Why is My Child's School Recommending A Psychological Assessment
Schools will sometimes recommend a psychological assessment (also referred to as a psycho-educational assessment) when they have noticed a child seems to be demonstrating difficulties within class.
This could due to a variety of issues:
- Difficulty with focus and attention
- Difficulty with learning different topics (e.g. struggling with reading, writing or mathematics)
- Difficulty following or understanding instructions
- Falling behind other students
- Behaviour concerns (e.g. not listening to the teacher, or being disruptive in class).
- Emotional concerns such as anxiety or depression.
- Social interaction difficulties
Sometimes schools will put strategies and supports in place to help a child but are still finding the child to be struggling and are not sure what else might help. A psychological assessment will help provide answers as to why a child is struggling and provide additional supports and strategies to help them not only succeed both in a school setting but at home as well.
What to Expect From the Assessment Process
Pre-Appointment - Following booking your appointment, you will be sent various forms that will help gather background information.
The Appointment - On the day of the assessment the psychologist will conduct an initial interview to collect some additional information to make sure all aspects of an individuals life are taken into consideration when conducting the assessment. The interview allows us to see if there are any social, emotional, or behavioural functioning that may be impacting your functioning during testing.
Testing Activities - Following the interview, the psychologist will use a variety of different tests and measures to gain information. Testing will look at two main areas:
- Cognitive ability: How a person may use reason, problem solving skills, memory, thinking with visual information, vocabulary and processing efficiency.
- Academic skill: Reading, writing, math, and oral language skills.
Debrief - Following the assessment the psychologist will debrief the results and conclusions (you are welcome to invite others to this meeting if you feel it would be beneficial for them to be present). During this time the psychologist will work to help you understand the results and talk about recommendations moving forward. Our goal is to make sure you leave feeling comfortable with all the new information we talked about and make sure you receive the proper supports.
Interpretation and Report Writing - Following the assessment all information collected will be analyzed and compiled into a comprehensive report, including all recommendations and guidance for next steps. It takes around 2-4 weeks for the report to be written and a secured PDF copy will be shared with you via Email.