Thanks to AI, You Should Be Generating (At Least) Two Psychological Reports Per Student/Patient

Key Points (For Readers on the Go)

• One-size-fits-all psychological reports do not serve families or medical providers well.

• AI makes it feasible to produce supplemental reports without replacing the traditional technical report.

• Families benefit from a plain-language report focused on clarity, strengths, and actionable steps.

• Pediatricians and PCPs benefit from a one-page bullet summary they can read quickly.

• This approach aligns with guidance from the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health on health literacy and patient-centered care.

Why This Matters for School and Child Psychologists

Most psychologists have lived this reality: we give families a 15–25 page report and encourage them to “share it with their pediatrician.” In practice, that long report is scanned into the EMR and rarely read by the physician.

This is not a failure of families or doctors. It is a format problem.

Doctors do not have an hour to read an outside psychological report. Parents are stressed, often overwhelmed, and asked to make decisions quickly. Reports written at a graduate-school reading level do not meet either group where they are.

AI does not solve this by replacing the traditional report. It helps us supplement it—ethically and efficiently.

The Case for Generating Two (or Three) Reports

1. The Traditional Technical Report (Status Quo)

This report remains essential for:

• Documentation

• Eligibility and diagnostic justification

• Professional communication with other psychologists

• Legal and compliance requirements

Nothing here goes away.

2. A Plain-Language Family Report (≈ 6th-Grade Reading Level)

Health communication guidance from the AMA and NIH recommends that patient education materials not exceed a sixth-grade reading level. Psychological reports are no exception.

This version should:

• Use everyday language

• Minimize jargon (or explain it immediately)

• Focus on strengths, needs, and next steps

• Directly answer the referral questions

This report is for parents, caregivers, and adolescents, not for professional.

3. A One-Page Medical Summary for Pediatricians/PCPs

Pediatricians do not need scaled scores and subtest descriptions.

They need:

• The referral question

• Key findings that affect medical or developmental care

• Diagnoses (if applicable)

• A short list of high-impact recommendations

Think five to eight bullets, not five pages.

What Parents Actually Want From Reports (According to the Literature)

The research is remarkably consistent.

Clarity and Readability

Parents prefer reports that are:

• Written in plain English

• Shorter and less dense

• Free of unexplained jargon

While many parents read at about a 8th-grade level, psychological reports are often written at Grade 15+, making them difficult to use, especially during a stressful time.

Practical, Individualized Recommendations

Parents repeatedly identify the recommendations section as the most valuable part of the report.

They want:

• Specific strategies they can implement

• Clear guidance on “what to do next”

• Recommendations tailored to their child—not canned language

A Coherent Story About Their Child

Parents favor:

• Integrated, theme-based narratives

• Clear answers to referral questions

• Strengths highlighted alongside challenges

Test-by-test data dumps (which are largely preferred by psychologists) are far less useful to families than a clear explanation of how results fit together.

Visuals, Structure, and Brevity

Parents retain information better when reports include:

• Visual summaries or graphs

• Clear headings

• Concise sections

For some families—and many adolescents—one-page summaries dramatically improve understanding and recall.

How AI Makes This Feasible (and Ethical)

Without AI, writing multiple versions of a report is often unrealistic.

With AI used responsibly, psychologists can:

• Draft a family-friendly version from the technical report

• Generate a concise medical bullet summary

• Adjust reading level while preserving accuracy

• Maintain clinician oversight and final judgment

This is not automation replacing expertise. It is augmentation supporting better communication.

Practical Example: A School Psychology Evaluation

• Technical report: Full assessment results, eligibility rationale, psychometrics

• Family report:

  • “What we evaluated”

  • “What we learned about your child”

  • “Strengths to build on”

  • “What this means day-to-day”

  • “What to do next”

• Medical summary:

  • Referral concern

  • Educational label/conditions/diagnosis (when applicable)

  • Key functional impacts

  • School-home considerations

  • Follow-up recommendations

Each audience gets what they need—no more, no less.

Ethical Considerations

• Privacy: All versions must follow FERPA/HIPAA requirements.

• Accuracy: Simplification must never distort findings. Hallucinations must not make their way into reports.

• Equity: Plain-language reports improve access for families with lower health literacy.

• Transparency: Supplemental reports must be clearly labeled and contextualized.

This approach strengthens—not weakens—ethical, student- and patient-centered practice.

Final Takeaways

• Traditional reports remain necessary—but insufficient on their own.

• Families and physicians need different formats, not more pages.

• AI enables responsible report supplementation at scale.

• Plain-language and bullet summaries improve care coordination and follow-through.

• Writing multiple reports is not extra work—it is better communication.

AI Use Disclosure – Portions of this post were drafted with the assistance of an AI writing tool and revised by the author for accuracy, clarity, and professional judgment.