Recently, my mentally disabled grandchildren experienced Psycho-Educational testing with a result of two of them being diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability, and the third with a specific learning disability. These diagnoses means that each child is likely to learn and develop significantly more slowly than other children of the same age. When I was first told my two eldest grandchildren have Intellectual Disabilities, I had no idea what that meant, so I checked out some websites.
According to Community Living Ontario, at http://www.communitylivingontario.ca, an Intellectual disability is:
- a disability that significantly affects one’s ability to learn and use information. It is a disability that is present during childhood and continues throughout one’s life. A person who has an intellectual disability is capable of participating effectively in all aspects of daily life, but sometimes requires more assistance than others in learning a task, adapting to changes in tasks and routines, and addressing the many barriers to participation that result from the complexity of our society.
When the Psychological Report was compiled and a diagnosis made, many aspects of my grandchildren’s lives and abilities were taken into consideration, i.e.,
- Reason For Referral (in their case to review their learning strengths and needs for program planning)
- Background Information
- Observations during the assessment
- Document Reviews of previous assessments and school reports
- Interviews with the child and myself
- Assessment Measures which include professional Developmental Tests
- Behaviour Testing
- Memory and Learning Testing
- Individual Achievement Testing
For the children, I suspect, the testing felt long and arduous as it was completed over several appointments, but each one managed to complete the task, and as a result my two eldest grandchildren were placed in a specialized school program for children with learning disabilities.
