School Psychologists as Public Health Advocates: A Lifespan Approach to Serving Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

This article describes potential roles for school psychologists in mitigating the lifetime health risks associated with neurodevelopmental disorders by adopting a public health approach. This approach emphasizes understanding the adverse health outcomes experienced by individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, the psychosocial determinants of health that mediate health outcomes, and how to integrate this knowledge into school psychology practice. Adverse health outcomes are described. Three pathways to adverse health outcomes are described that provide examples of how public health approaches can be incorporated into the school psychology roles of assessment, counseling as a related service, and consultation roles.