Sarah Jacek is a Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist who conducts medicolegal and clinical assessments.
Available to conduct assessments where there is uncertainty around cognitive difficulties experienced by you or for a client at request by solicitors or insurance claims consultants.
Neuropsychological Assessment
Medicolegal Assessments include assessments done for legal and insurance related matters including:
CTP
Income Protection / Total and Permanent Disablement (TPD)
Return to Work / Fitness for Duty
Assessments requested by solicitors
Legal Matters
For Medicolegal and Insurance assessments contact:
Email: sarah.jacek.neuropsych@outlook.com.au
Contact form
Clinical Neuropsychological Assessments can be used for :
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) applications
Decision Making Capacity Assessments (e.g. for NCAT)
Diagnosis (e.g. Intellectual disability, Learning Disorders, Dementia and Brain injury)
Documenting cognitive functioning
Personalised strategies to assist in managing cognitive difficulties at home, work or study
For Clinical Neuropsychological Assessments contact:
Email: reception@aptpsychosocial.com.au
Call: 02 8073 4698
Contact form
Neurodevelopmental Assessments cover:
For Neurodevelopmental Assessments contact:
Email: reception@aptpsychosocial.com.au
Call: 02 8073 4698
Contact form
What is Neuropsychological Assessment?
Physical injury, illness and ageing can affect the brain in different ways, one of these may include changes to cognitive functioning.
Neuropsychological assessment is the evaluation of cognitive function, including memory, attention, thinking speed, language function, spatial skills, planning and reasoning. It can determine change in these areas over time, as a result of illness, injury, ageing or from difficulties during development.
What is Cognitive Impairment?
Cognitive impairment involves changes to your thinking, due to disease, injury, ageing or development. Areas of difficulty can include difficulties with memory, attention, working memory (keeping ideas in mind), thinking speed, spatial skills, language production and comprehension, planning, organisation, reasoning, impulse control and mental flexibility.
A person may have difficulties with their cognition when they complain of
Memory problems
Forgetting events and what they have done recently
Forgetting names of people or objects
“Not feeling as sharp as before”
Slower thinking speed
Difficulties with finding the right word to express an idea
Getting lost in familiar environments
Losing track of what is going on in a TV show
Trouble keeping their affairs in order, keeping up to date with bills and other payments
Difficulty keeping up in conversations
These things can be particularly concerning if this is a change from what the person has been like throughout their life.
Cognitive changes or impairment frequently occur in many of the following conditions. For some conditions, neuropsychological assessment may assist in clarifying whether the person is suffering that particular condition. It can also provide advice for management of cognitive difficulties. Its important to note that there are a wide variety of reasons a person may suffer cognitive impairment.
Neurocognitive Disorders (Dementia)
Mental Health problems such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief as well as major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and Bipolar Affective Disorder.
Substance Abuse
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Learning and attention difficulties (such as ADHD)
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury
Physical Health problems
Neurological disorders (eg epilepsy, brain tumours, multiple sclerosis)
What information can Neuropsychological Assessment provide?
Neuropsychological assessment involves undergoing tests in order to evaluate cognitive skills. The tests involve learning information, recalling facts and solving puzzles and can be pencil and paper, physical objects, computerised tasks as well as question and answer.
What type of information can it provide?
Diagnostic clarification – that is, to help confirm or rule out specific diagnoses, such as Alzheimer’s disease,
Provision of evidence of cognitive difficulties to assist in an application for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Personalised strategies to assist in managing cognitive difficulties at home, work or study.
For people experiencing greater difficulties, an assessment of capacity or decision-making ability, can provide an opinion on whether a person is capable of making their own medical, accommodation or financial decisions.