Forensic Neuropsychological Evaluation
Sometime ago, a friend of Dr. Nilsson's who happened to be a defense attorney for a very large insurance company, somewhat jokingly suggested, "Why should I retain someone who is an 'expert' in identifying brain injury when I do not really want to find it?" While the comment was offered in jest, it was a very good question.
The primary advantage of being "an expert in identifying brain injury," is that by having extensive clinical experience in evaluating and treating patients with brain injury, you have a foundation for understanding consequences specific to brain injury and recognizing what is not brain injury.
"Understanding the logic" of a brain injury, separating pre-injury characteristics and symptoms not likely to be brain injury, helps to understand specific consequences of an injury. Providing a more complete understanding of the patient's profile of symptoms in context of the acquired brain injury in question is critical in any personal injury case. Every individual has a personal and medical history. Understanding that history in the context of the injury in question is critical to a more complete understanding of the patient.
Dr. Nilsson has participated as both defense and plaintiff witness, most recently roughly a 50/50 distribution, communicating specific consequences of reported brain injury as related to specific cases. For those cases where symptoms associated with the injury are pre-existing or unrelated to the injury, Dr. Nilsson has been helpful in differentiating the constellation of symptoms, especially in the context of identifying, quantifying, and /or ruling out acquired brain injury, contributing to the insurance settlement process.
Dr. Nilsson has been characterized as being an effective communicator relative to the nature and consequence of an acquired brain injury, or no brain injury, in such a way to understand the logic of a patient's presenting symptoms.
What makes Dr. Nilsson an "expert"? As a board certified Clinical Neuropsychologist, Dr. Nilsson as actively participated in multiple areas of practice of Clinical Neuropsychology over the past 30 years. He has practiced in both inpatient and outpatient settings, evaluating, treating, and consulting in the care of children, adolescents, and adults presenting with various forms of acquired brain injury, neurodevelopmental disorders, or other neurologic disease processes. Many patients he has followed over extended periods of time, which has provided a wealth of experience in understanding both short- and long-term consequences of brain injury, neurodevelopmental disorders, and the consequences of such. Dr. Nilsson has participated in academic/training environments, having taught at undergraduate and graduate levels as well as supervising postdoctoral fellows as they progressed in their training to become licensed, often proceeding beyond that to complete board certification in Clinical Neuropsychology.
