How to Use Your Child’s Evaluation Results: A Parent’s Guide
You’ve invested the time and money in a comprehensive evaluation. You have a thick report with scores, diagnoses, and recommendations. Now what?
This is the moment that matters most — and it’s where many families get stuck. The evaluation is only as valuable as what you do with it. Here’s how to make sure your child’s results translate into real change.
1. Read the Recommendations Section First
The most important pages in any evaluation report are the recommendations. The scores and interpretive sections provide the “why” — but the recommendations tell you “what to do next.” Start there. Highlight anything that feels actionable. Circle anything that confuses you. Bring your questions to your evaluator’s feedback session (or follow-up consultation) — that’s exactly what it’s for.
2. Share the Report With Your Child’s School
If the evaluation identifies a condition that qualifies for school support, schedule a meeting with your child’s school team. Bring the full report and the school letter (if provided). You can request an IEP meeting (if you believe your child qualifies for special education services), a 504 meeting (if your child needs accommodations but doesn’t require specialized instruction), or an informal meeting with the teacher and school psychologist to discuss how to implement recommendations.
Don’t wait for the school to reach out. You have the right to request these meetings, and the evaluation report is your strongest tool for getting appropriate services.
3. Connect With the Right Providers
Evaluation reports often recommend specific types of therapy or intervention. Here’s what some common recommendations translate to in practice:
"Occupational therapy for sensory processing and fine motor skills": Look for a pediatric OT who specializes in sensory integration, not just a general outpatient OT.
"Structured literacy intervention for dyslexia": This means an Orton-Gillingham-based reading program (like Wilson Reading, Barton, or Lindamood-Bell), not standard tutoring.
"CBT for anxiety": Find a therapist trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy who works with children. Not all therapists use CBT, so ask specifically.
"Social skills group": Look for structured, clinician-led groups (not just playdates) that teach skills like perspective-taking, conversation, and flexibility.
"Executive functioning coaching": This is a growing specialty — look for coaches or therapists who specifically work on organizational skills, planning, and time management with kids and teens.
4. Talk to Your Child About Their Results
Children deserve to understand their own brains. How you frame the diagnosis matters enormously. Here are some principles:
Lead with strengths: “Your brain is really strong at creative thinking and seeing the big picture. It also works differently when it comes to staying focused, and that’s what ADHD means.”
Normalize it: “A lot of really successful people have brains that work like yours.”
Make it practical: “Now that we know how your brain works, we can set things up so school is less frustrating for you.”
Avoid deficit language: Instead of “you have a disorder,” try “your brain is wired differently, and that’s why some things are harder and other things come really easily to you.”
5. Revisit the Report Over Time
An evaluation report isn’t a one-time read. Pull it out again at every school transition (elementary to middle school, middle to high school), when your child’s needs seem to be changing, before annual IEP/504 meetings, and when considering new interventions or medications. The baseline data from a comprehensive evaluation remains relevant for years.
6. Get Support for Yourself
Receiving a diagnosis for your child can bring a mix of relief, grief, overwhelm, and determination. All of those feelings are valid. You don’t have to figure this out alone.
If you’re navigating a new diagnosis and want guidance on what to do next, parent consultation and support are available. We offer individual parent consultations to help you implement recommendations and ongoing resources through the Wide Awake Parenting community.