About our evaluation services
• BSI offers psychological evaluations with one of our psychologists when specific conditions require further assessment and when a therapist feels more diagnostic information is warranted. The psychologist will work with the therapist to develop an assessment plan to address parent and/or therapist concerns. This appointment will include a parent and child interview, observations and assessment data. Follow up sessions may be recommended to obtain more information.
• Educational evaluations can also be done and are requested by the family, recommended by the therapist, or requested by a school for the purpose of an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE), when there are concerns about learning deficits (i.e., reading, math, writing, processing, memory) or diagnostic clarification.
• BSI is proud to partner with First Steps. We have three psychologists on staff that are credentialed to provide psychological evaluations and services to children in the First Steps program across Northwest Indiana.
• BSI also provides contractual special education evaluation services to local charters and online academies.
• BSI will use all available information from the evaluation to determine the nature and severity of the child’s behavior and provide a diagnosis when appropriate with recommendations. Common concerns of incoming families include Autism, ADHD, sensory processing related behaviors, mood disorders (anxiety, depression), tantrums/rage behaviors and deficits in coping skills and/or social skills.
• Evaluations are completed by a licensed clinical psychologist or licensed school psychologist.
• BSI prides itself on taking the time to get to know the child and parents, to explore all available information about the child and the behaviors, to help the family obtain an understanding about the nature of the behaviors and to offer recommendations based on the child and family needs.
• BSI believes parents and caregivers are the most important resource in helping their children make positive behavior changes. We want to teach parents the tools they need to help their child be successful long-term and we strive to provide families with appropriate resources.
• BSI’s school psychologists are an asset to families that have school related concerns, as we have a unique understanding of school services, including general education, Response to Intervention (RtI), Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA), 504 plans and IEP’s.
• Parents can choose from a treatment plan or full length report; each are user-friendly and can be used to document your child’s social and developmental history, concerns, diagnostic impressions and recommendations.
• The Music Therapy, Medicaid Waiver Behavior Management, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Therapy departments work together to connect our clients with the best possible services.
Funding
• BSI accepts most insurance for evaluations; families may also choose to pay privately.
• First Steps families should discuss their concerns with their Service Coordinator to determine if a psychological evaluation is warranted.
• IEE’s are paid for by the school district that is requesting the evaluation.