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Based on the author’s popular workshop, this concise volume provides scientific and practical guidance on assessing learning disabilities and ADHD in adults. It includes instructions for accessing the author’s downloadable PowerPoints, as well as a Continuing Education component (3 credits) that is administered by the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Topics include definitions of disability (including legal definitions), assessment, and management approaches (from medications and therapy to educational and workplace accommodations), and assistive technology and software. Three case examples are provided, along with a sample report. The book is aimed at clinical neuropsychologists and clinical psychologists who are involved in the assessment and management of adults with learning disabilities and/or ADHD.

Mapou, R. L. (2008). Adult learning disabilities and ADHD: Research-informed assessment. Oxford University Press.

The purpose of this text is to provide an overview of basic business principles and how they can be used to enhance the stability and fiscal responsibility of neuropsychological practice. The principles discussed are are defined and information is provided to guide practical application of the concepts. The book is designed to benefit professionals at varying levels of practice regardless of their work setting, but focuses primarily on the issues related to neuropsychological practice.

Graduate school catalogs and training program brochures reveal a broad array of educational opportunities designed to prepare future professionals for independent practice in neuropsychology. However, little is offered to prepare neuropsychologists for the business realities that await them in the workplace. The expectation that they will simply see patients and do quality clinical work is often in conflict with institutional goals of making money so that the doors can remain open. The result can be a cataclysmic “crash” when altruistic ideals meet capitalistic needs. The concepts of “cash is king” and “no margin, no mission” are foreign to most neuropsychologists until our own fiscal bottom line is affected.

The Business of Neuropsychology also contains an overview of business “basics,” such as budget and fiscal tracking, strategies for communicating with stakeholders in the business, front and back office flow and processes, billing, coding, marketing, referral relationship development, and staff growth and development.

Barisa, M. (2010). The Business of Neuropsychology. Oxford University Press.

In 2011, National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer’s Association joint task forces released proposed criteria for Alzheimer’ disease diagnosis. These proposals included revisions to the nearly 30-year-old NINDS-ADRDA criteria for Alzheimer’s diagnosis and added criteria for diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease. The same year the American Psychiatric Association proposed new criteria for major and minor neurocognitive disorders (the entities previously known as dementia and mild cognitive impairment, respectively). These new criteria reflect the research and clinical advances in identifying mild cognitive impairment and offer new opportunities for prevention, treatment, and management of neurodegenerative conditions.

A major focus of this book is on the mild cognitive impairment prodrome of the common dementias. In addition to discussing the most common neurodegenerative conditions, many rare neurodegenerative conditions are highlighted. Most chapters include an autopsy-confirmed case presentation from the authors’ files. Following the case presentation, those chapters present current diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, neuropathology/neurophysiology, genetics, neuroimaging studies as relevant, associated clinical features, differential neuropsychological features and possible interventions for each disorder.

The pace of change in research and practice in the field of normal cognitive aging and dementia is increasing almost as fast as the median age of the population. The massive baby boom population bubble is currently entering the age of risk for neurodegenerative conditions. Neuropsychologists will play a major role in refining and applying these diagnoses, and in developing, testing, and refining interventions for these diagnoses, and in caring for this population. This book is intended to prepare neuropsychologists and others interested in neuropsychology to serve this fastest growing segment of our population.

Smith, G. E., & Bondi, M. W. (2013). Mild cognitive impairment and dementia: Definitions, diagnosis, and treatment. Oxford University Press.

Courts recognize that those who are involved in medico-legal proceedings have a stake in the outcome of their psychological assessment, regardless of whether they are high- or low-functioning individuals. Accounting for the validity of the evaluation in low-functioning examinees is frequently made more difficult by impairment; when evaluating testimony from people with intellectual disability (ID), neuropsychologists and psychologists must acknowledge the differences between the medico-legal evaluation and the clinical evaluation. This book provides helpful guidelines for assessing validity in low-functioning claimants. It charts recent advances in psychological and neuropsychological assessment pertaining to civil and criminal proceedings while examining issues such as validity and motivation, assessments of disability, criminal and civil capacities, capital cases, Miranda waiver cases, and others.

In disability cases, the Social Security Administration has had a long-standing policy that prevents neuropsychologists and psychologists from using validity instruments–yet, using this book, an accurate and valid assessment can still be obtained. Evaluators who perform assessments in capital cases will find up-to-date discussions of the Flynn Effect, measurement of intellectual functioning, problems associated with the assessment of adaptive functioning, and the challenge of validity assessment. Miranda waiver evaluations for those with low IQ are discussed concerning issues of capacity measurement, including reading and language analysis for the Miranda advisement in the particular jurisdiction in question. Testamentary capacity is discussed at length, showing how understanding of the legal standard is helpful in guiding the examination. Competency to stand trial, or adjudicative competence, is the main topic in the area of criminal competencies, with exploration of the Dusky standard and the various tests used to evaluate this competence, focusing on individuals with ID.

Chafetz, M. (2015). Intellectual Disability: Criminal and Civil Forensic Issues. Oxford University Press.

Executive Functioning: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinical Practice is the first book to offer an in-depth, comprehensive, and clinically applicable analysis of executive functioning (EF), as contrasted with “frontal-lobe functioning.” Throughout the book, care is taken to stay true to the EF construct, and to use function, not structure, as the organizing framework. The book is organized into four parts. The first part provides a brief overview of historical, theoretical, and clinical influences on how the construct has been conceptualized, studied, and ultimately defined. Part II describes five subdomains of EF, including Executive Cognitive Functions, Meta-tasking, Response Selection, Initiation/Maintenance, and Social Cognition. For each subdomain, the book reviews contributing elemental neurocognitive processes, neuroanatomic underpinnings, the utility of the subdomain in execution of daily tasks, as well as associated clinical syndromes. For each syndrome, cognitive and personality changes in daily life, as well as presentation during neuropsychological assessment, are described, and typical clinical populations characterized by each syndrome are briefly reviewed. Part III describes assessment methods, addressing both challenges and solutions in the neuropsychological evaluations of EF. An integration of information across record review, clinical interview, behavioral observation, and standardized assessment is advocated, as is consideration of assessment results within the contextual complexities of a given patient. Lastly, Part IV provides an overview of populations that are characterized by deficiencies in EF, with a chapter each devoted to neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as acquired brain insults and medical conditions.

Suchy, Y. (2015). Executive Functioning: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinical Practice. New York: Oxford University Press.

McCrea, M. (2008). Mild traumatic brain injury and postconcussion syndrome: The new evidence base for diagnosis and treatment. Oxford University Press.

This is the first neuropsychology book to translate exciting findings from the recent explosion of research on sport-related concussion to the broader context of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) and post-concussive syndrome (PCS) in the general population. In addition, it includes a Continuing Education (CE) component administered by the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology.

Traumatic brain injuries constitute a major global public health problem, but until now, MTBIs, which constitute up to 90 percent of all treated TBIs, have been difficult to evaluate and manage clinically because of the absence of a viable model. Dr. McCrea’s book thus provides a welcome evidence base for all clinicians – including psychologists, neuropsychologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, rehabilitation medicine physicians, physiatrists, and nurses – involved in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of MTBI, as well as attorneys involved in personal injury litigation and personal injury defense. Each section of the book ends with a helpful summary of the ‘Top 10 Conclusions.’