Comprehensive Educational & Mental Health Assessment

This assessment is offered by Leanne Cowan, an experienced Clinical Psychologist who specialises in complex child psychology assessments. Our assessments explore all aspects of a child, and can identify specific learning disorders, ADHD as well as any other educational, emotional and behavioural differences. Children who have an opportunity to have this assessment will be having a unique complex clinical psychology and educational psychology assessment simultaneously.

All of our psychological assessment begins with an initial session where we discuss your concerns about your child and think together to consider whether formal assessment is required. We offer comprehensive assessments of educational functioning and underlying issues that may be preventing your child from achieving their potential. These assessments include understanding what might be contributing to lack of motivation, challenging behaviour, a lack of confidence, anxiety or low mood and includes assessing for learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, as well as differences in thinking and focusing, such as ADHD. This is a thorough assessment and may involve input from parents, liaison with schools and formal testing. Parents are consulted before any information is requested from or shared with third parties.

A comprehensive assessment would identify and offer advice for supporting emotional and behavioural difficulties, slower academic progress, social problems, relationship challenges, developmental differences, mental health issues, learning differences and specific differences such as ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism.

Our psychologists help your child to feel at ease and children and teenagers tend to enjoy the assessments. Upon completion, a full psychological assessment report is compiled with details about your child’s strengths and challenges, and with suggestions and recommendations for supporting your child to reach their emotional, social and academic potential.

Comprehensive Psychological Assessment includes all of the following:

  • Questionnaires

Detailed screening questionnaires are sent to parents to complete, and includes questionnaires for you to send to your child’s teachers regarding their progress, learning, engagement and behaviour.

  • Meeting with Parents only

This is an initial discussion with the psychologist to get a better understanding of your child’s academic, social and emotional strengths and concerns. This will focus on your child’s developmental history and any support they have received. We will also look at school reports, any previous assessment reports and discuss how best to understand and support them.

  • School Observation

If needed, this is completed prior to the psychologist meeting with your child. . This is usually suggested where there may be concerns about a child’s concentration or socialising, and observation in a busier environment helps to complete the overall picture of what might be getting in the way of your child’s learning or engagement with others. There is an extra cost if this is required.

  • Cognitive Assessment

This is a formal standardised cognitive assessment. This will provide the psychologist with an understanding of your child’s verbal comprehension, perceptual skills, fluid reasoning, working memory, attention and concentration, and processing speed. These scores provide the psychologist with a cognitive profile in the areas assessed. This assessment is also called an intelligence test and provides a Full Scale IQ score. The results of this assessment will give you an idea of your child’s learning strengths and challenges, as well as provide an understanding of what is getting in the way of them achieving their potential. Recommendations can then be made on how to support your child to attain the best that they can. Understanding their approach to their schoolwork, their ability to manage their work and their relative strengths and weaknesses are key to providing them with appropriate support and helping to kindle the development of self-confidence.

  • Educational Assessment

A standardised assessment of literacy, numeracy and mathematical ability. We are not only interested in the scores that your child obtains but also how they approach tasks and engage with them.

Assessed areas include:

    • Reading
    • Reading Accuracy
    • Reading Speed
    • Blending Skills
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Spelling
    • Writing Skills
    • Mental Maths
    • Written Maths
    • Attention and Concentration

While we are not looking to diagnose your child with any conditions, if it is applicable, we will diagnose dyslexia, dysgraphia or other learning or emotional differences.

  • ADHD Assessment

    This is a thorough assessment completed in accordance with all relevant NICE guidelines and the professionalism fitting of an experienced Clinical Psychologist. We do not offer stand alone ADHD assessments as we believe that it is important to differentiate ADHD from other factors that may impact impulsivity and concentration. We do not assess for ADHD in isolation but rather make this diagnosis based on all the information gathered during this assessment and information from parents, teachers, the young person and objective measures such as the QB Check.

  • Emotional Wellbeing Assessment

This assessment of emotional functioning includes obtaining an understanding of the nature of emotional, social or behavioural challenges that your child may be experiencing. As part of this, we talk to the child or teenager being assessed to get an idea of what they find easy or difficult, their preferred learning styles and their perception of themselves and their strengths as well as a detailed understanding of their emotional and perceived social functioning or difficulties. This part of the assessment provides a greater understanding of factors that may be contributing to uncontrollable emotions or challenging behaviour, and facilitates recommendations and strategies for supporting you and your child.

  • Feedback Meeting with Parents

This is a second meeting with parents to discuss the results of the assessment and recommendations in detail.

  • Comprehensive Report

A detailed report of all the results and specific recommendations for your child, with a view to obtaining appropriate support and strategies to support your child to reach their potential. This report includes details about your child’s strengths and difficulties, strategies for supporting learning and motivation, strategies to manage their emotions and/or behaviour both in and outside the classroom, identification of ADHD, learning difficulties, dyslexia or giftedness, and identifying additional support or special considerations that a student might need in class or for exams.

Please use the contact form or call us to enquire about fees, or for further information