Spanish is the second language in the world with most native speakers, with an increasing population that has extended to other regions from Spain, Latin America, and the Caribbean to non-primary Spanish-speaking countries including the United States. With the growing populations of Hispanics and Latinx individuals, there is a strong need for the development and validation of neuropsychological instruments for these populations. A culturally competent neuropsychological evaluation of these individuals is not only challenged by language but cultural differences, such as beliefs, communication styles, family roles, values, and customs.

This symposium will include personal experiences of the author as multilingual trainee testing Spanish-speaking individuals and data from a systematic review. This systematic review aimed to compare normative data of neuropsychological tests for Spanish-speakers in the regions of the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain. Fifty five papers met inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as quality index after a thorough research of literature before August 31, 2022. Papers were divided by regions and data such as norms stratification (i.e., age, education, sex), sociodemographic characteristics and neuropsychological tests were extracted from the papers to compare them. 

During this symposium, the author will discuss her professional experiences as a bilingual Spanish-English speaking graduate trainee in clinical neuropsychology. This includes her preparation for neuropsychological assessments of Hispanics and Latinx, measures of acculturation, managing language barriers during assessment, limited access to same-culture supervision, testing, and challenges accessing appropriate normative data. The author will also share recent data on the evolving normative data for Hispanic/Latinx individuals, referencing her systematic review “A systematic review of available normative data of Neuropsychological Tests for Latinx and Hispanic samples.”

Although there is evident progress in the field of cross-cultural neuropsychology, there is still research needed on normative data which accounts not only for language but also the heterogeneity of the Spanish language (i.e., differences across countries and regions). Future directions of cross-cultural research in Hispanic/Latinx should also focus on holistic, comprehensive evaluations of the individual for the best assessment of cognitive functioning and development of treatment plans.