Hi Chris,
You caught me working late and, because we are wrestling with the
Australian Psychological Society at the moment about what constitutes a
useful report of an assessment, I could not resist.
>Here's an interesting one ( I hope) for which I would welcome any comments.
>We recently had a student assessed for Dyslexia by the Educational
>Psychologist who comes in to assess students for us on a fairly regular
>basis.
>His findings were a not spectacularly high IQ (yes I know about the problems
>with IQ testing) and not Dyslexia but a Communication Disorder.
I think you are being too kind and/or respectful to the Ed.Psych person. I
assume someone paid for the assessment and yet it tells you nothing useful.
Does this psychologist not know, given his regular association with you,
how you require 'findings' to be presented - perhaps a report containing
some background on the individual's educational history and the presenting
difficulties, standard scores for a range of tests conducted, an
interpretation of the results vis a vis performance in a tertiary education
environment and some recommendations for ways in which your institution
could accommodate the student's difficulties. Or does he just give you a
2-word diagnosis? Look up Communication Disorder in DSM IV (I haven't got
mine handy) to see if it is a commonly used diagnosis. If it not there,
demand your money back or ask him to deliver a more useful 'findings'
document - structured along the lines of the AHEAD (USA and Ireland)
guidelines.
Cheers,
Gill
Gillian Bruce, Regional Disability Liaison Officer
A psDIN project funded by the Commonwealth
Dept. Education, Training & Youth Affairs (DETYA)
Deakin University, 336 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern Vic 3144
AUSTRALIA email: [log in to unmask]
Tel: 61 3 9244 5011 Mobile: 0411 885 910
Fax: 61 3 9244 5104
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