Page 34 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 8_2022

Today's Child

The process may also be riddled
Photo by Brendan Beale agendas.
with internal politics and hidden

However, being assessed within
the school system has proven
to be much more cost effective,
since the cost of having the
psychologist present is divided
among the number of children
being assessed at a given
time. Furthermore, if you are
fortunate enough to work with a
functioning team in your school
system, you are getting the
attention of many experts, all
determined to understand your
child.
For therapeutic evaluations,
such as personality challenges
between family members,
partners or spouses, many
psychologists offer a range
of assessments aimed at
assisting and developing
more functional relationship
skills. Furthermore, within
HOW TO APPROACH THE instruments. However, because of therapeutic evaluations, several
ASSESSMENT RESULTS this, the assessments are expensive. instruments exist which assess
If you are considering a series of Psychologists make use of multiple mental status. These can be
assessments, be it for scholastic issues tools to find correlation and useful in diagnosing more serious
or personal challenges, keep two consistency in their findings across psychological disorders, treatment
things in mind: the instruments, before forming plans and prognoses for the future.
a conclusion. For example, before These types of assessments are
• The resistance to test results is stating that a person is an introvert, more readily available across the
often similar to the resistance two or more instruments need to registrations of counselling and
experienced in psychotherapy. If have introversion as a finding. A single clinical psychologists, whereas
the results seem to be negative, test, in isolation, is of limited value. educational psychologists tend to
you may experience resentment at focus primarily on the scholastic
the findings, anger at implications ARRANGING FOR THE context.
of inadequate parenting if it’s your ASSESSMENTS TO BE DONE
child that has been assessed, and There are several private
instinctive reactions to terms like practitioners, such as educational
‘learning disability’, ‘attention deficit and counselling psychologists,
disorder’, and ‘low self-esteem’. who offer scholastic
Listen with an open mind to the test psychometric services. They
results before you reject them, and can be found on the web or via
ask many questions about what you referrals.
have understood. Schools may also provide
this service, but there may be
Teenagers may experience questions around the quality
resistance to the entire process of of assessments conducted
testing. It is therefore important to on large numbers of children
explain that these assessments are simultaneously as the findings
not tests in the conventional sense. offered may be too generalised to
They assess learning potential; that be useful to the individual. These
is, the teen’s ability to learn, and not bulk assessment situations also
their IQ or brain capacity. create unfavourable impressions
of psychometric assessments as
• Psychometric assessments are the generalised feedback provided
imperfect. Any psychological test does not match the context or the
is a sample of behaviour at a given child – for example, general codes Image: Francesca Zama Photo by Nik Zid
point in time. This is one reason for given for career choices may not
test batteries – the use of multiple necessarily be applicable within
assessment questionnaires and the modern South African context.
32 DPL issue 8 2022