Learning Disability Assessment
Our child psychologists excel at pinpointing the precise reasons behind a child’s academic challenges. This expertise enables us to offer effective recommendations to parents and teachers for addressing and remediating specific learning disorders and implementing necessary accommodations within the school environment.
A learning disability or specific learning disorder implies that a child or teenager possesses the same cognitive potential as their peers of the same age. However, their unique neurological wiring leads to a different learning process.
Although they are just as intellectually capable, these individuals face challenges in areas like reading, writing, and mathematical reasoning due to their unique learning styles. Without timely identification and support, children with learning disabilities may struggle to reach their full academic potential. Therefore, early detection through a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment is vital to minimize the need for extensive remediation or catch-up efforts.
Our process for a Learning Disabilities Assessment in Calgary involves the following stages:
Initial Assessment Consultation
PARENTS ONLY
(IN PERSON or VIRTUAL)
We initiate a 1-hour intake meeting exclusively with parents. During this session, we delve into the specific challenges both you and your child are encountering and gather pertinent historical information.
School Observation or Teacher Consult
Following the initial meeting, our next step in the assessment process involves observing your child in a naturalistic setting, such as their school or daycare. This allows us to gain valuable insights into their behavior and learning patterns in a familiar environment. Whenever possible, we schedule this observation before commencing in-office assessment sessions with your child. In cases where a school observation isn't feasible, we can also gather relevant third-party information through a consultation with their teacher. This helps us identify where these struggles occur in the learning process, enabling the accurate and effective design of remedial techniques and accommodations tailored to your child's needs. Isolating areas of weakness and treatment is crucial in enhancing the chances of your child achieving grade-level expectations.
Standardized Checklists & Document Review
We request report cards from the past three academic years, along with any previous school records, such as behavioral support plans, Individual Program Plans, or assessments conducted by allied health professionals. With parental consent, our psychologists may also distribute standardized checklists to significant third parties, such as teachers, in addition to parents.
Standardized Testing
CHILD ONLY
(IN PERSON)
The face-to-face testing portion of the assessment incorporates several standardized testing measures with the child only. This process is typically arranged in three 2-hour appointments (totaling 6 hours), however, that is dependent on the age and needs of your child.
Parent Feedback Meeting
The final appointment is a 1.5-hour feedback meeting with parents only in which the parents sit down with the psychologist and discuss the important findings from the assessment process. Any clinical diagnoses, as well as strategies and resources for moving forward, will be discussed. Often, parents will ask if we can also provide feedback meetings to school personnel, such as teachers and learning strategists.
Comprehensive Psychological Report
Our psychological reports stand out from the rest. They are detailed and thorough, and assist parents, schools, and doctors/pediatricians understand the root of issues through a new lens. The psychological report comprehensively summarizes all findings, results, and recommendations. This formal document is shared with parents who then typically share it with allied professionals. There is a flat rate of 6 hours for report writing.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Academic learning challenges can be assessed and identified as early as kindergarten, though more frequently, children are identified in grade one or two as requiring a psychoeducational assessment into learning. As soon as a learning disorder is suspected, it should be assessed to provide for early intervention if required.
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Learning Disabilities are identified through a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment that investigates cognitive functioning and academic achievement with a particular focus on literacy skills (sight word reading, decoding, reading comprehension, reading fluency and phonological processing skills), mathematics (the calculation of math facts and math problem solving), and written expression (spelling, organization, development, semantics and mechanics of written work). Learning Disability assessments also involve the testing of fine-motor skills, visual-motor integration, executive functioning, attention, and any social emotional factors that might be contributing to learning challenges (e.g., anxiety or perfectionism).