At Smith-Burke Psychology we offer comprehensive psychoeducational assessments for children, youth, and young adults. In addition to English services, we offer bilingual (French/English) assessments for students attending Francophone schools and French Immersion programs. In addition to Nova Scotia families, we offer psychoeducational assessment services to families traveling from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.
A psychoeducational assessment is usually recommended when a student is experiencing some kind of challenge at school. There are many different reasons why a student may be having a hard time at school, including learning challenges, unidentified giftedness, attentional and/or behavioral challenges, or social/emotional difficulties.
A psychoeducational assessment is a thorough process of information gathering. The goal of the assessment is to better understand and improve a client’s functioning in some way, typically in the school setting. By gathering information from multiple sources the psychologist is able to evaluate a client’s strengths and challenges with regard to learning and academic skills as well as social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. They also identify barriers to success and offer detailed personalized recommendations to support their client in achieving their potential at school and beyond.
An assessment can identify a learning disorder, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), giftedness, an intellectual disability, as well as other social, emotional, behavioral, or psychological issues. However, the most important result of an assessment is the recommendations provided to support and improve the student’s functioning.
The initial appointment is attended by the client’s parent(s)/guardian(s) (or the adult client). The purpose of the intake interview is to review the reason for referral and current concerns, as well as relevant background information, such as early developmental and medical history, family history, learning, and behavioral history, etc. Intake interviews can be conducted in person or virtually.
Testing typically occurs during two separate sessions or, for older or out-of-province clients, over the course of one full day. During testing sessions, the client completes various activities (i.e., tests) that evaluate their functioning in various domains including thinking and reasoning abilities (i.e., cognitive abilities) and academic skills.
As part of the assessment process, the psychologist will gather and review information from various sources. This includes conducting a detailed review of the client’s cumulative school records and gathering information from teachers via standardized questionnaires and interviews (i.e., classroom teacher, resource/learning center teachers, previous teachers, etc.). Interviews may also be conducted with other professionals as required (e.g., speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, pediatrician, etc.)
When the assessment is complete, the psychologist meets with the client’s parent(s)/guardian(s) and/or the client to review the assessment results and recommendations. Feedback sessions can be conducted either in person or virtually.
Following the feedback session, clients are provided with a comprehensive assessment report, that details the assessment process, results, and recommendations.
A virtual meeting is held with the client’s school to review the assessment results and recommendations and develop a plan to implement recommendations in the school setting. Typically attending would be the parent(s)/guardian(s), the psychologist, the client’s teacher(s), a school administrator, and support teacher(s) (e.g., resource teacher, learning center teacher, guidance counselor, etc.).