The parent plays an instrumental role throughout a child’s assessment process. There are two primary sessions where a parent’s active involvement would contribute to the assessment’s effectiveness – the Interview Session and the Concluding Session.

1. Interview Session

During the Interview Session, the parent will be requested to provide a comprehensive background on the child’s reading, spelling and writing progress over the years. Apart from the child’s learning needs, it would also be helpful to provide the psychologist with specific concerns of the child. For example, development of daily living skills (e.g. personal independence), concerns about social interactions (e.g. social withdrawal), and issues that compromise the child’s psychological wellbeing (e.g. anxiety, bullying). Together, these pieces of information aid the psychologist to construe a holistic understanding of the child’s psycho-educational needs which would, in turn, inform better recommendations.

2. Concluding Session

During the Concluding Session, the parent will be invited to meet with their child’s psychologist to receive feedback regarding the child’s strengths and weaknesses in their learning profile as well as recommendations for relevant intervention and strategies to reinforce their strengths and circumvent their weaknesses. Once the feedback is shared, parents are encouraged to be involved in ensuring that the recommendations are followed through with the respective institutions (i.e. school, hospital, welfare organisation) and appropriate help is provided according to the child’s needs.

A child’s journey to fulfilling his/her potential requires the patient understanding and continuous involvement of a parent. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi: “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.”

Written by DAS SpLD Assessment Services

More about DAS Main Literacy Programme