Get A Custom Intervention Plan
for your child

A Psych-Ed (Psycho Educational Assessment) is a type of assessment done when there are questions about an individual’s performance in an educational setting. A psychologist trained in administering and interpreting the results of standardized assessment will select appropriate measures (tests) to administer to the individual based on the reason for their referral. 

There are several different measures that can be selected, but each one has been carefully designed to assess one particular element of learning, emotion or behaviour. This allows the psychologist to get a clear picture of the individual’s strength and weakness profile. 

After working with the individual, the psychologist compiles the information they have received about the individual as well as the snap shot they took while working with the individual and using their professional judgment as to whether or not the individual meets the diagnostic criteria for a learning disability (LD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and or  giftedness.

The psychologist writes a lengthy report summarizing the information they have collected about the individual, describes the conclusions they have reached about any diagnoses as well as providing suggestions for how to support this individual in the future.

After your child’s Psych-Ed Assessment, you usually get one meeting to discuss the assessment with the psychologist who performed the assessment. If it was done through the school, then the resource teacher may attend the meeting, otherwise they only have access to the report. 

There are some cases where the resource teacher may be familiar with some of the measures used in the assessment, but that doesn’t mean that they have extensive training in what the results mean. The teachers often have large caseloads, meaning they don’t have a large amount of time to dedicate to going through your child’s report. 

It is essential that you, as a parent, take the time to understand the results of your child’s Psych-Ed because you are going to be the consistent member of their IEP team. When you understand your child’s report you can make sure that what the school is doing is actually aligning with what your child needs. It gives you the power to be an informed member of the team instead of the passive parent that assumes the school knows what is best for your child. 

The Recommendations section of a Psych-Ed Report provides a list of generalized recommendations that typically work for individuals that have a similar diagnosis to your child. While these can be very effective, it doesn’t provide you with specific steps to take your child from where they are, to where they should be. 

When I create an Intervention Plan for your child I try to take all the information you have provided me about your child, and some information I collect when I work with them to create a cohesive plan to get them from where they currently are to where we would like them to be. I create a detailed scope and sequence of instructional objectives to get them there. These steps are very specific and can be followed at school, through outside support and even by you, the parent if you feel comfortable helping them along the way.

Instead of creating a money and time no object intervention for your child, I listen to what you are able to commit to the intervention. There is no point in creating an intervention that isn’t realistic for your given situation.

Interventions are essential if we want students to catch up to their peers, unfortunately they are not a one size fits all type of thing. Just putting someone into a ‘reading intervention’ does not mean that they are going to improve. An Intervention Plan gives you a set of specific steps designed to take your child to the next level. It will focus on the skills that need to be addressed first to help them improve as well as provide recommendations for accommodation and modifications at school.

I can do this regardless of whether your child’s Psych-Ed was done in the last 6 weeks, or if it is a couple of years old. If they have an older report, I will just spend a little more time with them, figuring out their current skill level.