Five year follow-up with Neuropsychologist

On 31 August 2011 we headed along to the Plastic & Maxillofacial Surgery Unit at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne to meet with the Neuropsychologist to whom we had been referred by the Neurosurgeon at Connor's routine five year old check up.  We were basically meeting her prior to meeting the Plastic Surgeon so we would know if there were any developmental delays indicating pressure on the brain.  This would of course add to any possible cosmetic issues such as future facial distortion that might result from the lump on Connor's head.

The appointment was a two hour epic.  We met at 10am and spent about twenty minutes giving some background to the Neuropsychologist on Connor's medical history, personal background and general behaviour and development from a parent's point of view.  She then commenced twenty minutes of tests followed by a break for twenty minutes then a further thirty or forty minutes of additional tests.  

The tests were called the Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence - Third Edition; NEPSY Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment.  They ranged from verbal tests such as naming pictures, giving definitions for words or describing items, to arranging patterns with blocks or picking patterns in pictures.  The report which she forwarded me later covered Test Behaviours, Intellectual Abilities, Information Processing and Visuomotor Speed, Attention and Executive Functions, New Learning and Memory.

Overall her assessment was that Connor is fine although he was a little impulsive and distractible with subtle difficulty with regulating his responses on testing.  To me it seemed he was just shy performing for a stranger but I guess these might be the subtle issues that are interesting to a neuropsychologist.  She mentioned that we should keep an eye on his school progress and if any decline is noted in behaviour or academic progress we should bring him back for reassessment in case pressure on his brain becomes an issue, I guess.  Apparently children with a history of cranial abnormality are at risk of experiencing mild developmental delays.  So one appointment down, one more to go...