Psychological Assessment

Psychological Assessment

Assessments Offered

Here at PsychHabitat, we offer a range of different diagnostic and developmental assessments tailored to suit your child’s needs. Please reach out to us for more information.

An assessment – What is it?

An assessment is a standardized form of information gathering that allows psychologists to develop an in-depth understanding of your child’s skills, abilities and behaviors. The evaluation measures areas of cognitive functioning (IQ), developmental profile, academic skills and achievement, neuropsychological functioning (e.g. executive functioning, attention, memory, language, perception), activities of daily living skills, and behaviour and social-emotional functioning. Results from an assessment can assist with diagnosis or diagnostic clarification, treatment planning, evaluating and tracking progress over time.

In Singapore, a child is often referred for a Psychoeducational Assessment, otherwise known as an Ed-Psych Assessment. While the Ed-Psych assessment may offer an insight into a child’s cognitive and academic functioning, it does not always provide a complete picture of the child or how to support them. At PsychHabitat, we recommend parents to consider comprehensive evaluations (e.g. Neuropsychological Assessments) that may be more informative in helping you understand your child, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to support them.

What to expect?

An evaluation involves an interview with parents/caregivers to better understand the child’s background and current functioning, and to determine the questions to be answered during the evaluation. Following this, a battery of tests are individually selected to administer to the child. Upon scoring of these tests, a report is written up, and a feedback session will be held to discuss the results with parents/caregivers.

How long does testing take?

Each initial interview session may take up to 1.5 hours. A comprehensive evaluation generally takes between 2 to 4 hours or more to complete, depending on the complexity of the issues to be addressed and your child’s condition (e.g., fatigue, level of motivation, behaviors etc.). The evaluation is typically broken down into two or more sessions, and small breaks may be given during sessions. A feedback session, during which we review the results, takes up to 1 hour.

How do I prepare my child?

There is no special way to prepare your child for testing, since these tests cannot be passed or failed. There are several things you can do to help facilitate the evaluation process:

1. Provide us with any medical, school or psychological reports beforehand.
2. Schedule testing during a time of day that is best for your child.
3. Ensure that your child has sufficient rest the day before testing.
4. Ensure that your child has taken his or her medication, if any (unless otherwise discussed).
5. Bring water and snacks since testing may be long.

Please let us know if your child requires specific accommodations and/or if you anticipate issues that are likely to interfere with the evaluation. In the event that your child is feeling ill, please do not hesitate to call us to reschedule.

What happens after testing?

Once testing is complete, the psychologist will score, interpret and write a report discussing your child’s performance. It will typically take up to 4 weeks for completion of the report. Parents will then be invited in for a feedback session to share the results of the evaluation and discuss next steps.

If you are interested in an assessment for your child, please reach out to us to discuss your concerns and determine how we may support you in this process.