Psychometric Assessments

Embrace Wellness Consultancy provides psychometric testing to children, adolescents, and adults for a variety of purposes including, intellectual developmental disorder, learning difficulties and giftedness. The instruments used for the assessment will depend on the reason for the referral.

Cognitive Assessments

A cognitive assessment also known as an intelligence test, is used to determine an individual’s learning capacity by identifying their cognitive strengths and challenges. Activities including quizzes and puzzles are used to measure an individual's verbal comprehension, problem solving, working memory and processing speed abilities.
In combination with background information such as childhood development, school history, and medical diagnoses, the results can assist with the development of individualised education plans, applications for funding and work placements.

What is an intellectual development disorder?

An intellectual developmental disorder as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition (DSM-5 TR) is “a disorder with onset during the developmental period that includes both intellectual and adaptive functioning deficits in conceptual, social and practical domains.” An individual may experience difficulties learning in academic areas such as reading, writing and maths, retaining information and performing daily life activities such as communicating, managing money and maintaining friendships. Categories of severity include mild, moderate, severe and profound.

What is a learning deficit?

A learning deficit or disability can be defined as an individual experiencing difficulty with learning in a specific academic area. For example, reading, writing or math. It is different from an intellectual developmental disorder, which affects every aspect of how the brain learns and understands information. Some common learning disabilities include:

Dyslexia – difficulty with reading and writing

Dysgraphia – difficulty with spelling and handwriting

Dyscalculia – difficulty with math

Dysphasia – difficulty with speaking and understanding other’s speech

Additional testing is required for the above diagnoses.

What does it mean to be gifted?

There are many definitions of giftedness and this will depend on the context and decisions being made such as eligibility for education programs and services. An individual may be defined as gifted if they demonstrate an advanced ability in one or more specific areas of learning, when compared to others the same age. They may excel in their thinking, comprehension and reasoning skills. A heightened sense of awareness, excellent memory, highly developed curiosity and emotional maturity are also some common characteristics and traits. The majority of the population will obtain an IQ score within the 85-115 range. The mean or average IQ is 100. Categories for gifted individuals include mild, moderate, highly gifted and profoundly gifted.

Tips for Parents:
It is important to learn about your child's learning needs in order to support them with achieving their goals.
It is recommended to connect with other families who have children with similar learning needs.
It is important to be patient if your child experiences learning difficulties, as they may learn at a slower pace.

It is important to teach independence and responsibility where possible.
Look for opportunities in the community to connect your child to social, recreational and sports activities.

Your practitioner will spend some time with you and your child/adolescent if applicable, during the first appointment, obtaining background information about current difficulties, previous diagnoses and academic and/or work performance. This appointment can be completed in person or via telehealth.

The assessment will require an in-person appointment and can take up to two hours, which may need to be done over two sessions for young children.

The information obtained from both appointments will be used to write a detailed report explaining the clients overall intellectual functioning. It will identify areas of strength and need and the impacts on day-to-day functioning. Depending on the assessment results, recommendations will be provided, which can include further assessment or referral to specialist services.

The feedback session can either be done in person or via telehealth.

If you or your child require an intellectual assessment, contacting Embrace Wellness Consultancy, will give you the opportunity to discuss your needs and schedule in an appointment at a time that is convenient for you. Once an appointment has been made, you will be emailed a client information form and service agreement, which we require you to complete and sign, ready to give to your psychologist on the day of your first appointment.

Previous reports such as speech therapy, medical or school reports will assist in the process of obtaining background information and is encouraged to be brought along to your appointment.

The standard cost of an intellectual assessment is $1,000. There may be additional fees if more than one session is required to complete the assessment or other testing is required in order to support applications. For example, the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, which measure adaptive behaviour. This assessment tool can be used to support the diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Details of the assessment include:

– Initial Interview
– Assessment session/s
– Report Writing
– Feedback Session

All fees will be required to be paid on the day of service and before the report is released.

Book An Appointment

876 Edgars Rd
Epping VIC 3076
0432 318 698
[email protected]