Does anyone have a child who is seeing and educational physcologist who can tell me about it and how they help.

[pepsi]

Now I know the difference between this and a physciarist Id like to know how they have helped other children and what it entails. Do they come to your home and assess family life and stuff as well or do they normally see the child at school only.

[roisin]

Pepsi - have you been advised to see an EP, or are you just considering it?

EPs used to be more usually involved in doing counselling of children, and implementing training programmes. These days - I think - they are most usually simply involved in the assessment of children.

Sometimes this is done at school, sometimes elsewehere. Most usually one-to-one with the child in a room, but there are also possibilities to observe the child in the classroom or playground.

In addition they will request extensive referral data, previous school reports, completed questionnaires, etc. These may come direct from the school, but you can request to send some information too if you want.

The EP will then send a report summarising the findings and making recommendations. How (whether) the recommendations are carried out is usually then down to the individuals concerned.

Does that answer part of your questions?

[pepsi]

Thanks Roisin. Its the school that have suggested this route, he has only been there since January but I gave them his file from his previous school.......many threads on all of things. You might remember. I took him from a private school to a catholic one and was worried because we are not catholic. His old school had highlighted these problems but this is the first time and EP has been suggested. Im just wondering if it will actually help or whether we will get our hopes up and be disappopinted.

[roisin]

Pepsi, it's like many things how much help it is will depend very much on the individuals involved.

DS1 was assessed by an independent Ed Psych just before Christmas, and I can tell you that the experience for us has been extremely positive. It would never have occurred to us, and wasn't suggested, at age 4 - but I wish we had seen this particular chap at that point. (Ds1 is now 7.5 btw.)

If I were you I would definitely ask if there is a referral form you can complete to give your opinions on him, if this is not suggested already. This sort of material can be extremely helpful to the EP, as parents are aware of things that schools are not.

[roisin]

Is there anything else you want to know?

A standard assessment will involve the EP chatting to your ds, then doing some puzzles/quizzes/assessment with him, to ascertain his general ability levels, and whether there are particular areas he struggles with. Then he will spend some time discussing the findings with you and/or the teachers.

[pepsi]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Its all new to me, I shall wait the forms, Im told we have a lot to fill in.......if I need any other help now I know where to come. Thanks.

[pepsi]

Rosin, why is you little boy seeing a EP. You say its been extremely positive so does that mean they you ds is getting on better or do they just understand him more or perhaps diagnosed something.

[roisin]

You're welcome.

I found filling in the forms quite a daunting prospect, and quite emotionally draining. It was the first time I had ever put together the whole story of his strengths and weaknesses, and our concerns. So brace yourself! And remember to include all the positives as well as the negatives.

But it was a worthwhile exercise: Our EP had clearly studied closely everything we had written, which saved time on the day, and made his report as accurate and relevant as possible.

We had a section to complete about reasons for referral - 'please state what you would like as specific outcomes'. We wrote quite a lot in this section, and this helped as the EP was then able to focus on those areas, rather than possibly get side-tracked by various things that weren't of particular interest/concern to us.

Do feel free to ask any questions that occur. I was a 'complete beginner' way back in October faced with the forms, and I got loads of help on here. Now - having been through the process once - I feel like an expert

[roisin]

Oops posts crossed there! I'll attempt to answer your question as briefly as possible in a minute.

[roisin]

Why was he seeing an EP?
We were concerned about his social-emotional development, and social language use. When I discussed it with his teacher, she said she though it was all related to his particularly high abilities. I didn't think this was the case. But she put us in touch with an independent EP who specialises in highly able children, and so could separate the social-emotional-behavioural stuff from the rest, iyswim!

Why was it so positive?
Hmm... Loads of reasons ... Did I say I would be brief?
The EP confirmed our view that there are some 'problems', but pointed out that just because he has some problems which are common in children with Aspergers, doesn't mean that he has Aspergers. BUT it is quite 'legitimate' to address those difficulties/imaturities using strategies developed for AS children.
He recommended some specific strategies to try, and these have been bearing fruit already.
He recommended various books for us to read, which have been extremely helpful in all sorts of ways.
He put me in contact with a local professional, who has been very friendly and helpful to me.
Finally (!) the results of the cognitive assessments were extremely high - they shocked and surprised us; but that does actually explain quite a lot of things.

Phew! Sorry that was so long - you did ask! HTH