Many parents are concerned that their child may be struggling in the classroom but are not sure what factors are getting in the way of their learning.
Cognitive assessments or intelligence tests (IQ tests) are used to determine a child’s learning capability and aim to identify areas where a child has strengths and those that they may have more difficulty with. These assessments can be used for purposes of identifying an intellectual disability, giftedness or specific learning disabilities, and can lead to placement in specialised programs and/or clinical intervention.
Educational assessments measure a child’s academic ability level in a range of areas including reading, mathematics, writing and oral language. They can help identify academic strengths and weaknesses, diagnose learning disorders and inform decisions regarding eligibility for educational services and interventions.
Cognitive and educational assessments are commonly administered together. Normally, the cognitive assessment is completed first and this is followed by an educational assessment to determine whether a child is gifted in a learning area or may have a learning difficulty or disability.
If other tests are recommended, for example to assess for ADHD, assessments and costs will be discussed with you before proceeding.
Our assessment process
Generally, an assessment will follow the process below.
- Initial meeting with the parent(s)/carer. This meeting is to discuss concerns, strengths and challenges and includes information about the assessment process (60 minutes).
- Meeting with the child. During this session we will explore their personal perceptions of their strength and challenges. We will discuss any concerns they have and let them know what to expect during the assessment process (60 minutes).
- Completion of assessment/s. Depending on the number of assessments recommended by the psychologist, the testing may be completed over two or three sessions. The cognitive and educational assessments each take approximately two hours to complete.
- Analysis of results and report writing by the psychologist.
- Feedback and copy of report to parent(s)/carer (50 minutes).
Assessment tools
Cognitive assessment tool
The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) is a very comprehensive, individually administered psychometric tool for assessing general intelligence and reasoning for children aged six years to 16 years. The assessment tool is a fun, iPad-based test which uses different activities and puzzles to assess a child’s cognitive abilities. The test assesses cognitive capacity across five indexes: Verbal Comprehension, Fluid Reasoning, Visual Spatial, Working Memory and Processing Speed. The test generally takes two hours to complete.
Educational assessment tool
The Weschler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) is a comprehensive, individually administered test used to assess the achievement of children, adolescents, tertiary students and young adults aged 4 to 19 years old. The assessment tool is a fun, iPad based test which uses different activities and puzzles to assess abilities and generally takes two hours to complete.
The WIAT-III is often requested by parents and school counsellors as the detailed results are invaluable for teachers developing Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) for the school setting.
Bookings
Complete the expression of interest form and one of our helpful team members will contact you to discuss your unique circumstances.
