Straight Talk about Psychological Testing for Kids

Rating:
Summary: This book is a parents best friend!
Review: I picked up "Straight Talk about Psychological Testing for Kids" with the intention of giving it as a gift to a friend with an ADHD child. As I flipped its pages I was stunned with the amount of information and insight it contained regarding children that didn't seem challenging at all. From gifted children to teenagers that have become withdrawn or disinterested. Many suffer needlessly without an evaluation at some point in their lives. This is not to say that Braaten and Felopulos are pushing testing on anybody. In a very friendly way they discuss many childhood disorders, and offer up the options, costs, pros and cons of each. They explain how to use testing to get the best help for the child, and as a result, will provide the ultimate gift to their readers-HOPE.

Rating:
Summary: In-depth information on the testing process
Review: Psychological testing is very useful, but is complex and often misunderstood. This book covers the topic from many angles. Why should you get testing? Who does testing? How do you pay for it? What do you do with it once you have it?

This is probably not your spring break beach book. The book packs a lot of detailed information that could be useful for parents and health professionals. The authors use many brief vignettes to illustrate the information. However, it may be too dense and comprehensive for some individuals. If you don't want to read it straight through, you could use it as a reference book to look up information on particular tests or diagnoses. Schools might do well to purchase this book for use by some of their staff.

The book is organized by diagnosis (such as Dyslexia, AD/HD, Autism) and by types of psychological tests (such as intelligence tests, achievement tests and projective tests.) I particularly liked the section on starting the process of psychological testing. This type of testing is very expensive and it is often difficult to get schools or private insruance to pay for it. There was practical information on funding for tests and the pros and cons of getting expensive private testing or free public school testing. Since many parents are going to be using the testing to try to get special education services, the authors give an overview of the special education hearing procedures. A lot of abbreviations are used here, so read carefully.

In each section on diagnoses, the authors talk about sharing information with the child or adolescent. They discuss practical ways that one might use the test results to guide the child's education and treatment. They attempt to be practical. I would have liked to hear more about the role of psychological testing when an adolescent is trying to get special accomodations on tests like the SAT.

Overall, this is an excellent discussion of a complex topic. Parents who read it will have an easier time advocating for their children in school placement meetings. they may also find it easier to see the child in the scales and numbers.