Services

Autism Assessment

This type of assessment is used to determine if your child meets the  diagnostic criteria for an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. Your child’s social communication, play and behavioral profile is considered in relation to their overall intellectual/developmental functioning. This type of formal diagnostic assessment not only helps you to understand your child’s pattern of strengths and challenges, depending on the diagnostic outcome, it may also allow you to seek additional supports in your child’s school and through Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD).

Assessments can include both direct and in-direct work. The direct work could involve a clinical interview, standardized assessment, play-based observations, a school visit and a debrief to share impressions. The in-direct work could involve collecting and reviewing relevant documentation, completing and scoring questionnaires, identifying appropriate strategies and recommendations and formulating a report. Previous assessment information and observations from community partners may be requested.

As each child will present with their own pattern of concerns, we will spend time together discussing what you hope to gain from the assessment process and create a tailored assessment plan to meet those needs.

Assessment may include:

  • An Intellectual Assessment
  • Autism Diagnostic Intervention Schedule-2 (ADOS-2)
  • Behavioral Questionnaire (Parent and School)
  • Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire (Parent and School)
  • Measure of Social Functioning

ADHD Assessment

Young children can often present with a high activity level and a shorter attention span. As they get older their ability to sit, listen and actively participate in structured learning often improves due to developmental progress and repeated experience managing these types of expectations. We become concerned when behaviors of inattention, motor restlessness, impulsivity and distractibility begin to interfere with your child’s ability to successfully manage activities of daily living, classroom learning and socializing opportunities. If this occurs, a formal assessment could be helpful to identify the specific problem areas, as well as positive interventions.  

Assessment may include:

  • An Intellectual Assessment
  • Behavioral Questionnaire (Parent and School) 
  • Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire (Parent and School) 
  • Classroom Observation 

Intellectual Assessment

If you or the school have a concern regarding your child’s developmental progress, formal assessment can be completed to establish a concrete understanding of their overall level of early cognitive, intellectual, and academic functioning. This would include identifying a pattern of strengths and challenges that could better inform a parenting approach and/or determine whether your child may be able to access additional supports within their school system. 

An assessment may also be completed to evaluate giftedness.

Assessment also may include: 

  • Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV)
  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V)
  • Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Third Edition (WIAT-III)
  • Adaptive Functioning Questionnaire (Parent and School) 

Positive Approach for
Behavioral Intervention 

Some of the behaviors you may be facing with your child include tantrums, aggression, refusals, difficulty waiting, impulsivity, distractibility, inattention, low frustration tolerance, anxiety and rigid thinking. When considering a child’s behavioral presentation, it is important to think about how developmental, mental health and environmental factors (I.e. home and school) play a role. Further exploration might involve clinical interview with parents and/or the school team, behavioral questionnaire and possibly even an assessment of intellectual ability, to determine if there are any learning challenges that might be contributing to the behavioral presentation. By developing a better understanding of potential triggers, I can work with you to create specific, positive behavioral strategies that will set you and your child up for success. Parents are the most important people in their children’s lives and a better understanding of their behavioral patterns will help you feel more confident in the intervention you choose and foster a more positive relationship with your child.  

Strategy Development for
Emotional Regulation

Young children can benefit from adult support when trying to make sense of how they feel and how to manage their emotions in a productive way. Children who can regulate their emotions are better able to manage stress, problem solve breakdowns in social interaction and create positive relationships. I can help parents begin the process of encouraging their child to manage their feelings before the emotional response escalates to a meltdown. 

School Consultation

Children spend much of their day learning and socializing within the context of their school environment where developmental, social, emotional and behavioral challenges can occur. Through consultation with parents and school staff, I can work towards identifying specific interventions that may be useful within the group setting.