A neuropsychological evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of your behavior, emotions, and thinking. It involves the administration of questionnaires and tests of memory, language, attention, problem-solving, thinking speed, visual perception, reaction time, and personality. Pertinent records are reviewed and a comprehensive interview about your medical,
psychological, educational, legal, social, and family history will be obtained. All these data are combined to provide you and the FAA with objective and comprehensive information about your strengths and weaknesses.
The evaluations are comprehensive in order to ensure informed decisions. Medical and/or legal records are required for us to review prior to the first appointment. Evaluations always include a 1-hour interview with Dr. Gager prior to or after testing. Collateral interviews with family members, flight instructors or co-workers may be required, with your permission.
A full FAA psychological evaluation may take 3-5 face-to-face hours (including the interview) whereas an FAA neuropsychological evaluation can take 6-12 hours, depending on the questions that need to be addressed. The CogScreen AE on its own typically takes over one hour to administer. Typically, examinees are not scheduled for more than 4 hours at a time, and a second day of testing is common. Upon completion of all the tests, a report is written which integrates the findings from the records, interviews, and testing, and determines conclusions and recommendations for treatment and flight status. This report is usually sent to the referral source or FAA within two weeks.