Assessments
Our psychologists carry out assessments and provide feedback sessions and reports as standard. If you have any questions, get in touch! The best assessment for your child will be discussed with you in a sensitive and thoughtful way; our psychologists have expertise in assessing learning differences, specific learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia) and neurodiversity.
Educational Assessments
A psycho-educational assessment can help identify the barriers to learning a child may be experiencing and, importantly, inform evidence-based strategies and interventions. An assessment is a process of consultation, observation and direct testing.
Step 1: Parent consultation
The first step of the process is for your psychologist to meet with you to discuss your main concerns and reasons for pursuing an assessment. They will gather background information including details of your child’s early development and educational history. Please use this time to share anything significant that may have impacted on your child’s progress and bring along any relevant reports or past assessments.
Step 2: Teacher consultation
With your consent, the psychologist will contact key professionals in your child’s school, such as the SENCO, class teacher or inclusion teacher; they may also send questionnaires for their completion. The psychologist may suggest a classroom observation if it would assist their understanding of your child.
Step 3: Testing
The tests used will vary depending on the assessment questions, but most psycho-educational evaluations include a cognitive test such as the WISC-V and an academic attainment measure. Additional tests, such as those that measure attention, behaviour, language, sensory processing or social-emotional skills may be included if relevant to your child’s needs. The time taken can vary but typically takes around four hours. Your psychologist may suggest splitting this into two sessions.
Step 4: Feedback and Report
A comprehensive report will be written by your psychologist and discussed with you at a parent feedback meeting. With your consent, your psychologist will arrange a video call with your child’s school to interpret the report and advise them on targets to be included in a support plan. Reports will be written within ten working days.
ADHD Assessments
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a diagnosis given to someone who is being affected by issues in three areas: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
These difficulties an impact on your life for 6 months, in more than one area of your life, and started before you were 12 years old.
Step 1: Questionnaires
The first step of the process is completing a questionnaire. For children and young people, we will also ask their parent/caregiver to complete one, as well as a teacher who knows them well.
This questionnaire asks about different difficulties linked to the three areas of ADHD.
Step 2: Assessment meeting
The next step is to get to know you a bit better.
We will meet with you for around an hour and ask about what is difficult for you, your strengths, and if there is anything important we should know about that might be making you say or do things differently.
It may also be helpful for us to meet with someone who knows you will to gather a wider range of information to help with our assessment.
Step 3: Feedback and Report
After the observations and interviews are completed, we see if ADHD is the best explanation for your difficulties. We will organise a meeting with you a few weeks after the interviews to explain what we have found.
In this meeting, you can ask any questions you want to about what we have said
Even if ADHD isn’t the most helpful explanation for what is difficult for you, we will still offer advice and suggestions of how we think things could get better for you – that’s why we are here!
Step 4: Support
Whether you receive a diagnosis or not, you may benefit from additional support from one of our Psychologists to help you with the difficulties you are experiencing.
In the event that you do get a diagnosis of ADHD, you may also want help coming to terms with the diagnosis and any impact it may have on your life moving forward.
Note: As Psychologists we are not trained to prescribe medication. Following the assessment, if you believe that medication may be helpful, you will need to consult a Psychiatrist to discuss the possibility of a prescription.
Autism Assessments
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis given to an individual with difficulties in a variety of areas, such as social communication, restricted interests and repetitive behaviour. The challenges experiences by those with ASD vary widely, but can usually be seen by the time the child is 2 or 3 years old.
Step 1: Parent consultation
The first step of the process is to speak to the individual's parent/caregiver to help us understand the child's development, such as when they started talking. For adults being assessed, we can also speak to your parents or someone who knew you well when you were young. We may also speak to a teacher who knows the child well, or a friend/colleague for adult assessments.
Step 2: Assessment meeting
For children: During the meeting we will play with some toys and books. We will also want to get to know you a little bit and will talk to you about your interests and your home and school life. There are no right or wrong answers. You might feel a bit nervous to start with, but we hope the appointment will actually be quite fun!
For adults: We use an adult version of the assessment in order to better understand the difficulties you experience and whether you meet criteria for a diagnosis of ASD.
Step 3: Feedback and Report
After the observations and interviews are completed, we see if ASD is the best explanation for your difficulties. We will organise a meeting with you a few weeks after the interviews to explain what we have found.
In this meeting, you can ask any questions you want to about what we have said.
Even if ASD isn’t the most helpful explanation for what is difficult for you, we will still offer advice and suggestions of how we think things could get better for you – that’s why we are here!
Step 4: Support
Whether you receive a diagnosis or not, you may benefit from additional support from one of our Psychologists to help you with the difficulties you are experiencing.
In the event that you do get a diagnosis of ASD, you may also want help coming to terms with the diagnosis and any impact it may have on your life moving forward.
Useful Definitions
Dyslexia
There is no universally accepted definition of dyslexia. Within the field of education in the UK, the most commonly used definitions are those published by the British Psychological Society (1999) and the Rose Report (2009). In the UAE, the DSM-5 definition of Specific Learning Disorder (with impairment in reading, written expression and/or mathematics) is also referred to.
Many Psychologists use the definition from The British Psychological Society (BPS):
Dyslexia is evident when accurate and fluent word reading and/or spelling develops very incompletely or with great difficulty. This focuses on literacy learning at the ‘word level’ and implies that the problem is severe and persistent despite appropriate learning opportunities. It provides the basis for a staged process of assessment through teaching.
The British Dyslexia Association (BDA) uses the definition from the Rose Report:
Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed. Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points. Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia. A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well-founded intervention
Although they are different, the definitions share two main areas of overlap, suggesting some agreement that dyslexia is linked to:
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The development of ‘accurate and fluent word reading and spelling’.
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An individual’s response to ‘appropriate learning opportunities’ or ‘well-founded intervention’.
To this end, we would strongly encourage all families to first have a meeting with your child’s class teacher and an inclusion specialist from their school (such as the SENCO or Inclusion Teacher) if you have concerns about their literacy, numeracy or academic progress.
If your child attends a private school in Dubai, you will find it helpful to familiarise yourself with the following documents written by the KHDA:
KHDA Implementing Inclusive Education