Psychoeducational assessment is often recommended by school staff or family health care workers to explore possible barriers to a child or young adult’s ability to succeed at school. Alternatively, a child may demonstrate exceptional strengths or unique abilities in learning.
Psychoeducational Assessment for Pre-School Age Children
Parents may consider assessment for their Pre-School age child for a number of reasons. This may include the following:
- Developmental Concerns: delays in fine or gross motor skills, language, social skills, or cognitive development.
- Behavioral and Emotional Challenges: young children may demonstrate challenging behaviors such as temper tantrums, emotional reactivity, and poor self-regulation.
- Emotional challenges such as anxiety can also affect young children’s ability to separate from their parents, participate in activities, and maintain healthy sleeping and eating routines.
- Intellectual Giftedness: If a young child is demonstrating advanced intellectual or academic skills, parents may wish to apply to specialized school programs. A cognitive assessment is often part of this type of application.
Psychoeducational Assessment for School-Age Children
Often challenges for children in learning and behavior become apparent during the elementary school years. These may include the following:
- Difficulties learning to read and write
- Challenges coping with routines and demands of school
- Problems with focus and attention
- Behavioral and social challenges
- Anxiety around school performance or social situations
- Intellectual Giftedness
Psychoeducational Assessment for Teens and Young Adults
Young people entering high school or post-secondary school face huge pressures to succeed academically and perform well on formal exams. Students who have previously met expectations at school can “hit a wall” and experience difficulties. Psychoeducational assessment can assist these students in the following ways:
- Identify any underlying learning disabilities or attentional issues
- Provide a better understanding of learning style and needs
- Provide study strategies tailored to your learning style, and identify any need for accommodations for exams
Reasons many families consider a psychoeducational assessment include:
- Challenges with learning academic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics
- Problems with attention, focus, and distractible behaviour
- Difficulties regulating emotions and behaviour
- Exceptional achievement or advanced intellectual development
A comprehensive assessment includes the evaluation of cognitive ability, academic achievement, and social-emotional functioning.
At Spark, the assessment process includes the following parts:
- A one-hour parent interview to gather background information and discuss your child’s needs
- Two individual appointments with your child to complete assessment activities. These appointments are generally two to three hours each.
- Scoring and interpretation of your child’s assessment work.
- A one-hour feedback meeting with parents to discuss the assessment results.
- A comprehensive written report with recommendations to share with your child’s school, physician, or other professionals.
The results of an assessment help to identify clinical issues including Learning Disabilities, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Anxiety and Mood Disorders. Intellectual Giftedness can also be identified.
Based on a detailed profile of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, personalized strategies and recommendations will be provided. These will help you and your child better understand their unique learning abilities and needs to create a supportive learning plan.
What should I tell my child about having an assessment?
Talk to your child about the assessment process. You can share the appointment schedule, explain that they will miss a short amount of school, and they will be going to meet someone new. Tell your child that they will be doing a variety of activities to find out how they learn, and if there are any areas that they may need some help with at school or home.