We often see brilliant children who aren’t achieving their potential, or who are fantastic at certain things but struggle with others. A psycho-educational assessment provides an in-depth look at a child’s strengths and weaknesses, demonstrating what may be impeding their progress at school, or making learning difficult. A good psycho-educational assessment will provide the tools to address challenges, while using the child’s strengths.

A comprehensive assessment can:

• Help determine the specific problem by looking at many different aspects of thinking and learning.
• Include tips for home and school that will help maximize a child’s potential.
• Provide parents, teachers and the child with appropriate strategies for success.
• Qualify a child for specific accomodations that might be necessary within school or with national testing services in the future (such as the SAT, IB or A-Levels). 

A psycho-educational assessment can be beneficial for everyone, but it can be especially useful if a child is:

• Unexpectedly struggling in school
• Having difficulty learning a particular skill
• Suspected of having a learning disability
• Struggling emotionally or socially
• Looking to qualify for testing accommodations (SAT, IB, or A-Levels)
• Applying to a school that requires a psycho-educational assessment

In order to provide a complete picture, a comprehensive psycho-educational assessment will measure:

• General intelligence (through, for example, an IQ test).
• Specific areas of cognitive strength or weakness, such as visual memory, retrieval fluency, phonemic awareness, long-term memory, and so on.
• Current academic levels,
• Ability to sustain attention
• Behavior
• Social and emotional development

We all have strengths and challenges; discussing this with your child, as well your own strengths and weaknesses prepares them to talk about their own.

Talk to your child about:

• The tasks they will do – such as puzzles and some school tasks like reading and writing.
• Most of the tasks are short and interesting, but some might seem dull.
• Let your child understand that by learning about how his or her mind works, they’ll be able enjoy life and school.

It’s important that your child is comfortable at the assessment, so please make sure that:

• Your child has a good night’s sleep before the assessment, and a good breakfast.
• If your child is taking medication, please be sure that medication is taken on the day of the assessment and is consistent through the assessment process.
• If your child is not feeling well, please call to reschedule the assessment.

On the day of the assessment, your child is welcome to bring drinks, snacks and toys – after all, we want the experience to be comfortable and enjoyable!

Other things to bring:

• Glasses or hearing aids, if your child wears them.
• Copies of recent report cards (if possible).
• Any reports of previous assessments (psychological, occupational therapy, speech and language, important medical).
• Individualized Education Plan (IEP) if your child has one at school.

The parents – and after that, it’s entirely up to them. Following the testing, a report will be written, and a debrief session will take place with the parents, child, and whoever else they choose to invite. It is important that the parents receive both written and verbal feedback so that they have the opportunity to ask questions and to hear directly from our Clinical Psychologists.

The detailed report will cover how the child thinks, learns, behaves, and currently functions – this report (or parts of it*) may be a useful tool for the child’s school, doctor, playgroup, tutor, or any other person involved in the child’s life.

*If this is the case, we are happy to abridge the report to your specifications.

The information goes to no one other than the parents, unless the parents have given permission. We do encourage parents to be as open as possible with the school, and invite the child’s teacher to the debrief so they know how to best address the child. We recommend that you include teachers in this process as the child is best supported in a community. However, it’s entirely up to the parents.

Usually two three-hour sessions. However, as this is an average, we sometimes need to see a child for an additional session to wrap up subtests we have not completed. This is more likely to happen with:

• Very young children (who fatigue easily)
• Older teenagers (who complete longer assessments)
• Those with serious attentional or processing speed difficulties.

Sometimes, however, a third session simply demonstrates the child’s persistence in attempting difficult tasks.

We strongly believe that it empowers the child to know his or her strengths and challenges. That’s why:

• We explain the results and what they mean in child-appropriate terms, emphasizing the child’s strengths and clarifying and normalizing any weaknesses.
• We explain our recommendations to the child.
• On very rare occasions, we may suggest two separate debriefing sessions so that we can discuss issues with parents that may be sensitive for a child to hear about.

The report is finished within 6-8 weeks after all forms have been received and all testing completed, after which parents and the child are invited for a one-hour debrief.

Teachers often appreciate that parents are taking an active role in their child’s success. We work with schools all over Hong Kong, as well as several in China and around Asia, and teachers are very familiar with the forms.

The honest answer to that, is maybe. It can be dangerous to misinterpret a diagnosis due to the cultural differences and misunderstanding of other people, but we believe that a diagnosis should help, not hurt, a child. To ensure this:

• A diagnosis should be provided responsibly.
• Parents should be very careful about whom they share the information with and how others might interpret it.
• We can prepare a report (at the request of the parents) that, without changing numbers or test results, does not include the diagnosis so parents can provide information to those they would prefer not know the diagnosis.

Absolutely. As a parent, you know your child best; your input is vital to an assessment. Not only do you have years of experience with your child, but your child may behave differently during the assessment than at home or at school. An assessment can only take a snapshot of your child at one moment in time. Some children are on their ‘best behavior’ while others are very shy or act out because they are excited. Your input, and if possible the input of teachers, helps us get a much richer and more detailed account of the child’s typical performance.

Having several observers from different areas of expertise means our diagnosis and recommendations are not limited to just one person’s opinion or specialty. This ensures that we are thorough, multi-systemic and objective.

If you are concerned that your child may be on the Autism Spectrum, please let our administrator know. We’ll modify the assessment to include a more targeted measure of Autism and language.

For most children, our psycho-educational assessment is more than enough. For others, a more in-depth language assessment, occupational therapy assessment or follow-up testing through another professional (for example an ophthalmologist) may be recommended.

We usually recommend a re-assessment every two to three years. It’s a good measure to check-in on your child’s progress and understand the effects of the treatment plan and intervention recommendations provided. Testing services such as the College Board also look for a history of testing every three years. In order to get accommodations for high school entry, the testing must be recent. Some parents who are particularly concerned about academic progress ask to repeat only the academic portions of the testing every 18 months with a full assessment every three years.

We want you to feel comfortable with the assessment, so if you have more questions, schedule a one hour pre-assessment interview. You are not obligated to continue the assessment process, but pay only for one clinical hour. If you decide to continue, the amount you paid at the pre-assessment is deducted from the cost of the assessment. To schedule a pre-assessment interview, please call (+852) 2869-1962.

一個全面的心理智力評估可深入了解一個人的長處和短處。對於一些人來說，一些特細微的弱點可能會阻礙他們的學習進度。 一個好的心理智力評估應包括如何利用他／她的長處來幫助他／她的一些短處。

有些情況下，父母和老師們都不明白為何一個學生對某些事情很專注，但對別事情卻有困難。一個全面的評估會透過不同角度的觀察和思考去確定問題所在。將更會提供家裏和學校的意見，有助發揮他／她們的潛能，或短處得以改善。

*我們經常看到孩子出現學習困難，這只是他們的潛力沒有充份地發揮。這也是一個進行評估的原因。

報告的知料是很全面，評估對任何人都有好處。很多人做評估只想找出自己或孩子的長處和短處，也有些是因他們所申請的學校需要。

不過，雖然評估報告內容對所有人都有好處，但若果孩子持續地在學習上出現困難，或對某個科目出現困難的話，做評估可讓家長和老師進一步了解他/她的需要， 以便日後學校跟進和有時候可以在一些測驗上得到適合的幫助。（如SAT ， IB或A-級別） 。

一個全面的心理智力評估應包括一般智力，認知能力， 學習水平，行為和情緒的測驗。該評估包括觀察，測驗和諮詢。測驗包括書寫，拼圖，遊戲，問卷調查，電腦，和聽力測試。

評估將包括一般智力（例如，IQ測試），但也是特定的認知功能，如視覺記憶，語音意識，長期記憶，等等。也應該包括學習水平，專注力，行為和情緒的測驗試因以上所有是有關連的，所以如測驗一樣而不測另外一樣的話會給具誤導性或不完整的畫面。如需測驗的名單可點擊此處。

向孩子解釋，每個人都有長處和短處，而且了解自已的長處和短處是很重要的。你可以用自己作例子。（例如：你可能會說：“我的聽力是很好的，但我的視覺記憶卻很差。”）告訴他或她會做一些拼圖、積木和一些課堂上的作業，閱讀和寫作。大部分的測驗是短而有趣的，但有些可能會比較悶。讓你的孩子明白尋找適合他／她的學習放法也是很重要的，這樣他或她可享受學校生活。

評估的前一晚最重要的是孩子有充份休息，和豐富的早餐。如果孩子需要服藥的話，評估當日需服用上學時的服用劑量。如孩子不舒服或發燒，請重新安排新的時間。

我們想孩子有個舒適和愉快時間，他或她可以帶喜歡的飲品， 零食和玩具 。

如孩子需要佩帶眼鏡或助聽器，評估當日請佩帶。如有心理治療，職業治療，言語、語言治療，醫療報告或如果孩子在學校有個別教育計劃（IEP ） ，請一同帶報告來。

報告完成後，我們跟家長和孩子（和他們邀請的人）聽取報告，會解釋和討論的測試結果。 這份詳細報告會關於孩子的學習，行為，及現在的學習能力。如家長認為這將對孩子的學業，遊戲小組或補習有幫助的話， 可將報告交給他們。，這入報告給誰完全取決於父母 。 *這報告完全是家長的， 可隨意運用 。

* 如有需要，我們可以簡短報告去迎合學校的需要。

不，除非家長要求，我們不會將報告給其他人的。 （參照上面的答案。 ）

當然，我們鼓勵家長盡可能跟學校溝通多一點，這樣學校才知道孩子的需要。我們也鼓勵家長邀請老師一同聽取報告，但是這完全是父母的決定 。

評估通常是兩天每天三個小時。但由於這只是大約時間，每個孩子需要的時間都不同，我們可能需要孩子回來多一遍去完成測驗。這大機會發生在非常年幼的兒童（因他們容易疲倦），或青少年（因他們的測驗時間會長一點），或者有嚴重專注力不足或處理速度困難的孩子。有時候第三次見面只是意味著孩子非常執著和試圖完成很多超越他／她年齡的測驗。

我們相信，孩子是需要知道自已的長處和短處的。我們會邀請孩子跟家長一起聽取報告，報告由20頁到40頁不等。我們會用孩子明白的語言去解釋結果，也會強調孩子的長處和平常化任何短處。我們會給孩子解釋建議。在個別情況下，我們會要求孩子不聽取報告，使我們與家長可在孩子不在的情況下討論。如果是這樣的話，我們應和孩子有一個單獨的匯報。

我們會在完成評估或收齊文件後三個星期內完成報告。我們會邀家長和孩子一同聽取報告。

有許多家庭會希望知道孩子是否資優或好奇孩子的長處和弱點而做評估。因此，學校不會太關注，他們都非常熟悉這些問卷的。

老實說“可能吧 ”。所以家長要非常小心跟誰分享和他們如何理解報告的內容。有時候， 因文化差異其他人可能誤解某些確診了而被“標籤”。我們強烈認為，確診應該幫助孩子，不應傷害孩子的。父母可要求我們準備一份不包括確診的報告，使我們只提供一些有用而又可幫助孩子的資料。

你，作為家長，是最清楚孩子的人，你的資料是很重要的。有些孩子在家裏和學校的行為可能會不同。在評估時，有些孩子的會表現出“最佳的狀態”，而另一些則因在新的環境，接觸陌生的人而感到害羞或興奮。評估的幾小時內我們可以看到孩子短時間內的行為。您和教師的（如果可能的話）資料，可以給我們全面理解孩子和平常的表現 。

Dr. Blurton會參與，她會為每一個孩子寫報告。對於測驗，她會依靠擁有特定背景，興趣和有教孩子經驗的團隊。

Dr. Blurton的團隊是業界最專業，有職業道德和能力的人。目前這包括兩位心理學家，一位醫生，一位psychometrician和博士級實習生。

我們每位成員都有專業知識，可從幾個不同角度觀察和提供建議，這不會局限於一個人的觀點和知識而可以確保了我們的客觀性。

如果您擔心孩子可能有自閉症，請告訴我們。我們可以修改評估內容，包括針對自閉症和語言治療的測驗。

我們的評估是相當全面的。如我們發現更多測試會對孩子有利的話，我們會見議孩子做一個更深入的語言評估或職業治療評估，或其他專業人仕（例如：眼科醫生） 。

我們通常建議每兩到三年進行重新評估，有時候， 使用了我們的見議後在三年裡可以改變很多。有些家長特別關注學業的進展可以每十八個月重測學術的部分，一個完整的評估每三年一次。另外，有些大學會需要一份三年內的報告進行入學評估。

如果您有很多問題，可在評估前安排一個會議面談。這個半小時的會議，我們可談論孩子並回答任何問題。完成後你可回家考慮。費用是一小時面談的費用。如果決定進行評估，這費用會在全數扣除。如需安排會議面談請至電2869-1962。