Educational, cognitive, and neuropsychological assessment

Child Cognitive Assessment in Melbourne – Testing for ADHD, Dyslexia and more

 

Our assessments are fun, interactive and engaging for children and teenagers. They provide insight into your child’s strengths and challenges and give recommendations for school and home. A cognitive assessment forms part of an assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD. Assessments also help to identify Dyslexia and other reading and writing disorders, ADHD, and memory difficulties. We can also help work out whether anxiety is playing a role in your child’s learning.

Clinical Neuropsychologists help you to understand the relationship between your child’s brain development, thinking skills and behaviour. Our assessments identify cognitive strengths and difficulties to assist with learning, social skills and developing study and vocational pathways.

We can also help with therapy sessions for ASD, learning difficulties, social skills and executive functioning difficulties. We can work with your child’s teachers to develop an individualised learning plan and put recommendations into place.

Common concerns that benefit from a cognitive test include:

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Learning Difficulties

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Language Disorders

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Developmental Delay

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Acquired Injuries and Conditions

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Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD

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Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Metabolic Conditions and Genetic Conditions

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Giftedness

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Readiness for School

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Differentiating anxiety and other mental health conditions

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FAQs for Cognitive Assessments

What is a cognitive assessment?

Cognitive means thoughts or our thinking processes. A cognitive assessment is sometimes called an educational assessment, a learning assessment or a neuropsychological assessment. They measure a child’s strengths and difficulties in:

  • language
  • memory
  • visual and spatial reasoning
  • attention
  • executive functioning

They are called different names because they answer different questions. We can assess for Specific Learning disorders in Reading, Written Expression, or Mathematics (these used to be called Dyslexia and Dyscalculia). Or you might be interested to assess if difficulties with attention might be part of an ADHD diagnosis. It can be helpful to assess cognition following a brain injury or in a developmental condition. We can also assess if anxiety is causing problems with test taking. Please note that Psychologists do not prescribe medication and we recommend talking with a GP, Paediatrician or Child Psychiatrist. 

 

Who provides a cognitive assessment?

Our Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychologists have extensive knowledge regarding brain development. They assess cognitive skills and help adapt the environment to support your child’s learning. Neuropsychologists assess learning disorders, the impact of brain injury and the effects of a developmental condition. Our team are amazing at helping teachers put recommendations in place at school and home. They work with the school teacher and can offer school visits and meetings to help with Individualised Learning Plans.

 

Would my child benefit from a cognitive assessment?

Is your child struggling with learning? Have they had an injury or been diagnosed with a developmental condition? Are they anxious or having difficulties with planning, organising, and memory? An assessment can assist with diagnosis, supporting recommendations and designing an academic curriculum to help your child.

 

What happens during an assessment?

The assessment has three parts:

  1. We meet with you to ask questions about your child’s developmental history and we might ask you and your child’s teacher to complete some questionnaires.
  2. Your child will complete lots of tasks that assess their thinking skills. These are fun and engaging and many of them are on iPads.
  3. You will meet with us to receive the results of your child’s assessment and we will provide you with a comprehensive report. We provide recommendations and can talk with school teachers and schools to help your child achieve their best.

 

Which assessment will be best for my child?

We have two levels of assessment: Level One ( intelligence assessment with WPPSI, WISC or WAIS, academic achievement with WIAT III and additional tests for exploring learning difficulties) and Level Two: all Level One testing as well as testing of memory, attention, executive functioning and more. All assessments include:

  • a report
  • recommendations
  • liaison with the school and other health professionals
  • feedback session
  • You can also arrange for ongoing sessions to help implement recommendations if needed.

 

What’s the next step?

Please phone reception for a discussion about your needs. You can also contact our Paediatric Clinical Neuropsychologists via email: info@melbourneccpsychology.com.au

child cognitive assessment melbourne