Learn More about Assessments

When should my child be assessed?

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An assessment may be beneficial if your child struggles with:

• Reading, writing, math, or oral language

• Recalling and understanding information

• Paying attention

• Getting along with classmates, teachers, and family members

• Anxiety, nervousness, and/or irritability

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Psychoeducational assessment is used to figure out how people learn, and what kinds of things might get in the way of academic skill acquisition. As a result of an assessment, decisions can be made about how best to support the student.

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Referral questions include:

• Why is my child struggling to learn to read?

• Why is my child struggling in all academic areas?

• My teenager works very hard, but doesn’t seem to be getting grades that reflect this effort. Why?

• Does my child have a Learning Disability?

• What can help my child’s learning?

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What information is gathered?

The types of information gathered include:

• An overview of the student's background based on interviews with parents or the student. This may include information about the students's birth and development, their education history, their medical and health history, and their relationship with other family members.

• Rating scales may look at the student's behaviour, daily living skills, attention, emotions, and social skills.

• Review of student files, including report cards, teacher letters, and other assessments.

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An individual's intelligence, academic skills, cognitive processing abilities, and language abilities are measured through testing. These are standardized and norm-referenced tests. Standardized means that test publishers require very specific instructions that everyone giving the test must follow. In norm-referenced testing, your child's performance is compared with other students her age and/or grade based on statistical information.

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What diagnosis can be made?

Psychologists in Alberta may diagnose a Learning Disability with the LDAC definition and/or a Specific Learning Disorders, using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5). 

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Intellectual Disabilities could be identified instead of LD. Intellectual disabilities, as defined by the DSM-5, require three things:

1. Significant challenges in reasoning, problem solving, abstract thinking, and planning, which is measured using an intelligence test. Intelligence test scores would be lower in a person with an Intellectual Disability as compared to someone with a learning disability.

2. Significant challenges in daily living skills, which include things like communication skills, self-care, managing money, being independent in the community and at home.

3. Evidence that the challenges in numbers 1 and 2 started when the person was a child.

 

Giftedness:
Technically, giftedness is not considered a disability, so it is not a diagnosis. If a parent wonders whether their child is gifted, they may want a psycho-educational assessment.  Giftedness and learning disabilities can coexist.

The definition of giftedness varies from school to school and from organization to organization. In a psychoeducational assessment, giftedness usually requires intelligence test scores in the top 2%. Identifying whether a child is gifted can help determine what kind of educational programming is most appropriate for them.

Other diagnoses that can be made through psychoeducational assessments include:

• ADHD

• Anxiety Disorders

• Depressive/Mood Disorders

• Behavioural Disorders such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder