How to get the most from a psycho-educational assessment
Has your child’s teacher suggested that they need a psycho-educational assessment? This often comes as a rather nasty surprise to most parents. It’s what economists call a grudge purchase. Not something you get because you really want it but because you feel you have to. Here are some tips to help you get the most […]
School readiness: The importance of emotional maturity
School readiness depends as much on emotional maturity as it does on scholastic ability. In order to be deemed cognitively school ready, children need to achieve a test age of 6 years 3 months on school readiness assessments. Yet, I have assessed many children who have scored much higher than this and still recommended that […]
The great Ritalin debate
Ritalin – friend or foe? I am often asked to give my opinion on the use of Ritalin (and it’s counterparts) in the treatment of children with ADD or ADHD. The question usually comes from parents whose children have recently been diagnosed, confused by the multitude of conflicting reports and opinions on the subject. Truthfully, […]
Tips for passing the school readiness assessment
Tips for passing the school readiness assessment Now, of course I won’t be giving you tips on how to help your child cheat on the school readiness assessment, as that would be unethical and would completely defeat the object of the assessment. But many of the school readiness assessments standardised for use in South Africa […]
How is ADHD diagnosed?
How is ADHD diagnosed? The majority of my referrals come from teachers, suspecting that a child in their class suffers from ADHD / ADD. And although teachers are not qualified to make this diagnosis, I have to honestly admit that 90% of the time they are right on the money. So, heed the teacher’s call. […]
The difference between Clinical, Counselling and Educational Psychology
The difference between Clinical, Counselling, and Educational Psychology: For most parents, finding a psychologist to send their child to is a pretty daunting task. This is often complicated even further by the lack of knowledge around the different disciplines and the apparent cross over between the services offered by each. Who does what? And how […]
Intelligence tests for infants
Intelligence Tests Intelligence testing is still a hotly debated issue, particularly for infants and young children. Although there are scales that are now considered infant IQ tests, such as the Brazelton Neonatal Scale and Bayley Scales for infant development, these have very little stability over time. Thus, a high score on one of these tests […]
What exactly is tested during Psycho-Educational Assessments?
Educational Assessments Assessments vary greatly depending on the age and socio-cultural background of each child, as well as the reason for the assessment. Generally four types of assessments are done, these include: school readiness assessments, assessments to ascertain whether learning difficulties are present, subject choice assessments and career choice assessments. The first step in all […]
