Customer Reviews

Clinical Neuropsychology: A Pocket Handbook for Assessment

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a practicing neuropsychologist, I purchased this text with a view to having a small, portable reference book to take with me when assessing clients in locations away from my desk. For this purpose it has been excellent - while brief, it is an excellent reference text. In particular, I have found the stroke sections and frontal lobe pathology areas useful. Highly recommended.

I am an occuaptional therapy assistant student. I am particularly interested in neurology and I found this handbook while doing library research today. I ordered it immediately so that I will have it with me for my clinical affiliation in a local neurology center. It is well-written, easy enough for even a student to understand, and it is very thorough. The handbook format is perfect to keep with me as a part of my on-site reference library. Thank you for meeting the needs of students as well as seasoned clinicians.

I think that this book is very clear and it has a lot of useful charts and figures. If you want a fast overview of any aspect related with neuorpsychological assessment in the clinical enviroment this is a good handbook, that you can carry into your pocket.

This handbook, in its updated edition, is essential as part of introductory clinical neuropsychology. While thus ideal for trainees in clinical neuropsychology, it also is extremely useful and user-friendly for experienced clinical neuropsychologists, particularly for referencing theory, research, and recent practice standards in a wide array of diagnostic and subject areas. As it bears the imprimatur of the American Psychological Association, readers can be assured that it represents the equivalent of peer-reviewed received wisdom regarding the state of the field as or shortly before publication date.

A great reference for students and early career Neruopsychologists in identifying the most apporpriate assessments for different presenting problems, as well as adding depth to understanding of different assessments for similar funcitons. The book allows one to access a multitude of information in one convenient location, in a size that is pocketbook friendly.

This book is full of useful info. The only problem, the size is a bit large for a pocket guide. I cont. to find things in it that are useful and helpful while doing consults. However, I often do not carry the book with me due to its cumbersome size. It's not as large a regular book, but much thicker than a typical pocket handbook. It is a jewel of info regarding neuropsych but a bit much to carry on consults (at least on hospital units).

I do rec. this book for anyone wanting a concise describtion of various neuropsych disorders and assessment strategies.

This is a well-written neuropsychology assessment textbook that fits into a tiny format with small type that I can barely read (especially as I have grown older). It is not a "pocket guide". There is now so much content that the binding is about 3in thick. I don't have a pocket it fits into. This is a shame since it is one of the better assessment guides. The authors either have to go with an outline oriented pocket guide, like many I see in other medical areas, or simply publish the content as a regular book. I prefer the latter because I try to teach assessment from this guide and the authors would presumably have the book space to present more information and illustrations. This is probably the best assessment guide around. Lezak's Neuropsych Assessment is now upwards of 10 lbs and covers too much material in neurological illness and neuroanatomy. These areas are covered better in other books. We need a guide like this one that is a bit longer and published in a conventional format.

This is the second edition that I have owned. I have found it to be essential on a dialy basis in my work as a rehabilitation neuropsychologist. Even the most seasoned professional will find the handbook to be invaluable in their clinical practice.

M. Chris Wolf, Ph.D.
Consulting Neuropsychologist
HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital
Vineland, NJ

Truly a handbook, i.e. brief and comprehensive, this volume can be beneficial to a broader group of professionals than the primary medical staff. Starting with how to's for content rich charting and other record keeping the book also provides lists of medical abbreviations.

The book is organized by diagnostic category with the subspecialties and their unique presentations are also provided. The 'appearance' of the condition as well as the features that distinguish it from another can be the difference between needing to call a code or needing to make a page that may take hours to answer. The authors also provide checklists whenever applicable. Most line staff will be able to comprehend enough of what is pertinent to inform their management style and to discriminate pertinent details for treatment docs. Why not teach them?

In partial programs, sheltered workshops and residential treatment, supported living etc., the nature of psychiatry is such that many different classifications and treatment plans are joined in one service and in one building. The qualifications of staff- at best- are not up to par in neurology. This book can provide some assistance and when augmented with staff training, the treatment setting is likely to be more secure and productive.

The popular pediatrician in special ed., Mel Levine, is attempting to rebuild the role and qualifications for teachers in this manner. He uses a medical-like model for his training programs. If "hands-on" could be applied to neurology education Levine certainly succeeds. His program exposes teachers to the condition first, they go to an on-site hospital and residential diagnostic unit where they review charts, meet the child, make observations and dialogue about programs of accomodation and remediation. At the school, they further observe the learning differences and their behavioral co-morbid or psychiatric symptoms. They become familiar with more than a definition, (After all, no one really has figured out the Disorder of Written Expression- everyone has a different version and none matter when it comes to the poor child stuck with it.)Levine's fortunate few must come up with concise explanation, what's wrong, strengths and weaknesses and an integrated response. That can be expanded to several unique arenas and adjunctive therapies.

In summary, this is an excellent brief and handy pocket handbook and one that would be well-placed for staff providing different therapies and/or manageing a unit to review and refer to under many circumstances. Nursing homes, special education settings, trauma rehabs and psychiatric units will all find relevant and highly understandable details here. The federal entitlement for Early Intervention is another woefully neglected subgroup. Special educators, poorly paid and with high turnover, are the primary therapists and team leaders with at-risk and medically fragile infants and toddlers. They go into homes, often impoverished, and provide services, developmental activities and do assessments. They have many checklists and standardized tests which are on the whole, completed carefully. Yet there are so many other things, not necessarily on those tests, but enormously important that are outside of their professional scope. This book has vital explanations around Toxic Exposure, symptoms and 'mimic' conditions. The substance abuse sections too are vital for professionals evaluating a maternal child relationship or in cases of an addicted family member. There is high frequence for fetal substance abuse conditions and HIV genetically transmitted diagnoses. These generally brave and devoted staff see siblings who manifest behaviors or motor skills that may be uniquely relevant to understanding the baby. But they do not either know or feel comfortable speculating- so they ignore it.
Without insulting these authors, who are experts in their field and darn good writers- I urge those readers who influence some of the areas I mentioned above to read not only with an eye for their own improvement but the ways that written in this way, this book has promise for a far greater target audience.

This book is very informative and easily understood. I have gleemed so much information and more in depth understanding in how our brains work with many disorders. Excellent reading and learning!