|
When most people think about child psychological assessments they
think about IQ testing or educational assessments. While
intellectual and educational ability assessments are frequently
requested, psychological test results can help children,
parents, and educators in many other ways.
At CPAC
our approach to child psychological assessment falls within one of
four broad categories:
- Developmental Assessments
-
Clinical/diagnostic Assessment
- Educational and Intellectual
Ability Assessment
- Behavioural
Assessment
 |
DEVELOPMENTAL
ASSESSMENT
As the term suggests, developmental assessment is focused on
collecting information about children's developmental functioning.
This may be relevant because of suspected developmental delay or in determining whether a
child is ready for school entry. In other cases, such as suspected ADHD or Autism Spectrum Disorders, the first step is always
to screen for possible developmental delay. For example,
specific or global developmental delay may have similar symptoms
to ADHD or Autism, but it is important to distinguish the
two.
Developmental tests identify cognitive
(thinking), physical, social, emotional and self help skills
and associated strengths and weaknesses. When children's
weaknesses are known, appropriate intervention plans
can be designed and implemented. Early recognition of
problematic developmental areas can assist children to
make sure that they reach their full
potential. |
|
CLINICAL / DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENT
Diagnostic assessments
cover a broad range of childhood disorders. These include emotional difficulties (such as childhood
depression, trauma or anxiety), ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Learning and Intellectual Disability and behavioural disorders
.
An important fact about most
psychological diagnoses is that they are NOT definite or
static. A diagnosis is only a way of communication between
professionals about a cluster of symptoms. Minor disagreement
between professionals is common, just like small deviation between
the given diagnoses. A good advice is to always seek
a second opinion and to look for
consistency.
Generally, our assessment process
for diagnostic purposes is somewhat less structured and
more explorative than other assessment approaches. It includes
psychological tests, parent and child interviews and parent
questionnaires. The reason for this exploration is simple; when
parents or other professionals suspect some form of childhood
disorder, it is important to screen for a range of symptoms, not
only for symptoms of the suspected difficulty.
Different psychological disorders often present together and it
is important to explore all options and areas of
functioning.
Our diagnostic
assessment process aims to combine as much information as
possible to evaluate children's functioning. This approach
ensures that we don't rely on clinical judgment or test
results alone, but we use them in
combination.
|
|
EDUCATIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL
ABILITY ASSESSMENT
Educational and intellectual assessment is not the
same as class testing. Stand alone tests, such as the NAPLAN, only
rely on test results, whereas in depth, individual assessments
rely on information from multiple sources. These include
psychological and educational tests, observation during test taking,
interview with the accompanying parent and incorporating other
relevant records, such as medical and teachers' reports. This
process ensures that children receive individual attention and
the results reported are based on the most accurate information
available at the time of the assessment.
Educational
assessment can help children in many ways. In case of learning difficulties , some children perform
poorly on academic tasks, despite average or above average
intelligence. Appropriate assessment can identify the areas of
learning difficulties, such as oral expression, reading skills,
listening comprehension, written expression or mathematical
reasoning. Sound knowledge of these specific areas can help children
by allocating them to the right programs and to tutoring in the
right areas.
In case of giftedness, results from intelligence and
achievement tests can assist in determining advancement to higher
school levels or to extension programs. Often gifted children show
behavioural problems at school, simply because the tasks designed for
their age group are too simple to maintain their attention.
Gifted children benefit from fittingly difficult tasks and may
need special attention from teachers, or even advanced
placement. |
|
BEHAVIOURAL
ASSESSMENT
Behavioural assessment
can help parents of children with diagnosed developmental
disorders, such as developmental delay, intellectual disability or Autism Spectrum Disorders. The aim here is to identify existing strengths
and weaknesses in adaptive functioning. Parents who care for
children with disabilities often feel that they are "left
wondering in the dark" and may struggle finding
ways to help their children. The assessment of adaptive
functioning can help parents shift their focus to areas where
children may need help and to areas where children's strengths
can be further utilised. It is the first step in developing a
program for children with disabilities.
|
|
