Parents often become aware of PEA’s when their child’s school has observed that the student may have cognitive issues, learning disabilities and/or other social behavioral issues and recommends or requests an official assessment. People have different strengths and weaknesses; a psychoeducational assessment identifies those strengths and weaknesses, and the results of an assessment will create a learning plan to best support an individual’s goals in school and life. A psych-ed assessment is administered by a Registered Psychologist, and they use standardized tests, observations, interviews, and school records to develop a complete perspective of an individual’s academic and cognitive abilities.
Psychoeducational assessments are valuable for people at any age because the learnings can be applied throughout life. However, we would like to emphasize the importance of early intervention. Psychoeducational assessments can start as early as 3.5 years of age. There are other assessment tools available for younger children, and they can test social skills, behaviors skills, and fine/gross motor capabilities. For example, autism assessments can start as early as 13 months.
Having a very young child who is experiencing difficulty at school is distressing for parents as well as for the child. It can affect the whole family, including siblings. When a teacher calls a parent to discuss concerns about their child’s slower than anticipated academic skill development, feelings of anxiety and stress quickly follow.
No, you can self refer.
Billing for assessments can be a bit overwhelming for individuals. We try our best to support this process. Please give us a call to discuss our billing practices.
Children who have a history of delays with early development are more likely to struggle with learning when they are school aged. Did your child exhibit early language delays, such as developing speech after the age of 3 years; or have fine motor delays, such as reluctance to colour, difficulty with using scissors, tying shoe laces or doing up buttons; or were they always on the go or seeming to have difficulty paying attention even for short periods of time.
Your child could benefit from a psychoeducational assessment if they struggled to learn letter names or letter sounds, if they had speech difficulties, if they struggled to learn numbers, if printing numbers and letters was difficult, or if there were difficulties in learning the names of shapes or colours. Teachers may also note that your child needs more time to meet curriculum expectations, your child needed one to one assistance to complete work, your child was not paying attention when the lesson was taught, or they needed more space around them so as not to disturb their neighbours.
Individuals often wait until behavioral problems arise or when grades are affected. A Psychoeducational report can support students who are already excelling. By setting achievable goals, and by identifying effective learning strategies, good students can get even better!
The traditional education system rewards a specific set of skills, and it does a great job of measuring those skills. However, some skills aren’t encompassed by our K-12 curriculum. Emotional skills, behavior and creativity can be measured in a psych-ed assessment, but they are not always measured in our K-12 curriculum.
A psychoeducational assessment will identify problem areas, and these problem areas may have been unknown prior to the report. When you identify a problem, you can begin addressing it, so students, teachers, and parents will be better equipped to support psychoeducational deficiencies after a report has been prepared.
an IQ &/or cognitive function
grade level performance vs achievement
behavior &/or social skills
variety of recommendations based on your child’s strengths and weaknesses
*Please note, there may be times when additional testing may be recommended that may not be covered in a psychoeducational assessment. Further testing may be recommended by your psychologist.
Dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia are examples of some of the learning disabilities that psychoeducational assessment can help diagnose. When appropriate, a diagnosis may be provided that aligns with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- 5th Edition (DSM-V) and Special Educational Coding Criteria. For a more comprehensive list, see this help guide. People can also struggle with language, social, and communication skills, and the extent to which someone struggles with those skills can be identified in a psych-ed assessment.
Assessments at other clinics typically start with a phone interview between the psychologist and the individual, or parents of the individual, being assessed. Level-Up has prepared an intake questionnaire that speeds up the traditional interview. The questionnaire creates a standardized process for our psychologists to follow, so we can provide the public with consistent and efficient assessments. Level Up is committed to streamlining our processes, so our clients receive quality care at a reasonable cost.
To further increase our efficiency, please bring the email addresses of any teachers to whom you might want your psychologist to send online rating scales. Because children spend so much time in the classroom, we need to be able to see how your child gets along with others, and if their behaviors appear to be age and developmentally appropriate.
Level Up offers PEA’s at \$3000 (for assessments done by Payton) to \$4000 (for assessments done by Dr. Morin) for in-office assessments. We also suggest checking to see if your insurance will cover part or all of the cost for you, however we do NOT direct-bill insurance companies for assessments.
Appointments are limited, so please email inquiries as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
If you have questions regarding Psychoeducational Assessments services, please contact our client relations team.
