For gifted students who also have a learning, attention, or developmental difference — assessed for both, so nothing is missed.
ADHD & Executive Functioning
A close look at attention, focus, and the planning-and-follow-through skills that shape how school actually goes.
Autism
A careful, strength-based autism evaluation set within the whole-child picture.
Learning Differences
Assessment for dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia — the differences behind reading, writing, and math struggles.
Testimonials
What families say
I realized we were in good hands when Erica told us she would focus on what our daughter can do instead of what she can't.
We gave her an impossible deadline and she delivered a day ahead of schedule — and her report was incredibly comprehensive and accurate.
We did a lot of research, and Erica was a standout first choice to assess our teenage sons. Both kids loved her.
What stood out most was how deeply she cares about advocating for children and making sure they feel seen, understood, and supported.
Her strength-based approach and deep 2e expertise — changing the box to fit the kid instead of forcing the kid into the box. That's my language.
Common questions about the assessment
What ages do you assess?
I work with students of any age, as long as they're currently in school — from about age 6 on through K-12, college, and beyond. If you're not sure whether your student is a fit, reach out and we'll talk it through.
What is a psychoeducational evaluation, and what does it tell you?
A psychoeducational evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of how a student learns, thinks, and processes information — including cognitive ability, academic skills, attention, memory, and social-emotional wellbeing. It tells you not just whether a student is struggling but why, and it produces a written report with concrete recommendations for school, home, and when relevant, for disability accommodations.
How long does the assessment take?
Testing typically runs about three sessions of roughly two hours each, though the number and length vary with the student's age, the areas being assessed, and the pace and breaks they need. The full process — from intake through the written report and review meeting — usually spans several weeks. I'll give you a specific timeline once we've talked.
My child is avoiding or refusing school — can an assessment help figure out why?
That's one of the most important uses of a comprehensive assessment. School refusal is rarely driven by one isolated factor, and it's very hard to know the cause without objective data. The assessment looks at how your child processes information — memory, reasoning, auditory and visual processing, executive functioning, academics — and evaluates social-emotional functioning separately, so we can see whether an undiagnosed learning difference is making the school day exhausting, whether anxiety is driving the avoidance, or whether it's several overlapping factors. Then we stop guessing and target the actual root.
What does the assessment cost?
We go over costs during the free consultation, so you have a clear outline before anything is scheduled. I also offer 6 months of interest-free financing as an option.
Can the assessment be done remotely?
Yes. In-person testing takes place at my Pasadena office. Remote assessment is available for any student in California over a secure telehealth platform. In-home testing is available in the Los Angeles area for an additional fee.
Does the assessment cover more than one concern at a time?
It always does. A comprehensive assessment looks at the whole child — attention, cognition, learning, processing, and social-emotional wellbeing together — because these rarely act independently. If a student comes in with one question and I notice signs of something else, I widen the lens rather than stopping at the presenting concern.
Start with a conversation.
A free 20-minute consultation is enough to hear what's going on and figure out whether a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment is the right next step for your student.
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