What to expect from an educational psychologist?

[littlemiss06]

My little girl has been referred but I just wondered what they will do? Will I be asked to go in or do they see her alone? What sort of things will they do with her?

I wasn't asked to go in.

The EP observed my kids in class then talked to them and 'tested' them.

Between them my kids have been seen 3 times, and none of them ever thought it was a newsworthy event they should tell me about :)

Then months later i got a report which said not a lot and which didn't help school at all.

Of the 3 reports only one helped. And that was the one which confirmed the peads thoughts that DS1 had aspergers. So the report helped him get a diagnosis.

But none of my kids have been helped in school by an EP report.

I'm a teacher and had a EP observing one of my children last week. She sat at the back of my lesson and watched him, writing notes, and then went to sit at his table with him and was chatting to him, and the other children on his table, about their work. She then stood with me at playtime and watched him and then spent some time with me asking questions about him. She didn't spend any time working with him on his own although I think different EP's will do things differently. She then wrote a report for me giving me ideas on how best to support him in class. I have also worked with Occpational Therapist's and Speech Therapist's who have worked 1:1 with the children they are observing "testing" them but the kids have always had fun while doing it, not real "testing"!
J x

IME the EP normally chats to the parent before assessing the child 1-1 and then speaks to the parent when assessments are completed.

Oh yeah, that's right I forgot about a 4th report school had done.

He observed DS1 working. Or rather DS not working.

He asked DS why he wasn't doing his work and DS replied "I can't read"

The EP thought this was a strange thing to say seeing as the EP knew he could read.

When I read the report I asked DS why he told the EP he couldn't read. And DS said "I couldnt read the board" - ie he wasn't sitting in the middle of the class like he was meant to because of his vision problems and he couldn't see the board properly.

That EP report also contained no useful recommendations.....

My ds has had EP assessment last week, he is 4 and ?HFA although we are at very early stages when it comes to possible dx. She observed him in class through carpet learning time, reading with TA, small group work and free play. She also spent some 1-1 time with him. After she had spent a couple of hours observing him her, myself, the class teacher and the SENCo had a meeting to discuss her observations, everyone's concerns and the best way forward in regards to what is needed to best help ds in the class room and help him access the curriculum.
This week we had a TAC (team around the child) and although the EP couldn't be there she sent a copy of her report. The others at the TAC meeting were, school nurse, SaLT, community link worker, SENCo, head teacher, class teacher and myself. The ep's report was a pivotal price of information and has formed a large part of the documentation going in for us to access funding to give ds 15 hours of 1-1.
So my expirance so far is very positive when it comes to EP, ds didn't seem to really notice her being there at all and his behaviour didnt alter due to her presence, I got the feeling she is very good at melting into the back ground and just observing.