Is your child struggling at school despite working hard?
Perhaps reading, writing, or math seems much harder for your child than it should. Maybe your child is bright but has difficulty keeping up with classroom expectations, completing assignments, or demonstrating what they know.
A psychoeducational assessment can help answer the important question:
Why is my child struggling, and what can we do to help?
At Gladiola Psychology Center, psychoeducational assessments provide a comprehensive understanding of your child’s cognitive and academic functioning, learning strengths, and areas of difficulty.
When Might a Psychoeducational Assessment Be Helpful?
Parents often consider an assessment when their child:
- Is falling behind academically
- Struggles with reading or spelling
- Has difficulty understanding what they read
- Has difficulty expressing ideas in writing
- Struggles with mathematics
- Takes much longer than expected to complete schoolwork
- Requires significant help with homework
- Has difficulty remembering information
- Has difficulty following multi-step instructions
- Appears bright but is not achieving at their expected level
- Has uneven academic skills
- Becomes frustrated or avoids schoolwork
- Needs clarification about appropriate school accommodations
- Has received additional school support but continues to struggle
When appropriate, we consider whether factors such as anxiety, mood, attention, or emotional regulation may be affecting academic performance.
Additional areas may be examined when relevant, such as:
- Working memory
- Processing speed
- Phonological processing
- Attention
- Executive functioning
- Memory
What Can a Psychoeducational Assessment Tell You?
An assessment can help clarify:
- Your child’s learning strengths
- Areas of academic difficulty
- How your child processes information
- Why particular subjects may be challenging
- Whether a learning disability may be present
- Whether attention or executive functioning is affecting learning
- Whether cognitive abilities are consistent with academic performance
- What supports may help your child learn more effectively
Importantly, assessment findings are interpreted as a pattern of strengths and weaknesses rather than as isolated test scores.
A psychoeducational assessment can provide important information when there are concerns about a possible learning disability. Learning disabilities can affect areas such as:
- Reading
- Written Expressions
- Spelling
- Mathematics
The assessment helps determine whether a child’s pattern of cognitive and academic functioning is consistent with a learning disability and provides information that can guide educational planning.
What does an assessment include?
Your assessment includes:
- Parent interview
- Review of developmental and school history
- Standardized cognitive and academic assessment
- Additional measures based on the referral question
- Detailed written report
- Parent feedback session
- Individualized recommendations for home and school
The goal is not simply to identify a problem. The goal is to understand how your child learns and determine what will help them succeed.
Recommendations for School
One of the most valuable parts of a psychoeducational assessment is translating the findings into practical recommendations.
Recommendations may address:
- Classroom instruction
- Reading and writing support
- Mathematics instruction
- Assignment completion
- Testing accommodations
- Organization
- Note-taking
- Use of technology
- Extra time
- Breaking assignments into smaller steps
- Visual supports
- Executive-functioning strategies
Recommendations are individualized and based on your child’s specific profile.