anyone had independent ed psych assessment or wechsler pre-school test?

[madwomanintheattic]

i'd be really interested in hearing your experiences...

dd2 has ed psych assessment booked and i think one of the tests that will be done is the wpssi - she's 5 - i have no idea what to expect, really?!

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We had an ed pysch report for ds last year but he was 10 so may be quite different.

Dont know the background to this, why you want it etc but I looked into getting a private assessment for ds as I thought it might help with school, statement etc. I ended up not doing as LEA informed me they would only take on board what my assessment said if it agreed with what theirs said. So it wouldnt be any quicker, I would still have to wait for them to do one and it would be of no advantage if theirs disagreed. Dont know what a wpssi is so cant comment. Dont know if its all LEAs or just mine thats like that

dd2 already has a statement that we are happy with. this is for independent advice for emigration paperwork as lea ed psych report doesn't go into the necessary depth (iq testing/ likelihood of future independent living etc - she is statemented for a pd not ld's, and no-one has ever questioned her cognitive ability lol, so she's never been assessed by the lea in that area...) we just need a professional report giving that opinion lol... the lea one is 18 mos old in any case, and we need current reports for our medical submission...

lizs - 10 would be the primary one i think - did they use a wechsler test though?

It included the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT) and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (ie.IQ) which measures from age 6 to 16 years 11 months , so probably not applicable to your dd.

i think they are doing the pre-school one for her - it goes up to 7.3 i think (no idea why a pre-school test goes up to 7.3....)
thanks!

Hi madwomanintheattic,
the wppsi is a basic intelligence test that assesses verbal and nonverbal reasoning. Your dd will be asked to do some puzzles and answer questions, etc. Most children quite enjoy them. The scores should be used to alert the psychologist to any areas of specific difficulty.
Interpreting scores in a child with pd can be more difficult because some of the tests require dexterity and even those that don't have a spatial element which can be affected by pd. Make sure you are happy with the EP's experience with these issues.
As an aside, those LEAs that dismiss private reports should not. Reports from appropriately qualified professionals are a valid part of the assessment process. Lots of local authority ed psychs will now work collaboratively with private psychs, i.e. make contact and add to their assessment, rather than dismiss it and start again.

DS did the wppsi when he was about 4. A good few years ago now, so I don't remember all the details. I remember him using red and white blocks which he had to use to create different shapes (bit like tangram puzzles). Also there was a book full of pictures of common objects and he had to name them (testing vocabulary I think).

There were other questions too, but I remember these areas as DS particularly enjoyed them. He found it fun - in fact I later bought him some similar blocks as a game because he kept asking 'when the nice man with the puzzles would come back'.

thanks both - that's really helpful. i have no idea why i'm so edgy about it - she's been through years of different therapy and assessments that haven't bothered me at all! i did make sure i explained she has fine motor difficulties when i booked, so i'm really hoping it will be ok - i guess i'll find out soon enough.
the lang/vocab thing sounds like some of the slt stuff she has done, don't think it was the same, but similar...
eclipse, will the report say where she is in relation to the 'average', or will i have to look that bit up?

what is pd and ld? Please.

physical disability/ learning disability

thank you v much madwomenintheattic.

You should get a full explanation of the results and where your dd's score is in relation to the expected score for her age. You should also get an explanation of her individual strengths and weaknesses, e.g. word knowledge versus spatial problem-solving (the block task sugarcandymountain described).

thank you!