Assessments at ATOC

A consultation is the first step to obtaining an opinion on your child and follows an initial enquiry from the parent. The director will determine which professional at ATOC should see your child and may be in touch with you for further information following the initial contact. Some children however need a formal assessment at the outset and will be referred for a standardized assessment - see below.

Why have a formal assessment.

If your child is struggling and you suspect a pattern of difficulties, rather than an isolated instance, speak first with your child's teacher and other school authorities about your concerns. Also, have your child's hearing and vision tested (by your pediatrician, and an audiologist or ophthalmologist).

An Educational Assessment on your child looks for a discrepancy between his IQ (intelligence, as determined by standardized tests) and his achievement in the classroom. If a discrepancy is not found, your child does not require specific learning support. You can however, check into remedial or general academic help if you are still concerned about his progress.

If there are general developmental concerns in the areas of language and/or performance then your child should be tested by the Speech and Language Pathologist and the Occupational Therapist to look at reasons for the under performance.

The Specialists:

The Educational Psychologist : is a fully certified and licensed educational psychologist. She Administers and interprets psychological and educational tests; helps with learning issues and resulting behavioral issues. Will be involved in School placements or in the decision making process of modified curriculums, additional resources, assistant support exam concessions and in looking at school requests to place a child outside of their year group.

The Speech and language therapist : Works with children with Language disorders in developing Language (understanding and expression), articulation, voice fluency, oral motor ability and communication through other means. She is able to look at children who are underperforming in their language and determine if it is a language weakness, a general delay or a specific language disorder. Experience in working with bilingual children determines the additional factors of a bilingual or trilingual environment.

The School Occupational Therapist: is an Occupational Therapist who has worked in the School system and looks at physical, emotional and sensory factors which can affect school performance. She also look at adaptive functioning and social and play skills and compares them to what is developmentally appropriate for an age group. She is dual trained in both physical and mental health and will look at the range of factors impeding School performance.

The Educational consultant : This is a trained teacher who has worked with children with learning difficulties. This fully qualified teacher has been working in mainstream education and has years of experience of working in the classroom therefore having a good idea of the expected

‘ATOC has a policy of only assessing the child when they are ready.’

There are two types of assessments at ATOC these include:

• Functional Assessment – An ongoing assessment of your child while the child is on a programme. Good record keeping, careful observations and an experienced practitioner will look at the child’s rate of progress, the skills and learning targets achieved and the child’s performance compared to that expected within an International Curriculum. An initial screening will be required to place your child on the programme and within the first two weeks a decision will be made on the placement and any change will happen at this time. Feedback is given to the parent on a regular basis through a link book system.
• Standardized Assessments – This means that the procedures, materials and scoring are the same and that all people giving the test use exactly the same materials presented in the same order on every occasion with a set verbal and or written instruction and within the same time limits. ATOC has a range of specialist assessments purchased overseas used by the Educational Psychologist, The Occupational Therapist, The Speech Therapist and the Teaching Consultant.

‘ATOC takes an approach to testing that is based on International standards and professional ethics.’

We use experienced assessors who not only test but who can make a professional opinion based on the test results and will take into account factors influencing performance on the tests. The experience of the practioner is critical to giving reliable information to parents and schools. The information gained from the assessment is extremely useful in the management of the child at home, at school and in any intervention plan.

Our professional ethics require that we only share information gained at the time of the assessment when the parents have signed a release form allowing us to discuss the findings. Many schools that refer parents to us have a policy of involving the parent from the onset of their concerns and have discussed fully with the parents their reason for requesting an assessment, usually in this situation there is a commitment by all parties to sharing information. Parents who wish to have an Independent assessment of their child have a right to privacy.

In order to get your child assessed you will need to follow the referral process and indicate clearly on the referral form your reasons for requiring an assessment. If your child is experiencing difficulty at school we have a school information form where the teacher can provide us with information on their concerns. Some schools recommend that a classroom observation is made and request help in making direct recommendations to the teacher based on the observations made and our other findings.

Common Questions For Parents

Why should I get my child tested?

Testing gives information on your child’s specific difficulties and tells us where your child is compared to their peers. It provides an opportunity to generate a wide range of support that is targeted not only to the weak areas but also to utilize the child’s abilities to develop their confidence in the learning environment.

In some cases it indicates that your child is at a level appropriate for their age and this can be both reassuring to a parent and also enables the specialist to look at other factors that may be affecting the child’s performance in the school or home situation and the adult’s expectations of the child.

In order to get your child help some insurance policies require a formal assessment of your child’s needs.

‘Assessments provide good baselines for which to base the goals for the intervention’.

What should I say to my child?

Experience has shown us that children are usually aware that their parent has some concerns or the child themselves feels they are not doing well. The best approach is to inform your child that they will be seeing for example Alison at ATOC and they will be working with her on Thursday morning. An older child may ask for more details and then you can explain that they will have to do some of the things that they do in school and then the person will meet with Mum and Dad to talk about how they did.

I am worried that my child is not ready for testing?

This is one of the first things that the examiner is looking at and the testing is only continued if appropriate, the parent will be kept informed at all times. Most children who have started at school are used to being requested to perform for their teacher. In younger children the tests are designed to be child friendly and the experienced examiner will start by putting the child at ease. The child can takes breaks as required and in some cases they are required to come back to complete the testing on another day.

Usually your child is seen for consultation prior to testing to ensure that a) they are test ready and b) that testing is appropriate at this time.

In younger children we initially prefer to observe them in a natural setting and then test when they are able to comply with an adult’s instructions. Parents are informed of the observations made and the recommendations of the specialist. You will be advised fully at the time of the initial contact.