Brief Case Report: Neurocognitive Assessment of a Child’s Ability to Benefit from Psychotherapy and Strategy for Court Testimony

This brief case report encompasses three components. First, a legal question was raised as to whether this 12-year old boy had neurocognitive deficits that would prevent him from being able to benefit from psychotherapy. Second, the neurocognitive assessment that was conducted enabled a comparison of his neurocognitive intellectual assessment on the newest version of the children’s edition of the Wechsler scales (WISC-IV) with concurrent, and past performance on the prior edition of the Wechsler scales (WISC-III). These comparisons raised the issue of the Flynn effect, and how that affected the interpretation of his neurocognitive functioning at age 12 compared to age 10. Finally, third, a myriad to formal psychological test results needed to be compressed for testimony in Court. This report includes a delineation of that legal strategy. The extensive documents regarding past assessments revealed that over the 6 years plus since formal assessments had begun, that this child was showing an increase in emotional distress as he confronted his neurocognitive challenges in the classroom. Detailed current neurocognitive assessment demonstrated his strengths in reasoning ability that had not been fully appreciated previously. As a result of the proper comparison of the child’s neurocognitive functioning, it was determined that he was capable of benefitting from formal psychotherapy, and that service was no longer denied to him.

Keywords: GAI: General Ability Index; FSIQ: Full Scale IQ Score; VCI: Verbal Comprehension Index; PRI: Perceptual Reasoning Index; WMI: Working Memory Index; PSI: Processing Speed Index