Live Webinar: Assessing High-Support-Needs Children: Neurobehavioral Evaluation at the Intersection of Cognition, Language, and Social–Emotional Needs
Description of Webinar
Many practitioners find it challenging to evaluate or characterize the skills of high-needs children and adolescents. However, every child can be evaluated, regardless of their deficits. This webinar will provide clinicians with the necessary knowledge to evaluate children with high support needs across cognition, language, and social–emotional domains to support treatment planning. Attendees will benefit from discussing broad evaluation principles, test selection and interpretation, progress monitoring, and behavioral management during evaluation.
Clinicians will learn elements to consider when choosing an assessment battery for children with high needs, including child factors (e.g., age, functional level), test characteristics, and referral questions. Clinicians will also gain the knowledge and skills to identify which alternate scores may be helpful in explaining results when standard scores are not meaningful due to floor effects or children’s varying ability to participate in standardized administration. In addition, measuring progress can be challenging when working with high-needs children, especially those with standard scores that represent the lowest possible score year after year. This session will help participants understand which scores might best represent change for these children and how to determine if a change is significant. Finally, clinicians will discover behavioral and test management strategies that can be crucial to the success of the evaluation.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, the learner will be able to:
- Select appropriate assessment batteries for high-needs children and adolescents across cognition, language, and social–emotional domains;
- Measure the progress of a high-needs child or adolescent across repeated evaluations; and
- Explain how to effectively manage behavioral and test requirements of children and adolescents with high needs.
Registration Cost
Number of Contact Hours Offered
3 Contact Hours (APA, NASP, ASHA)
Presenter Bio(s)
Emma Cole, PhD, LP, NCSP, is a licensed psychologist, a board-certified school psychologist, and a Nationally Certified School Psychologist within the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s (KKI) School Programs and the Center for Psychological and Neuropsychological Assessment. She also holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her primary clinical responsibilities are as KKI’s School Programs’ neuropsychologist, assessing students ages 5 to 22 years whose special education needs are too complex for public school services. She also sees outpatients ages 5 to 21 via direct referrals as well as across the Congenital and Genetics and the Executive Function specialty clinics. Dr. Cole has expertise in assessing emotionally/behaviorally disruptive and/or high-needs individuals. She also has expertise in special education law and in translating assessment findings for educational planning.
Natasha Ludwig, PhD, LP, is a licensed psychologist and pediatric neuropsychologist at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also serves as the Program Director of the Developmental Neuropsychology Phenotyping Unit at the Kennedy Krieger and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center. Her clinical work is focused on serving individuals with neurogenetic conditions associated with severe to profound intellectual disability and profound autism. Dr. Ludwig’s research is focused on neurodevelopmental phenotyping and patient-focused outcome measure development for clinical trial readiness.
Disclosure
Dr. Cole and Dr. Ludwig are paid honorariums for presenting this webinar.
Webinar Date
March 11, 2026
Webinar Time
9:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m. PDT (Please note that a 15 minute break will be incorporated into this webinar time)
Instructional Level
Intermediate
Target Audience
Assessment professionals, including school psychologists, clinical psychologists, neuropsychologists, speech–language pathologists (SLPs), and occupational therapists (OTs)
Webinar Completion Requirements
This webinar provides the opportunity to earn a Certificate of Completion equivalent to 3 contact hours. Attendees must satisfy completion requirements. In order to receive the Certificate of Completion for the webinar, participants must:
- Be present for the entire course (attendance will be tracked through Zoom).
- Complete the Post-Course Evaluation Survey within 3 business days of the event.
No partial credit will be awarded.
Special Needs Request
WPS will make accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require specific accommodations, please email prolearn@wpspublish.com at least 14 days prior to the event so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
Policies
- Click here for Cancellation and Refund Policies.
- For grievances or to reach a representative, please contact prolearn@wpspublish.com.
Continuing Education Credit
APA Approved Sponsor
3 CEs
WPS is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. WPS maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
NASP
3 CPDs
WPS is approved by the National Association of School Psychologists to offer professional development for school psychologists. WPS maintains responsibility for the program.
ASHA
(WPS)
ASHA CE Provider approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.
Contact Us
prolearn@wpspublish.com or 800.648.8857
