FAQ
User Links →Psycho-educational Testing is an in-depth individualized assessment of a student's cognitive, social-emotional and academic strengths and weaknesses. It is helpful in developing an understanding of how a student learns, diagnosing learning difficulties, and identifying gifted and talented students. Psycho-educational Testing may be required to document disabilities requiring accommodations in schools, universities, or the workplace, as well as requesting accommodation services in Standardized Testing (SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, etc.) and Standardized Course Examinations (IB, AP, etc.).
- Intellectual Ability (i.e., Cognitive Ability; the ability to process information and reason)
- School Achievement (i.e., Reading, Writing, Math)
- Perceptual Abilities (i.e., Visual Perception, Motor Coordination, and Visual-Motor Integration)
- Behavior (i.e., Attention)
- Socio-emotional well-being
Your child may need psycho-educational testing if:
- They are underachieving in school
- They are chronically struggling in a certain academic area
- They are showing very inconsistent performance across academic subjects
- They are showing signs of giftedness
- You or their teachers suspect that the child has a unique style of learning which presents challenges
- Make poor grades despite significant effort
- Need constant, step-by-step guidance for tasks
- Cannot remember problem-solving steps because they do not comprehend tasks or the logic behind them
- Have poor memory of spoken or written material
- Have difficulty mastering tasks or transferring academic skills to other tasks
- Cannot remember skills and facts over time
- Have strong general knowledge but cannot read as in dyslexia, write as in dysgraphia, or do math as in dyscalculia at that level
- May have difficulty with communication and language processing, expressive, and receptive language
- May be very frustrated with school and homework
- May have low self-esteem
In early childhood, symptoms of learning disabilities may first appear as developmental delays in some children. However, it is important to remember that many children with developmental delays may catch up with early intervention in special education programs and will not develop disabilities later in their school years. Students with symptoms that do not improve over time with appropriate interventions may have learning disabilities.
Through psycho-educational testing, the student, guardians and school specialists will have an in-depth analysis of how the student learns. Learning patterns, emerging behaviors and emotional factors that affect the learning process and school performance will be identified. This information will help the team of specialists specify the student's needs and design the best intervention to address the student’s weaknesses.
A psycho-educational evaluation is conducted in order to assess a child's strengths and weaknesses in cognitive and academic areas. The evaluation of additional domains such as adaptive functioning, social-emotional functioning, ADHD, and/or other areas of functioning may also be evaluated, depending on the needs of the child. Guardians and teachers will be asked to complete rating scales and will be interviewed by the diagnosticians in order to get a more holistic view of the child's development and areas of concern.
The total testing time varies depending on the age and needs of each child. The length of the standard testing procedure is usually 2 - 4 weeks.
Preparing your child for the testing may reduce anxiety significantly. Give your child adequate time and prepare him/her at least a week in advance. Explain that he/she is going to have to meet a team of people and work with them, answer a series of questions, do puzzles, draw, read, write and play games. Be as positive and relaxed as possible and make sure you tell your child that the testing will only take place so the adults involved will find out what the best way to help him/her out is.
After psycho-educational testing is completed, the parents are called in for an in-depth consultation and discussion of the results. Parents receive the report, which, along with the testing outcomes, includes recommendations for the student, the parents, as well as the school. Following this meeting, the Diagnostic Team will meet with the student to discuss strengths and weaknesses, as well.
After testing is complete, the Diagnostic Team writes a report with results and then explains these results to guardians, the child, and other relevant professionals.
Please contact us in order to discuss pricing.
Once results are in, it is highly recommended that the parent schedules a meeting with the school counselor, the principal and special educators in order to announce the presenting data. Through the assessment information, a plan can be devised to help the student advance in his/her academics despite any learning differences, and accommodations can be put into practice.
If your child has been referred for an evaluation, or you believe that your child should be evaluated, please call the ACS Athens Educational & Diagnostic Testing Center - 210.639.3200 ext. 283 to schedule an appointment.
You will be sent a link to an online Intake Form, which you may fill out before our initial meeting. Please read the Consent Form before attending the initial meeting and be sure to bring all relevant testing.