Diagnostic, Academic, Psychological and Educational Testing

About Our Testing Approach

At The Orton-Gillingham Institute, Inc., our goal is to work with the whole child. For us, that means finding out where the underlying issues are, and working to not only improve but to try to eliminate some of the educational and intellectual difficulties your child may have.

While every child is different, we believe our approach should always be the same — and that essentially means we give all students 200%.

Prior to any child beginning instruction at The Orton-Gillingham Institute, we provide them with general testing. Please note that testing to enter into tutoring, whether private 1-on-1 tutoring or group tutoring, will include a reading, writing, and mathematics evaluation. This evaluation is used to determine your child's reading and math levels and writing capabilities, and helps us group your child into the proper instructional setting and provide the correct level of materials once instruction begins.

Please note that general evaluations are not comprehensive Psycho-Educational or Developmental Assessments. All comprehensive testing provided by The Orton-Gillingham Institute, Inc. includes nationally recognized testing accepted by most school districts and medical practices in the United States.

How About Insurance?

Many insurance companies do not cover psychological testing for developmental delays and/or learning issues. There are several reasons why they do this, but the most commonly cited reason is that they deem these services "educational" rather than "medical," even if the provider is "in-network." Generally, insurance companies only pay for care that they have determined to be "medically necessary." This means that in order for your service to be covered, you will have to be diagnosed with a mental health disorder AND prove that it is impacting your health on a day-to-day basis.

Fortunately, many parents seek testing before their child's issue meets the criteria for a formal mental health disorder diagnosis. Your insurance company may even tell you, "A quote for benefits does not guarantee payment..." This means that you can be told over the phone that something is covered, given an authorization number, and still be denied coverage once the diagnosis is reviewed.

Because our testing is customized for each person based on their needs and concerns, we have found that pre-approvals involve the insurance company's staff "granting permission" for each and every individual test we feel we need to administer, prior to the start of testing. Our assessments are tailored to your child and the intake questionnaire, so the testing battery changes frequently after we start working with (and getting to know) your child. It is unlikely that all clients will need or receive the exact same testing battery. Unfortunately, this individualized approach does not fit with the insurance pre-approval process.

Lastly, we are typically required to provide a mental health diagnosis/code in order to receive reimbursement. This is unethical if your child does not meet the criteria for a diagnosis, and it requires that a family member's diagnosis be shared with third parties.

Our services do qualify for HSA (Health Spending Accounts). You may also apply for financing to cover your costs via the following methods accepted by The Orton-Gillingham Institute, Inc.:

• • Health Spending Account
• • Affirm Pay
• • Scratch Pay
• • PayPal Credit
• • Payment Plan

Please note that some of these options may require an application for credit. Creditworthiness decisions are based on each individual company's policy, not The Orton-Gillingham Institute, Inc.'s policy.

Full List of Testing

THE TESTING BELOW IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE SUMMER DISCOUNTED PROGRAM.