GPC provides comprehensive psycho-educational assessments for children, adolescents, and adults. During a psycho-educational assessment, you (or your child, if relevant) will complete a variety of tasks and activities to gain information about your (or your child’s) thinking and reasoning abilities, information processing abilities, academic skills, and any social, emotional, or behavioural factors that may affect learning, employment, or everyday functioning. All assessments identify and describe your (or your child’s) strengths and challenges, and when appropriate, a clinical diagnosis is made. Diagnoses considered include Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Language Disorder, and mental health disorders (e.g., anxiety, mood).
Typically, a total of 5-8 hours is spent completing assessment tasks with each assessment session lasting 1-3 hours. The length and number of assessment sessions will vary depending on age; younger children may need a number of short sessions, whereas adolescents or adults usually complete all assessment tasks in two sessions. In addition to completing assessment tasks, you (or your child) will be asked to participate in an interview and to complete checklists. With client/parent/guardian consent, parents/guardians and/or school staff may be asked to complete interviews and checklists.
After assessment tasks are completed, the assessor will meet with you (and your child, if relevant) to go over results. You will receive an assessment report which summarizes and explains findings, communicates diagnoses where appropriate, and provides recommended strategies, resources, and next steps to inform educational programming, vocational planning/performance, or everyday functioning. For school aged children and youth, learning, assessment, and environmental strategies are recommended to support classroom and/or special education programming. Adult assessment results can be used to determine access to post-secondary accommodations and services or to determine eligibility for Developmental Services Ontario supports.