Holistic assessment for child with potential SEN?

[diplodocus]

My DD (12) has started secondary school this year, and it has resulted in a number of issues that were identified but kept in check becoming much more problematic. These include difficulty in putting her thoughts on paper and taking notes (she better typing than writing), poor organisation / difficulties retaining instructions etc, poor performance in formal assessment in comparison with her class work, lack of focus and concentration and difficulties maintaining friendships. She's quite immature and anxious as well as over-sensitive. She seems to have "traits" of dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD, but none of these really "fit the bill".

We feel we'd like her to be assessed so we can get her more support, but are not really sure where to start. The school will do basic screening for dyslexia but they have said that we would obviously need to go the medical route if we wanted to look at ADHD. We would ideally like her to have an overall screening assessment that would point to where (if any) her difficulties lie so that she doesn't feel like we're dragging her round different people - I think she would find this upsetting and demoralising. Does anyone know of any private assessment centres that would carry out a holistic general assessment that essentially screens for all these possibilities and could point to areas where more formal assessment would be important? We're in the South East.

The traits you are describing are going to require an EP, OT, Clinical Psychologist/Psychiatrist. Possibly she might benefit from a SALT, too. You are looking for a Multidisciplinary assessment - but I don't know of a centre where they do all this. The ICAN Meath or Nottingham used to cover EP, SALT and a little OT - maybe get in touch with them and ask if they know of anywhere that can provide a similar approach but with a full OT/Psychological assessment?
Re-reading your post, I would actually start with an OT - one that covers executive functioning, so both the physicality of Dyspraxia and its impact academically. I know of someone in Somerset, as long as you both like cats.

Thanks very much for this. I'll look into the centres you mention. I hadn't really thought about an OT but this has certainly given me food for thought. Can I ask why from what I've said you focus on the dyspraxia possibility? She's not "typically" dyspraxic (not brilliant at sports but OK at things like dance and gymnastics and quite graceful) but she's not "typically" anything! I certainly think the executive function bit somehow underlies it.
I would really like details of the OT in Somerset thanks - no problems with cats!

All the difficulties you describe in your 1st paragraph could be written about DD2 - the biggest problems she has, imo are with concentration and executive functioning. DD1 has dyspraxia, but is way more organised than DD2!

We had DD2 assessed first by an independent speech therapist, who indicated she was in the top ten percent for intelligence, but only on the 33rd percentile for speed of processing; but there were no language problems. Then we took her to see a neuro-educational psychologist, on the SALT's advice - she found poor comprehension of spoken and written language.

Later DD2 identified herself that she fitted a profile of ADD, which was confirmed by a psychologist - which explained the poor comprehension generally, although she can concentrate when highly motivated in a quiet 1:1 situation, using hyper focus.

If I were you, unless you can afford a private psychologist or psychiatrist, l would go down the medical route for ADD/ADHD with the NHS asap, because it's likely to take some time, while you look for any other assessments like OT, SALT, ed psy or whatever.

Hi Checklist. Many thanks for this. Yes, your DD does sound quite similar. Can psychologists diagnose ADD as well? We've been told a diagnosis would take a long time through the NHS in our area, and for various reasons we feel we don't really have that sort of time. If psychologists can, are they a different type the EPs? You mention a neuro-educational psychologist - do they cover pretty much all SpLD, as it sounds like that might be our best bet.
Thanks again

Eps can usually diagnose ADD, but you will need a SALT consultation. Your DD could well have SLI, which often coexists with ADD and can show some of the features you mention. The EPs and SALTS usually work closely together. SLI (specific language impairment) is as common as dyslexia but often not picked up.

Hi there, my DS saw an EP in Brighton, who was outstanding. Please PM me for her contact details if you feel it would be helpful.

Dyspraxia usually shows physically (but not necessarily and yes, you can be a dancer and dyspraxic) - it is normally evident in gross motor skills, or fine motor skills or coordination. Then, it is very evident in processing and all that entails - so, organisation, big picture to little picture, getting things down on paper, prioritising or saliency (basically the big picture), being easily distracted (and the opposite - very observant of what is happening around them), working memory issues (so, by turning a page, they get lost). The difficulty of friendships and emotional side are also characteristic but then, they are also typical in any child with additional needs who is self-aware.
I have never pm-ed but happy to try if you still want the details of the OT with the cats.

Hope you are making some headway.

An Educational Psychologist would be able to assess and advise on cognitive difficulties, attention, memory, processing difficulties, verbal and non verbal skills. They would likely to be able to advise on other specialist assessments you should seek depending on their findings. EPs can't diagnose medical conditions like ADD ,ADD, Dyspraxia etc though they would recognise indicators and recommend further assessment by relevant professionals.