Cognitive assessments or intelligence tests are used to determine a child’s learning capability by identifying their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Getting an accurate IQ score can help parents to know their child’s intellectual ability and potential that allows parents and teachers to make good educational decisions for them. An IQ test can assess various areas of cognitive capacity, for example:
- Visual-Spatial: the ability to evaluate visual details and understand visual-spatial relationships
- Fluid Reasoning: the ability to use conceptual information from visual details and apply that knowledge
- Working Memory: the ability to learn, manipulate and retain information to complete new tasks
- Processing Speed: the ability to quickly process and make judgments about visual information
Doing an IQ test with children help assist in the examination of:
Intellectual Giftedness
IQ test will help to assess whether a child can access gifted and talented programs or special classes e.g. admission to selective schools, acceleration or opportunity classes.
Diagnosing learning difficulties or disabilities in children
IQ test can assist in identifying the presence of a learning difficulty or disorder in children and to help teachers make appropriate accommodations for students in the classroom. This information can be used to manage and minimise negative experiences at school such as poor academic results, school avoidance and low self-esteem.
Intellectual difficulty or disability
IQ test will assist in identifying children with an intellectual disability. Following an assessment, children and parents will have a better understanding around how an intellectual disability impacts the child’s ability to learn. It will also help to provide information to develop effective plans or accommodations in the classroom that are tailored to meet a child’s specific needs. Results can also assist in making applications to access government or school disability funding, special needs teachers or special provisions in formal school examinations.
Tips for parents
- At the intake evaluation, it is helpful if parents bring any previous assessments that have been completed by other professionals, such as Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational therapists, Optometrists, or from the school if your child has an IEP.
- To help testing run more smoothly, make sure parents or children get plenty of rest the night before, eat a meal with protein before coming to testing, and takes any medications as prescribed. Please feel free to bring any healthy snacks for the child.
- The testing process can be anxiety-provoking. Therefore, we take great care to provide the child with a comfortable environment and incorporate breaks into the testing process. This can include playing a short game, take a quick walk, or eat a snack to avoid fatigue.
- Preparing the child for testing will minimize anxiety and encourage cooperation: try to avoid using the word “test” as this tends to provoke anxiety in school-aged children, explain to your child that s/he will be meeting with a psychologist alone.
How much will testing costs?
Psychological testing involves administration, scoring, and interpretation of tests; it also requires the psychologist to prepare a written report and meet with parents to review the results. The cost of testing varies depending on the battery of tests required and will be determined during the intake evaluation. The payment for a full assessment will cover the total number of hours required by the psychologist(s) to complete the full evaluation process from testing time with the child to results review session with parents.
