Diagnostic Testing
Our Diagnostic and Psychological Services (DAPS) division provides comprehensive testing services for children and adults who have experienced difficulty learning.
Our team of experienced psychologists and neuropsychologist select from a wide variety of assessment tools to diagnose learning disabilities and related challenges. We are able to evaluate a broad range of issues including social-emotional and behavior problems as well as assessment of ADD/ADHD. Recommendations are clear, specific, individualized, and targeted to both school personnel and the family.
For children ages four to eight, we have developed a brief assessment battery to identify children who may be at risk for learning difficulties.
The DAPS division also administers admissions tests for children applying to independent schools.
Parent consultation is available to the public on a per hour basis.
We hope you will explore all the various services DAPS provides to greater metropolitan area and within Kingsbury.
Diagnostic Process
Kingsbury makes every effort to make the diagnostic testing process a positive experience. From our warm, friendly testing environment to our comprehensive reports and highly detailed recommendations, our focus is on helping individuals identify, understand, and work through their unique learning challenges in a way that is comfortable and non-threatening.
Initial Telephone Call
When you call to inquire about diagnostic testing, you will speak with the Kingsbury Intake Coordinator, who will gather basic information about you or your child and your areas of concern. During this conversation, the Intake Coordinator will answer any questions you may have about testing and schedule an initial appointment. Once this appointment is scheduled, we will send you a Client Information Package with questionnaires to provide us with preliminary information about you or your child. In order to secure your appointment, we ask that you return the completed forms along with a nonrefundable deposit of $200. This deposit will be applied to the cost of the testing.
Initial Interview
The initial interview is an in-depth conversation with a Kingsbury psychologist in which you will be asked to provide more information about yourself or your child, including medical, family, and educational histories. You will be asked to describe your areas of concern more fully, along with the context in which you or your child has difficulty. The information gathered in this session helps us to determine what types of tests we should perform and to make practical recommendations based on your particular situation. Appointments for testing can usually be made within one to two weeks of the initial interview.
Evaluation
All of our evaluations are performed by doctoral-level psychologists who are trained and experienced in diagnosing learning difficulties. We consider each person's unique needs, and we select assessment tools from the fields of cognitive assessment, neuropsychological assessment, educational assessment, and social and emotional testing. (Please see Types of Testing for more information on these categories.) Our test battery is individualized and tailored to answer your questions.
Conference
Once the assessment process is complete, the Kingsbury team meets to discuss and interpret the findings. You will then meet with the psychologist who conducted the evaluation to review the findings, their significance, and possible courses of action.
Written Report
Kingsbury's reports are recognized for their detailed analysis and comprehensive recommendations. Supported by the findings of the assessments, these recommendations form an in-depth action plan that enables you or your child to move forward with confidence.

Types of Testing
Kingsbury's psychologists are trained to provide testing in a variety of areas, including cognitive, neuropsychological, educational, and social-emotional. Our battery includes more than 125 assessment tools, from which we choose those most appropriate to the age and areas of concern of the individual undergoing assessment. We use a flexible approach to testing with the understanding that a standard "one size fits all" battery may not allow us to fully answer your questions and generate useful recommendations.
To learn more about the types of testing offered click on the links below:
Cognitive Assessment
You or your child will be asked to perform both verbal and nonverbal tasks to obtain an estimate of general cognitive ability as compared to age peers. Cognitive assessment usually takes about two hours. Tests in this category may include:
- Comprehensive Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (C-TONI)
- Stanford-Binet, Fifth Edition
- Test of Nonverbal Intelligence - Third Edition (TONI-3)
- Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Third Edition (WAIS-III)
- Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)
- Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence - Third Edition (WPPSI-III)
Neuropsychological Assessment
Understanding the roles that different parts of the brain play in learning, behavior and emotion can be critical in helping a person become an effective lifelong learner. This assessment includes both verbal and nonverbal tasks specially developed to assess the functioning of specific parts of the brain, as they relate to attention, executive function, language, memory, and visual-spatial and visual-motor skills. Neuropsychological assessment usually takes between two and four hours. Tests in this category may include:
- Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration - Fifth Edition
- Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function
- California Verbal Learning Test
- Children's Category Test
- Children's Memory Scale
- Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP)
- Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS)
- NEPSY: A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment
- Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Third Edition
- Purdue Pegboard
- Rapid Automatized Naming and Rapid Alternating Stimulus Tests (RAN/RAS)
- Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test
- Test of Pictures/Forms/Letters/Numbers/Spatial Orientation & Sequencing Skills
- Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA)
- Wechsler Memory Scale - Third Edition (WMS-III)
- Wepman Auditory Discrimination Test
- Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning- Second Edition (WRAML-2)
- Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)
- Woodcock-Johnson (WJ-III) Tests of Cognitive Abilities
Educational Assessment
To gain a better understanding of learning problems, you or your child will be asked to perform a variety of tasks to fully assess academic skills in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. This testing usually takes from two to four hours. Tests in this category may include:
- Gray Oral Reading Tests, Fourth Edition (GORT-4)
- Gray Silent Reading Tests (GSRT)
- Jordan Left-Right Reversal Test
- Key Math - Revised
- Nelson-Denny Reading Test
- Scholastic Abilities Test for Adults (SATA)
- Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE)
- Test of Written Language, Third Edition (TOWL-3)
- Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - II (WIAT-II)
- Woodcock-Johnson (WJ-III) Tests of Achievement
Social and Emotional Assessment
Low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, poor social skills and a host of other emotional and behavioral issues can contribute to learning difficulties. The psychologist may use a range of objective and projective measures to better understand these issues. This testing usually takes two to three hours. Tests given to assess social and emotional issues may include:
- Adolescent Apperception Test
- Beck Youth Inventories
- Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2) Rating Scales
- Children's Appreciation Test
- Clinical Interview
- Conners' Rating Scales
- Guess Why Game
- Incomplete Sentences
- Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory
- Play Assessment
- Projective Drawings
- Roberts Apperception Test for Children
- Rorschach
- Thematic Apperception Test