For who?

School-aged children and adolescents 

What is it?

An assessment that compares your child’s overall intelligence (intellectual ability) to their academic skills in areas such as reading, spelling and maths. The assessment examines whether or not a child is under-achieving / overachieving in a specific academic area relative to what you would expect for their age and level of intelligence.

When might a developmental assessment be useful?

Parents who are concerned that their child is struggling with certain academic areas such as reading, spelling or maths despite having had plenty of support at home in and in school. Specific learning difficulties are often noticed by teachers and brought to the attention of parents. Under the new guidelines (2019) for Reasonable Accommodations for Certificate Examinations (RACE) a psychological report is not necessary for schools to make recommendations for special allowances in exams and schools can administer their own standardised tests for these purposes. The Disability Access Route to Education (DARE) is a third level alternative admissions scheme for school leavers whose disabilities have had a negative impact on their second level education. Psychological reports outlining specific learning difficulties provide support applications for the DARE scheme. In most cases DARE applications require just an update of educational attainments and repeat cognitive testing is not necessary.

What does a Specific Learning Difficulty mean?

A Specific Learning Difficulty means that a child is significantly under-achieving in a particular academic area for their age and this is not better explained by a general learning disability. Key academic skills include reading of single words accurately and fluently, reading comprehension, written expression and spelling, arithmetic calculation, and mathematical reasoning (solving mathematical problems). In contrast to talking or walking, which are acquired developmental milestones that emerge with brain maturation, academic skills (e.g., reading, spelling, writing, mathematics) have to be taught and learned, explicitly. Specific learning difficulties disrupt the normal pattern of learning academic skills; it is not simply a consequence of lack of opportunity of learning or inadequate instruction.

Difficulties mastering these key academic skills may also impede learning in other academic subjects (e.g. history, science etc), but those problems are attributable to difficulties learning the underlying academic skills. Difficulties learning to map letters with the sounds of one’s language – to read printed words (often called dyslexia) – is one of the most common manifestations of specific learning disorder.

What type of assessment is used?

The WIAT-III is an achievement test used in conjunction with an intellectual assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses across a child / adolescent’s academic profile. Results of the WIAT-III are interpreted to inform diagnoses of specific learning difficulties such as Dyslexia or Dyscalculia.

What happens in the assessment?

The clinician and child / adolescent sit together at a desk and the clinician gives short and simple instructions to the child/ adolescent each step of the way. Parents can stay in the room to help the child feel at ease and to observe the assessment. The assessment is desk-based and involves different activities such as answering general knowledge questions, analysing patterns in pictures, reading, spelling, maths etc.

How long is the assessment?

The assessment typically takes 90 minutes depending on the child’s age, ability and attention span. Some children may need breaks to ensure optimal performance.

What happens after the assessment?

The clinician will write a report detailing your child’s results, profile of strengths and weaknesses, any diagnosis (if relevant), and recommendations for supports and services going forward. This will all be talked through with parents in a feedback meeting. Depending on the child’s age feedback will also be given to the child.

How much does it cost?

€850 for a full cognitive and academic attainment assessment. €400 for a review of attainments (i.e. if cognitive ability has previously been assessed and an updated report of attainments is needed)