The Psychological Evaluation
The psychological evaluation determines the child’s level of development in the following areas: cognition, language, self-help, socialization and motility.
The roles of psychological assessment:
- To establish a correct image on the gap between the biological and mental age of the child in all areas of development.
- Carrying out an individualized work program while following the work recommendations for at home
- It’s the starting point for ABA
- Parents are advised how to communicate with their child
- Parents are helped to organize the child’s space and time
- It identifies the causes of negative behaviors and offers solving strategies
The importance of psychological reevaluation:
- Performance measurement of the child, after following the individualized therapeutic plan
- Identifying a reducing negative behaviors strategy
- Making suggestions for the acquisitions of certain knowledge (targets that could not be achieved by the child during his current program)
- Verifying if the objectives set at his last evaluation have been achieved
- Generalization of knowledge
- Setting new targets
Changing preconceived ideas:
“My child doesn’t need psychological evaluation because the program coordinator evaluates him”
The psychologist’s response: a psychological assessment done by a specialist is needed in order to obtain an objective assessment and to observe the child in an unfamiliar environment.
“I do not take the child to have an assessment because I don’t want to take from his work time at home”
The psychologist’s response: during evaluation, the child is asked to perform certain tasks, to participate in various games, to socialize, to communicate with unfamiliar people in a new environment. So many lessons!
