Assessment packages

This looks into a child’s ability to form clear, intelligible sounds that can be understood by other people, either on their own or in words and sentences.

‘Language’ refers to the words and sentences we use to convey meaning and how combining words can modify the meaning of a sentence (e.g. adding ‘not’ into a sentence). This assessment looks at the development of language skills appropriate for your child’s age and identifies if there are any areas that are not developing as expected. It might look at their vocabulary, their sentence structure, their understanding of paragraphs, their ability to use grammatical rules and their ability to retell an event. It is suitable for children who seem to be struggling with their language as well as those falling behind in school to determine if a potential language disorder could be an explanation. It does not provide an in-depth breakdown of all areas of language development with norm-referenced scores, but can be a good first step in identifying whether struggles are due to a language disorder or not.

Children who benefit from this assessment may or may not yet be talking. They might not be playing with other children as much as peers of their age and might struggle in group situations. They can sometimes appear ‘in their own world’ or play in a slightly unusual way. This is suitable for those who are interacting with the world, either verbally or socially, in a way that seems ‘different’ but adults may not be able to put their finger on what is different. It can cover (as appropriate) attention and listening, play skills, interaction skills, understanding and use of language and behaviour means of communicating.

Language refers to the words and sentences we use to convey meaning. A comprehensive language assessment uses a battery of tests to look in depth at different language areas such as  language understanding, ability to use language to express meaning, whether the necessary and sufficient information is being included and whether language is being structured appropriately. It may include testing specific areas of language for example, sentence comprehension, language concepts, word structure, word classes following directions, formulating sentences, recalling sentences, understanding spoken paragraphs. Where appropriate we can obtain norm-referenced scores to see how a child compares to other children of their age on each of these areas, and sometimes provide information on the developmental age of their language skills. This can be helpful , for example, in explaining a school that their Y3 boy has an equivalent language level as a reception age child, allowing the school to adjust their language to a more appropriate level. It will touch on attention and listening, and social communication skills, but only in so far as they are affecting language ability.

This looks into a child’s ability to form clear, intelligible sounds that can be understood by other people, either on their own or in words and sentences. It goes beyond the initial screen of speech sounds and uses the same assessment tools as the Nuffield Dyspraxia Centre in order to be able to diagnose whether a speech sound difficulty is due to phonology (the most common cause of speech differences in children) or a difficulty with the coordination of the muscles involved in speech between the brain and the mouth and throat.

Social communication refers to the ability to use language and non-verbal skills in a functional way to interact with other people. This can benefit those who may or may not be using language well, but also have difficulties with interacting with other people. They may spend a lot of time on their own in peer group situations, such a breaktimes, may experience frequent fallings out with friends, may upset others by appearing insensitive or rude, or may be so anxious about upsetting others that interactions are extremely stressful. They may struggle with eye contact, jokes and ‘banter’, or take what is said extremely literally. They can experience extreme anxiety in social situations. The assessment looks at how well they can communicate in interactions with others. It may assess the ability to initiate, maintain or end an interaction, including asking for help; the ability to make inferences and predictions by combining what they are being told with the context and their environment; the understanding of abstract and non-literal information; perspective taking and seeing another’s view; how well components of information can be tied together in one ‘big picture’; understanding and using humour; and relating to others. It does not provide ‘scores’ but gives an in-depth insight into the skills involved in interactions and where there are strengths and difficulties.

Some children appear to have reasonable understanding and use of language but for some reason just aren’t thriving at school. This may show up as difficult-to-manage behaviour, lack of focus, being the ‘class clown’, appearing to ‘daydream’ or simply starting to fall a bit behind or lose interest academically. This assessment involves one of our team observing your child in school and liaising with their teacher. This is combined with assessment of core language skills, their higher-level language skills, their social interaction profile and the peripheral skills required to succeed at school. We may look at their skills in areas such as attention, listening, language understanding, literacy, narrative, inference. It involves both observation and direct assessment. We can identify what barriers there are to learning from this assessment and provide strategies to help in the classroom, recommendations for therapy and tips for at home. Occasionally, we may suggest a more in-depth assessment of one specific area if we can pinpoint a difficulty and need to drill down further, however, this will still be a standalone assessment to troubleshoot barriers to learning and create an actionable plan.

This is an assessment for the purposes of contributing to an EHCP assessment. It will provide an in-depth assessment into the speech, language, communication and interaction profile of a child/young person. It involves compiling and analysing information provided by education professionals, parents/carers and combining this with assessment results in order to recommend a quantifiable level of education provision along with the supporting evidence for this recommendation. It will provide information to Section B, E and F of the EHCP. This information will be specific and quantifiable. As a recognised provider for Surrey County Council, our reports are accepted as evidence for EHCPs, and we have a proven track record of this.

Similar to an EHCP assessment, this provides an in-depth assessment into the speech, language, communication and interaction profile of a child/young person. It involves compiling and analysing information provided by education professionals, parents/carers and combining this with assessment results in order to recommend a quantifiable level of education provision along with the supporting evidence for this recommendation. It will provide information to Section B, E and F of an EHCP. This information will be specific and quantifiable. The tribunal assessment differs insofar as the research and evidence base for the recommendations will be included and specified as references, and at least two different therapists will be involved in ensuring the report is as indisputable as possible in order for you to present the strongest case in court.

This is a multi-disciplinary team assessment, including experts in autism assessment from the fields of clinical psychology and speech and language therapy. Using a combination of a child’s developmental history and assessment through observation and play, we work together to determine whether or not your child meets the criteria for an autism diagnosis. Once our team has discussed the assessments and compiled your child’s report, you will be invited to meet with one of our team to be given the results, and where appropriate, an autism diagnosis for your child.

We offer a gold-standard assessment package, utilising diagnostic tools such as the ADOS and ADI, in order to diagnose autism in children, young people and adults, with an aftercare support system included. Our assessments are aligned to the NICE guidelines, and any diagnosis we give meets the criteria for the NHS, schools and local authorities, so you can be assured that your diagnosis and report will be accepted elsewhere.

Our assessment consists of a direct assessment of the stammer itself as well as assessment of overall speech and language skills. Because there are so many factors to consider with stammering, a detailed assessment is required to identify contributing factors. Following this, we allow up to two hours for a parent consultation, which everyone with parental responsibility for the young person must attend (in person or virtually). This is crucial as it allows us to investigate all of the historical and environmental factors that might be affecting fluency, as well as allow us to provide information on understanding stammering and how to talk about it at home.

Sometimes there isn’t a one-size fits all assessment and report. If you are looking for something that combines aspects of different assessments, or are looking for something else altogether, please let us know and we can work with you to create an assessment that meets your needs.