ASSESSMENT AND POST DIAGNOSTIC SUPPORT 

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Our team works with young people experiencing difficulties in the area of education and learning who are failing to reach their potential. The team is hugely experienced and has particular specialist skills in neurodevelopmental difficulties such as Autism spectrum, ADHD, challenging behaviour, learning difficulties, memory deficit, mental health issues and social and language problems.

We offer a wide range of consultation and assessments for children, teens and young adults. 

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CONSULTATION AND ASSESSMENT

 

• Cognition and learning – assessment and consultation to children and young people on various areas related to cognition and learning, including visual perceptual skills, non- verbal skills, spatial skills, language and communication, auditory processing, executive functioning, attention and concentration, literacy and numeracy.
   

• Cognitive assessment - we now offer cognitive assessments for both children and adults, using either WISC-V or WAIS-IV depending on the age. Our clinicians utilise the most advanced tools to measure cognitive ability based on recent research in the area of cognitive theory and neuroscience. It measures verbal comprehension, visual spatial, fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed abilities. The test will be conducted face-to-face, and you will receive a full report of findings.

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• Social communication (this can be linked in with assessment of speech and language needs)

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• Attachment and trauma

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• Emotional and behavioural dysregulation - including behavioural difficulties

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• Sensory needs - investigation of needs and sensitivities

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• Anxiety and low mood, low self esteem

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• Identification and assessment of language and/or learning difficulties, including dyslexia (sometimes referred to as a specific learning difficulty) and dyscalculia

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• Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) this can be provided by Educational or Clinical Psychologist. VIG can be an incredibly powerful intervention where clients watch video clips of their own successful interactions with the support of a trained Video Interaction Guider. Clients reflect on the video clips and discuss what made the interaction successful in order to recognise their strengths and inform future interactions. 

 

Please note:   There is no geographical restriction on Cognitive Assessments, VIG, emotional/behavioural assessment or of mental health needs as these may also be conducted by various members of the team.  However, Julia Alfano cannot carry out a full educational assessment if the child is enrolled in a school or currently lives at an address under Hampshire County Council (apart from Southampton or Portsmouth City LEA areas) due to conflict of interests. 

 

If you are uncertain, please send us an enquiry explaining what you are looking for and we will advise you fully.
 

SUPPORT AND THERAPY

 

Following assessment we can offer support from the educational psychologists or from other members of our multi-disciplinary team if more appropriate.  These areas include:

 

• Post diagnostic support for children with ASD, ADHD, DCD and PDA

• Attachment difficulties and issues relating to trauma (particularly developmental trauma and any associated learning issues with trauma)

• Using mindfulness with children

• How to promote children’s emotional intelligence

• Supporting children’s social skills

• Advice and strategies on how to support language and/or learning difficulties at home and in the classroom

• Advice and support for children who are too anxious to attend school

• Support around developmental issues in the Early Years (e.g. how to promote language development, how to manage behaviour and emotions)

• Post-adoption support using Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)

• Consultation and advice on whole-school or organisation issues

• Training to schools and organisations.

 

We are often asked:

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Will my child's school or college accept the outcome of an assessment conducted in the private sector?

 

Many parents and carers may worry or may have heard that the assessment findings will not be accepted by their child's school or college because the assessment has not been conducted by clinicians working in the NHS.  The issue is not whether your child has been assessed within the NHS or the private sector, but whether the assessment has been carried out by suitably trained, qualified and experienced clinicians and has followed NICE guidelines. All of the clinicians on our multi-disciplinary team (MDT) are fully trained and highly experienced in the assessment and diagnosis of neurodevelopmental conditions.  

 

Our Educational and Clinical Psychologists have worked carrying out assessments in the NHS.  Schools and colleges will therefore be able to accept the findings as reliable and valid.

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EXAMPLES OF CONSULTATIONS:

 

Early Years Work (0-5 years) 

 

• Play-based assessment:  during a child’s early year’s much of their learning takes place through play. Therefore, a play-based assessment investigates a child’s early learning skills and cognitive development by observing what they are able to do in certain play scenario’s and how they respond to interaction during play. 

 

• Consultations with parents and/or early years teachers:  solution-focused discussions to help adults supporting children to understand and manage a child’s needs. These usually follow a ‘plan-do-review’ structure. We have an initial session where we will explore the problem, seek to understand it, then use psychology and knowledge of the child to think of some solutions (‘planning’ stage). The consultee then tries out the solutions (the ‘doing’ stage) before we come back together to review what went well, what didn’t and next steps (the ‘review’ stage). Common topics in early years consultations include: promoting language development; extending play to enhance learning; feeding issues; promoting early social skills/ reducing aggressive behaviour; supporting attachment needs and co-regulating emotions; extending attention skills. Consultations are possible via phone or Zoom etc as well as face to face. 

 

• Video Interaction Guidance (VIG):  best described through viewing this video. In the early years this intervention tends to target the language development, emotional development or social skills of the child through increasing the amount of attuned interactions they receive from an adult. 

 

School Age Work (4-18 years)

 

• Video Interaction Guidance:  as above. In primary-aged children it can also be used to help adults understand how best to support a child’s learning in class. 

 

• Dynamic Assessment:  a learning assessment that focuses on the interaction between learner and assessor/teacher. The pupil is presented with a range of activities and the assessor models and tests different types of support strategies to see which strategies the child responds best to. This helps to build a picture of how to support the child best to ensure they are learning at their full potential. It does not provide a list of standardised scores but a list of ways the child enjoys to learn, useful support strategies and how to strengthen the learning relationship between pupil and teacher.

 

• Standardised learning assessment:  this type of learning assessment compares a child or young person’s learning skills against other children of a similar age, to determine their strengths and needs when learning. This type of assessment tends to give a ‘profile’ of information about the child’s abilities in certain areas, such as memory, language and reasoning.

 

• Consultations with parents and/or teachers: as described in the early years section. Additional common topics include: understanding and managing ASD and ADHD in the classroom; supporting sensory needs; accelerating progress of pupils with SEN; promoting resilience; enhancing relationships between parents/families and school; early intervention for mental health and social communication problems.

 

• Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP):  using VIG as a professional development tool to help teachers or therapists increase their attuned interactions with a child/ young person. 

 

FEES

Fees are dependent on the services required, we will be able to give you an accurate estimate of fees once you have spoken with our psychologists or advised us exactly which services you are looking for.