During assessment I try to understand why your child is having difficulty, and I will need to learn as much about his/her daily life as I can.
Discussion on the phone will give me some information but this may not be enough to indicate assessment, or for you to decide to book an appointment.
I can offer an initial appointment to discuss your child and your concerns fully (without your child being present). At this stage I would ask you questions about your child's development and his/her reactions to every day life. This will help to determine whether assessment would be useful.
Once you have decided you do want me to assess your child I can offer both formal and informal assessment situations. I usually like to do a combination of both.
I prefer parents to be present through out. If you have had an initial interview the price of that will be deducted from the assessment fee.
During assessment I may use non-directive play situations to gain an insight into how your child responds to sensory input, how he/she processes and interprets sensory information in order to plan and organise movements and co-ordination. This is particularly appropriate for children who have another label or diagnosis, or who are immature or very young.
I also use a combination of standardised and non-standardised assessments to identify specific areas of difficulty in relation to sensory reaction and processing, motor co-ordination and visual perceptual development. This is appropriate for those children for whom dyspraxia or sensory integrative dysfunction is the main area of difficulty.
After this I will spend time with you to discuss my results, offer you advice and maybe recommend therapy. Usually your child would not be present at the feedback session unless you particularly requested.
You will also receive a written report.
I am able to administer all of the following assessments. Standardised assessment tends to be quite formal but it is not the only way for me to assess your child
I will select those assessments I feel most appropriate, but will be guided by your preferences. I would usually do some, but not all of these listed. Standardised tests compare a child's performance with that of other children the same age. They are helpful in identifying specific strengths and weakness.
All children will have clinical observations made of their movement and co-ordination abilities, the way they react to and process sensory information and their neurobehavioural development.
There are times when formal assessment is not appropriate for a child and I would then use the therapy room to explore her/his abilities and difficulties.
Please note that the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test will be priced separately because of the length of time needed to both administer and to score this assessment. If I were to do the SIPT I would not do the others tests.
1. Miller Assessment of Pre-Schoolers (MAP)
Author: Lucy J. Miller
Published: 1988
Standardisation: 1,204 children (USA)
Age range: 2yrs 9mths-5yrs 8mths (in 5-month age bands)
Description: Areas assessed include basic motor tasks, awareness of sensation including balance, gross, fine and oral-motor skills, memory, sequencing, comprehension, association and expression, visual-spatial perception.
Approximate administration time: 30 minutes
2. Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC)
Author: S. Henderson & D. Sugden
Published: 1992
Standardisation: 600 (UK & Canada)
Age range: 4-12 years (in 2year age bands)
Description: movement ability, manual dexterity, ball skills and balance.
Approximate administration time: 30 minutes
3. Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (Non-Motor) -Revised (TVPS-R)
Author: M. Gardner
Published:
Standardisation: 1,000 children (USA)
Age range: 4-13 years
Description: 7 sub-tests assessing visual discrimination, visual memory, form constancy, visual sequential memory, figure-ground and visual closure.
Administration time: 20 minutes
4. Test of Visual-Motor Skills (TVMS-R)
Author: M. Gardner
Published: 1995
Standardisation: 1,500 children (USA)
Age range: 3-13 years
Description: eye-hand co-ordination, how well a child can translate with her/his hand what her/his eye perceives.
Administration time: 10 minutes
5. Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT)
Author: A.J. Ayres
Published: 1989
Standardisation: 2,000 children (USA)
Age range: 4yrs -8yrs 11 mths (may be used with the older child to describe difficulties)
Description: measures the sensory integration processes underlying learning and behaviour, how children organise and respond to sensory input, visual, tactile, kinaesthetic perception and motor performance
Approximate administration time: 2 hours (often over two sessions)
Scoring: this test has to be scored by Western Psychological Services either by post or computer disk.