Why should I have my child evaluated?
Sometimes it will be obvious your child has special needs, other times it won’t be. This will depend partly on the type of special need your child might have, as well as its severity. In most cases, early intervention can be helpful in maximizing a child’s potential. Learning disabilities, ADHD, anxiety, or depression can often stay hidden and impact a student’s performance and behaviour both in and outside of the classroom. If a student of any age is not achieving their full potential or encountering difficulties in the classroom, a psycho-educational assessment will help identify the cause.
A psycho-educational assessment can identify learning challenges in students of all ages, from young children to adults.
What kind of assessment does my child need?
Your referring educational practitioner will advise if you need Exam Access Arrangements- likely if you have a previous educational report and diagnosis – or a full Educational Report. I am happy to advise as well.
What do I need to do to prepare for an evaluation?
Questions to Ask Yourself
In what areas do I suspect that my child may have a learning disability?
What behaviours have I observed that I have questions or concerns about?
What information about my child do I have that might be helpful to the professional?
What observations can I offer about his strengths, weaknesses, personality or temperament, academic likes and dislikes, or other traits.
What do I want to learn from the evaluation?
What are the specific academic skill areas in which his school performance is low relative to his peers?
What underlying processing problems-such as short-term memory problems or persistent anxiety-do I suspect may be affecting his performance?
How do I hope to use this information?