Why all the rating scales?
An important part of the assessment process is collecting feedback from parents and teachers about a child’s behavior and emotional functioning at home and school. One of the ways I do this is by using norm-referenced rating scales. For a scale to be norm-referenced, it must generate scores based on how the ratings (by the parent or teacher) compare to the way in which many other parents or teachers rated children of the same age group, allowing us to see if the child is about average, or experiencing greater difficulty than his or her peers. I recently received an email from a parent whose child I was testing. The parent emailed a common question, which I have posted here, removing all identifying information:
The questions seem to be tailored for kids with real problems and were not applicable to [my son]. In summary, he reached all his developmental milestones ahead of time or on time, never delayed. From walking, talking, potty trained (actually very early), etc.. He is a happy, social, smart and athletic kid… his IQ was above average…The only thing is really some difficulty in reading comprehension, all the rest of the form was mostly N/A.
Here was my response:
Thank you for putting in the time completing these lengthy forms. I know they can be cumbersome! And especially if you are singularly focused on the question of reading, everything else can seem like overkill. The thing is, as a psychologist who sees all sorts of academic difficulties, I know that the evaluation should never just be focused on the question of reading because there are a handful of other factors that can operate in the background of a child's development and show up as reading difficulty. This is precisely why schools like [your school] recommend a full psychoeducational evaluation when a child presents with reading difficulty. It is very helpful data, and important to the overall picture, knowing that [your son] had an unremarkable early childhood, an above average IQ, and is currently well adjusted and happy. But many times parents have been surprised by other factors they hadn't considered, which come to light either through direct assessment with the child by me, or through thorough data collection from the teachers (and parents) - most often, there are undetected difficulties with attention, memory, and general executive functioning that are getting in the way. Even if the end result is simply ruling out other explanations, it is worth the extra time and effort so that we can chart the best path forward for supporting [your son] and making sure he is on track to fulfilling his learning potential. Ultimately, my goal is to provide you with the most accurate and parsimonious explanation of his reading difficulty, and give you my best recommendations. I hope this is helpful context.
If you ever have a question about the “why” or “how” of your child’s assessment, please don’t hesitate to ask. There is a carefully considered reason behind every step of the process.
