Communication assessment for a 10½ year old

This boy was referred by his mother who was concerned that he did not always understand instructions in class and that as a result he was beginning to doubt his skills and lack confidence.

In the past he had received additional teaching support but no longer received this.

I offered a detailed formal and informal language assessment and this child was fully cooperative with a lengthy assessment, although seemed a little anxious and wary about the test situation.

He presented as a sociable communicator with mature attention skills. Individual assessment showed that he presented with age-appropriate receptive language skills and above average expressive language skills. It is unusual for children to present with a profile of more skill expressively than receptively and as a result it may be that at times this child might ‘cover up’ underlying receptive issues with his better expressive skills.

There seemed to be some processing issues at times when he needed additional time and repetitions in order to gain correct responses.

Regular therapy was not indicated but there were some general strategies that were pertinent to advise for both this child and his teachers within the class to support his learning in his final year at Primary School.

It was also important to identify some excellent underlying language skills and strengths with this boy and to praise these with him.

A detailed report was written and discussed with this child, his parents and his teachers, and then no further sessions were needed.