Assessments at Muse Psychology
At Muse, we offer psychometric assessments from the age of 6 years with our highly experienced assessment Psychologist Peter Bland. Depending on the assessment, Peter will often assess the child using the iPad or computers, which makes them highly interactive for children. We aim to have your child’s detailed report with comprehensive recommendations for teachers, tutors, and/or parents within 2-3 weeks. Below are a breakdown of each assessment offered at Muse Psychology.
Cognitive Assessments (or IQ tests)
Measures: Child’s intellectual abilities, and assess strengths and weaknesses in verbal
comprehension, visual spatial, working memory, reasoning abilities, and processing speed.
Rater: Child completes an in-person assessment at Muse or online via Telehealth.
Assessment time: 60-90 minutes (approx.)
Standardised: Results are normed against other same-age Australian children.
Benefits: Cognitive assessments can be beneficial for identifying intellectual strengths or giftedness, and cognitive weaknesses. Cognitive assessments assist in providing information for optimising educational interventions according to the child’s learning style and abilities.
Educational Assessments
Measure: Child’s literacy and numeracy abilities across multiple domains.
Rater: Child completes an in-person assessment at Muse or online via Telehealth.
Assessment time: 60-90 minutes (approx.)
Standardised: Results are normed against other Australian children, to see if they are above, below, or on par with age and/or grade expectations.
Benefits: Tracks academic progress of the child. If gaps are identified, the information assists targeted intervention for teachers, parents, and/or tutors. If your child is performing above expectations, this can provide the school with the necessary information to consider learning enrichment if required.
* A combination of both a cognitive and educational assessment would be used in assessment for Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in reading, mathematics, or written expression (often referred to as Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia). Please note that at least 6-months intervention (e.g. tutoring, additional support from school etc) is a required diagnostic criteria.
Adaptive Functioning Assessments
Measure: Child’s daily living skills with or without the assistance of others. Independence,
communication, safety, social, and functioning in the community are assessed across the conceptual, social, and practical domains.
Rater: Parent/Carer and Teacher (and adolescents 16+years) each complete a detailed questionnaire with Peter over the phone to ensure a thorough understanding of the questions and optimised accuracy in results.
Assessment Time: 30 minutes per rater (approx.)
Standardised: Results show where your child’s daily living skills compare with other same age children, and whether there are areas of concern.
Benefits: Adaptive functioning assessments can ascertain whether a child is meeting expected developmental milestones.
* Both a cognitive and adaptive functioning assessment would be used in assessment for Global Developmental Delay and Intellectual Disability.
Behavioural Assessments
Measure: Whether a child is having specific challenges in behaviour for their age.
Rater: Parent/Carer, Teacher, and Child (if 8+ years) each complete a detailed online questionnaire. Peter will review recent school reports, background information, as well as make observations of the child’s behaviour during their cognitive assessment.
Assessment Time: 30 minutes per rater (approx.).
Standardised: Results show where your child’s behavioural skills compare with other same age children, and whether there are areas of concern.
Benefits: Behavioural challenges such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder, and mood issues are explored.
* At Muse, both a behavioural and cognitive assessment would be used in assessment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and if there is a history of literacy and numeracy challenges at school, and Educational assessment may also be recommended.
Feel free to contact Muse Psychology on 8545 0137 if you have any further questions regarding psychometric assessments.