Educational ASSESSMENTS
Educational assessments measure a child’s academic ability in a range of areas including oral language, basic reading, reading comprehension and fluency, written expression, mathematics and maths fluency. They help identify learning disabilities and gifted children.
Learning disabilities, or learning disorders, are an umbrella term for a wide variety of learning difficulties. A learning disability is not a problem with intelligence or motivation. Children with learning disabilities aren’t lazy or not intelligent. In fact, most are just as smart as everyone else. Their brains are simply wired differently. This difference affects how they receive and process information.
This assessment measures your child’s specific academic strengths and weaknesses through an individually administered, standardised evaluation. Depending on your child’s difficulties, the assessment is tailored to assess their performance in the areas of reading, written expression, mathematics and spelling.
How can an Educational Assessment help my child?
A comprehensive Educational Assessment will reveal the answers to these three key questions:
What are the specific problems with their underlying learning and processing skills?
What level are they are currently achieving with their academic skills (compared with what is expected for their age and year level) ?
Which learning strategies and interventions are likely to be most helpful at school and at home?
The specific tests will vary based on the issues and age of the child, however, we recommend the following process:
Assessment Process
Step 1
Assessment is booked. The Assessment can take place in the comfort of your own home or at our office in Rouse Hill. It can be conducted in one sitting, and your child is provided breaks when needed.
Step 2
The assessment itself takes approximately 2.5 hours.
Step 3
Gathering comprehensive background information through interviews with the child, and parents and reviewing reports (if available)
Step 4
The administration of standardised tests.
Step 5
Report writing – the behavioural observations of your child during testing will be recorded, along with the results of the testing and recommendations. This can take approximately 2 weeks.
Step 6
A feedback session (and provision of a report) to help explain findings and provide recommendations and opportunities to clarify information.
What is the next step?
If you suspect that your child’s learning difficulties may require special assistance, please do not delay in finding support. The sooner you move forward, the better your child’s chances of reaching his or her full potential.
If you think your child might have a learning difficulty, it’s important to address the problem early on. You can start by booking an assessment and calling for a FREE phone consultation
Common
Questions
Do I need a referral for my child to be assessed?
Unfortunately, Medicare does not cover the cost of any type of assessment. However, if you have private health insurance which covers psychological services, you may be eligible for a rebate.
What does a typical assessment process involve?
Typically, an assessment involves a clinical interview with the parent, assessment with the child, review of relevant reports, interpretation and report writing and a parent feedback session. Following the session we are happy to liaise with relevant future professionals. The overall assessment has three main components: the parent interview, the testing session and the report as a form of feedback.
What type of assessment does my child need?
Please follow the link to learn more sydneypsychassessments.com.au/assessments/
What happens during an assessment?
- Our office will be in contact with you to discuss the assessment and start the process with ‘information gathering’. This may include emailing you forms to fill out before the assessment.
- The next step is a clinical interview with you and/or your child. Depending on circumstances, this may be completed before or on the day of the assessment.
- On the day of the assessment, you and your child will meet with your clinician to complete the assessments (tests).
- Then, your clinician will interpret the tests, look at all the information gathered and summarise this into a comprehensive report with recommendations. Please note this step does not happen on the day of assessment.
How long is your waitlist?
As we are predominantly an assessment practice, our wait times are significantly shorter than other providers. Currently, we aim to see you within 4 weeks.
Please call us to book a suitable day and time.
How long will it take to receive my report?
Once all information is received and test results are submitted, we require 2.5 weeks to complete your report.
When and where are the assessments conducted?
Assessments are usually conducted during the week in school hours, both during school terms and school holidays.
Typically, assessments are conducted at our office in Rouse Hill, although we do travel to schools, preschools and clients’ homes throughout Sydney for some assessments as well.
What to tell your child?
Parents are often concerned about what to tell their children before the assessment. As with most aspects of the assessment, it depends on the purpose of the assessment and the age of the child.
With older children over 7 or 8 years, there is no need for “white lies” and parents should have an upfront discussion about why they would like their child to be assessed.
With younger children, particularly around 3 – 4 years of age, parents may want to tell them that they will be doing some puzzles with a “puzzle teacher”. Try not to put too much emphasis on the testing process, the more relaxed the children on the day of the assessment, the more representative their results.
How much does an assessment cost?
We pride ourselves in offering affordable and competitive prices. All assessments are designed to meet the individual needs of clients. Assessments can range from approximately 1-5 hours and up to 5hrs. All assessments come with a report with recommendations and feedback.
Please call us on 0425 269 658 to discuss appointment times and pricing.