A full evaluation is a comprehensive psychological and psychoeducational assessment that goes beyond a single IQ test. It provides a detailed picture of your cognitive, academic, emotional, and behavioral functioning, with actionable recommendations for academic planning, career development, or clinical intervention.

Last Updated: August 2026

What is a Full Evaluation?

A full evaluation is a comprehensive psychological and psychoeducational assessment that provides a complete picture of your cognitive, academic, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Unlike a single IQ test, which focuses only on cognitive abilities, a full evaluation includes multiple tests and assessments to provide a holistic understanding of your strengths and challenges.

Full evaluations are typically conducted by licensed psychologists and can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours of testing time, often spread across multiple sessions.

What a Full Evaluation Includes

• Cognitive Assessment (IQ testing): WISC-V (children), WAIS-IV or WAIS-5 (adults), or Stanford-Binet 5 to measure intellectual abilities
• Academic Achievement Testing: Measures reading, writing, math, and other academic skills
• Behavioral and Emotional Assessment: Questionnaires and interviews to assess emotional well-being, social functioning, and behavioral patterns
• Executive Functioning Assessment: Measures attention, planning, organization, and self-regulation
• Clinical Interview: Detailed interview to understand personal history, concerns, and goals
• Comprehensive Report: Detailed findings with scores, interpretations, and actionable recommendations

Full Evaluation vs. Single IQ Test

When Is a Full Evaluation Recommended?

A full evaluation is recommended in several situations:

• Learning disabilities: Suspected dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, or other learning disorders
• ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis and treatment planning
• Giftedness with learning challenges (2E): Twice-exceptional children who are both gifted and have learning disabilities
• Autism assessment: Comprehensive evaluation for autism spectrum disorder
• Educational planning: For Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans
• Legal documentation: For court cases, disability claims, or special education advocacy
• Mental health concerns: Anxiety, depression, or other emotional challenges affecting academic or occupational functioning
• College accommodations: Documentation for accommodations on college entrance exams (SAT, ACT, GRE) or in college settings

Chesapeake Hospitals and Medical Centers Offering Evaluations

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare

• Hospital and specialty care: Chesapeake Regional Medical Center provides hospital, rehabilitation, imaging, and specialty pathways.
• Referral question: Confirm whether the needed service is psychological, developmental, neurological, psychiatric, rehabilitation, or neuropsychological.
• Insurance: Network, referral, prior authorization, and medical-necessity rules may apply.

Sentara Neurosciences and Neuropsychology

• Neurology: Regional teams evaluate disorders involving memory, cognition, movement, epilepsy, stroke, brain injury, sleep, and neuromuscular function.
• Neuropsychology: Sentara describes neurologists and neuropsychologists working together on individualized diagnostic and treatment planning.
• Regional travel: Specialized services may be located in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, or another Hampton Roads facility rather than inside Chesapeake.

Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters

• Pediatric specialty care: Developmental, neurological, behavioral, rehabilitation, and other child-focused services may be relevant for complex referrals.
• Scope: Confirm age range, referral requirements, wait times, and whether the service provides educational-use testing, clinical diagnosis, or both.

Old Dominion University Health Sciences and Regional Training Resources

• Academic medicine: Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at ODU connects medical and health-professions education with the Eastern Virginia Medical Center.
• Training distinction: University clinics, supervised training, and research studies may have limited scope and may not provide an external-use diagnosis or comprehensive report.
• Related programs: ODU, Regent, and other universities contribute psychology, counseling, education, rehabilitation, and health-professions training to the region.

VA Hampton Health Care and Military Resources

• Eligible veterans: VA facilities serving Hampton Roads provide mental-health, rehabilitation, neurology, disability, and specialty referral pathways.
• Clinical purpose: Cognitive evaluation may address service-related injury, neurological conditions, psychiatric concerns, rehabilitation, disability, or functional questions.
• Access: Eligibility, referral, authorization, and location follow VA procedures.

Private Neuropsychology and Psychological Practices

• Services: Hampton Roads practices may offer ADHD, autism, learning, cognitive, neuropsychological, forensic, disability, presurgical, and diagnostic evaluations.
• Credentials: Verify Virginia psychologist licensure, neuropsychology training, age range, language competence, and experience with the referral question.
• Report fit: Schools, courts, employers, military programs, disability systems, and testing agencies may require specific documentation.

School, Public, and Regional Resources

• Chesapeake Public Schools: Evaluates eligible students under educational rules when disability or school-service questions are involved.
• Vocational rehabilitation and disability programs: May require approved providers, defined referral questions, and formal documentation.
• Coordination: Obtain records releases and clarify who will integrate medical, school, military, and private findings.

Chesapeake Evaluation Costs by Provider

• Focused IQ testing: Usually less expensive than a full psychoeducational or neuropsychological evaluation.
• Private comprehensive evaluations: Cost varies with interview time, records, test battery, scoring, report length, feedback, and school or legal consultation.
• Hospital and medical systems: Coverage depends on medical necessity, referral, network, prior authorization, diagnosis, and whether educational testing is excluded.
• School evaluation: Public-school evaluation is provided without charge when the school division suspects a disability under applicable educational law, but scope is tied to educational need.
• Military and VA coverage: TRICARE, VA, and contractor rules require provider and authorization verification.
• Before scheduling: Request a written fee estimate, cancellation policy, payment schedule, report scope, and expected turnaround.

Chesapeake Legal and Forensic Evaluations

• Different purpose: Forensic evaluations answer legal questions and differ from routine clinical or educational testing.
• Possible contexts: Disability, guardianship, competency, personal injury, workers' compensation, military or veteran claims, employment, and educational disputes.
• Examiner qualifications: Verify forensic experience, Virginia licensure, conflict rules, informed-consent limits, collateral review, and testimony fees.
• Venue requirements: Courts, attorneys, agencies, schools, employers, and benefit programs may require specific tests, credentials, deadlines, or independent examiners.
• Privacy limits: Forensic records may be disclosed to the retaining party or legal decision-maker rather than remaining solely private to the examinee.

Chesapeake Evaluation Timeline and Process

1. Referral clarification: Identify the exact diagnostic, school, medical, legal, disability, or vocational question and report recipient.
2. Records and authorization: Gather prior evaluations, school records, medical history, medication list, language history, and insurance or referral requirements.
3. Clinical interview: Review development, education, work, symptoms, functioning, culture, language, and goals.
4. Testing: Sessions may range from a focused assessment to several hours over multiple days, with breaks and bilingual considerations as needed.
5. Scoring and integration: The psychologist combines test data, observations, records, collateral information, and validity considerations.
6. Feedback and report: Results, diagnoses when appropriate, limitations, recommendations, and documentation are reviewed; turnaround depends on complexity and provider workload.

Chesapeake Insurance Coverage for Evaluations

• Medical necessity: Plans are more likely to cover evaluation for a documented clinical concern than for gifted identification, Mensa, career guidance, or private-school admission.
• Authorization: Ask whether a referral, prior authorization, specific diagnosis, in-network provider, or approved test battery is required.
• Benefit category: Neuropsychological, psychological, autism, ADHD, and educational testing may be handled differently.
• School services: Public-school evaluations are governed by educational law and are separate from health-insurance benefits.
• Written confirmation: Verify deductible, coinsurance, exclusions, report fees, out-of-network benefits, and appeal rights directly with the plan.

Chesapeake Evaluation Referrals

• Self-referral: Many private psychologists accept direct inquiries for IQ, ADHD, learning, gifted, autism, or diagnostic evaluation.
• Medical referral: Primary-care, neurology, psychiatry, pediatrics, rehabilitation, and specialty providers may refer when cognitive or behavioral questions affect care.
• School referral: Families can contact the campus for educational evaluation, while schools may recommend independent clinical assessment for questions beyond educational eligibility.
• University or testing agency: Disability offices and examination boards may require specific documentation, recency, measures, and functional evidence.
• VA and disability systems: Eligible veterans or disability applicants should verify approved providers and purpose-specific procedures before scheduling.
• Provider fit: Confirm age range, language competence, licensure, specialty, test access, report purpose, fees, and timeline.

Benefits of a Full Evaluation

• Complete picture: Understand the full picture of your or your child's functioning – cognitive, academic, emotional, and behavioral
• Accurate diagnosis: Receive precise diagnoses for learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, or other conditions
• Legal documentation: Obtain documentation for IEPs, 504 plans, college accommodations, disability claims, or court cases
• Personalized recommendations: Receive tailored recommendations for academic planning, career development, therapy, or treatment
• Peace of mind: Understand your or your child's strengths and challenges and how to address them effectively
• Long-term planning: Use the findings for educational, career, and personal planning

Full Evaluations in Chesapeake

Chesapeake families and adults may need full evaluations for public-school planning, private-school decisions, college or licensing accommodations, ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, developmental concerns, military transitions, disability claims, neurological conditions, or complex emotional and behavioral questions.

• Choose by referral question: A school psychologist, clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist, developmental specialist, or medical team may be appropriate.
• Coordinate records: Include school data, prior testing, medical history, military or VA records, treatment notes, workplace information, and family observations when relevant.
• Plan travel: Hampton Roads bridge, tunnel, base, and weather conditions can make multi-session scheduling important.
• Use results: A useful report connects findings to concrete school, work, treatment, accommodation, and follow-up recommendations.

Frequently Asked Questions