For Parents
All our psychologists are extremely experienced at working with children of all ages. They are all members of The British Psychological Society or The Health Professions Council. All have current enhanced disclosures from the Criminal Records Bureau.
This page will give you an outline of the difficulties that may be affecting your child and an insight into how we work with them to optimize their development.
Please use the menu below to download PDF information sheets on the following subjects:
In addition to the above information sheets, please read on for detailed information regarding:
Outcomes of an undiagnosed SpLD
The assessment and report
School Interventions and legislation
Study and technological aids
Common outcomes for those who have an undiagnosed specific learning difficulty
A specific learning difficulty is not related to IQ/Intelligence. Therefore, many children suffer from high degrees of frustration and lack the ability to concentrate. They can easily fall behind their peers in literacy and numeracy, as they are unable to grasp concepts when taught in a conventional manner. Consequently, it may become difficult to have meaningful relationships with the peer-group. Behaviour can become erratic, with a tendency to have good days and bad days. Emotional outbursts and impulsiveness may become evident. Sleeping problems have been found to be a common symptom.
The most common outcome is a steady decline in self-esteem, which can have far-reaching consequences for a child. Eventually a child may become disengaged from the school system, resulting in behavioural problems.
Putting it right: The Assessment model and report
With the right interventions, a child can re-engage with academic life and be able to achieve results more in line with their IQ. At the Educational Guidance Service, our team of Educational Psychologists are very experienced in working with children and young adults of all ages either privately or in a school setting.
You may have contacted us directly or the school may have recommended an assessment. The type, content and length of the assessment will depend on the information that is already available as well as your child’s particular difficulties. Information provided by the school or any other agency may be used to build up an understanding of your child’s learning history.
It is possible that literacy, memory, organisation or other difficulties are affecting your child’s ability to learn effectively. The assessment will enable the Educational Psychologist to identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses to help them become a more effective learner.
Our educational psychologist will assess your child in a non-threatening environment. The assessment session itself looks at your child’s approach to tasks in areas such as language, speed of processing information, working memory and spatial awareness.
All the tests administered are age appropriate and the results give a detailed profile of the strengths and weakness displayed by your child.
The report
The results of all the tests administered are recorded in a comprehensive report for you. We advise that this report is shared with your child’s school.
Recommendations are made to assist with your child’s learning. From the profile gained, recommendations are tailored to the individual child so that information can be presented in a way suited to their strengths and weaknesses. The recommendations section also lists any relevant strategies and literacy and numeracy aids that may be of use, together with assistive technology where appropriate. Examples of the type of assistive interventions that the educational psychologist is qualified to recommend, are listed below.
The report and the school
You can take a copy of the report to your school. It is likely that your school with have a special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo). They will be familiar with the terminology of the report and the type of recommendations that are made. They will have their own internal assistive systems, which the report may feed in to.
If you have concerns about your childs development and learning, and you wish to find out more information and/or arrange an assessment, please complete our
You can post it to us or email it to info@egs.org.uk
School Interventions
If a child begins to struggle academically, the school will contact the parents/care-givers of that child and consult with them regarding the interventions they wish to implement. The school works to the guidelines of the government policy, the SEN Code of Practice. To view a copy click here
School Action
The school will implement school action when a pupil begins to fall behind his/her peers in literacy and numeracy, or where there are emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. They are internal interventions, based on governmental guidelines, actioned by the teachers and teaching assistants and guided by the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator). The interventions could include equipment, aids and teaching strategies which differ from the conventional.
School Action Plus
School action plus will be implemented if a child is not making progress under the School Action interventions. The school will seek external support, through the LEA, which could involve Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy or Educational Psychology. The LEA will have access to support from agencies specialising in the autistic spectrum. The school will implement an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for the child, to design intervention strategy and track progress.
Statement of Educational Needs
If your child is not making progress under School Action or School Action Plus the school may request an assessment for a statement of educational needs from the Local Education Authority. The school will always talk to you first before making this application. You can also request an assessment through your school. The assessment explores what the needs of your child are and how these needs can be met within the mainstream school system with external support.
For more information on how your child’s needs are met within the statementing system, please visit your local LEA website. The website will also contain information about Parent Partnership organisations within your area, which offer advice and support for parents with children with special educational needs. For more information on the Parent Partnership go to www.parentpartnership.org.uk
For more information about how the assessment part of the statementing process works and how to access support go to www.direct.gov.uk and click on the parent page.
New legislation
The coalition Government has published a green paper consultation, Support and Aspiration: A new approach to SEN and Disability (Department of Education 2011). In line with the new Health and Social Care Bill, this paper proposes more choice and control for children with SEN and their parents. The proposal is designed to give parents control of personalised budgets with which they can purchase children’s services as they wish. The bias toward inclusion will be tempered to allow families to have their choice of state school, academy, special or free school. It is proposed that by 2014, greater collaborative multi-agency working will facilitate the new ‘Education, Health and Care Plan’, anticipated to replace the statutory SEN assessment and statement.
For more information and a PDF version of the complete green paper go to www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople and click on SEN and disability
Study and Technological Aids
There are a wide range of products and aids available to assist your child. Some examples can be found below. This list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the Educational Psychologist will be able to make specific recommendations, depending on your child’s profile, of what is most suitable. The SENCO at your school will also be able to advise you and let you know what is available at your child’s school.
Aids for handwriting
Poor handwriting is a common feature for someone with a specific learning difficulty, whether it is dyslexia, dyspraxia or dysgraphia.
There are many grips available in a variety of shapes and sizes that encourage your child to hold a pencil in the correct way to maximise control and minimise stress to the hand and arm.
Specially designed pencils and pens are available to ensure development of a good grip. A company called Penagain have developed the ‘Twist & Write’ pen and pencil which is effective and reasonably priced. For more information go to www.penagain.com. The ‘Twist & Write’ is readily available through Amazon.
Yoropen have created pens with an ergonomic finger support and adjustable grip, stopping the fingers from slipping towards the nib and lessening strain and fatigue. More information is available from www.yoropen.com. Also available through Amazon or www.penheaven.co.uk
Visual Stress
Coloured overlays are available for text books and PC screens, in a variety of colours to suit the individual. Tinted exercise books are available to assist and improve presentation as well as learning.
Tinted reading rulers – especially effective for dyslexia and or/ visual stress symptoms to allow the child to follow text effectively, allowing improved comprehension and reading skills. They are available in a variety of colours. A choice of widths are suitable for how confident the reader is.
Numeracy
Number grids, rainbows and lines are often used to assist and boost learning and memory. For an insight on the type of products available go to www.sweetcounter.co.uk
AD(H)D and Autistic Spectrum aids
There are many items available to assist a child form whom sitting still and listening for prolonged periods is a struggle.
Focus for fidgets - Various manipulative toys are available to assist a child to fidget without disturbing others. Products available are
Brightly coloured pipe cleaners - simple, cheap and effective!
Tangles - hand held devices of various colours and textures that a child can manipulate and twist.
Pencil toppers - ideal for the classroom - various colours and shapes that slot on to the top of your childs pencil.
For concentration and time management difficulties - There are many timers available in variour presentations and design to assist with focusing and concentration
Social skills and communication difficulties - Ideal for the Autistic Spectrum
Talking blocks
Visual Timetable
Feelings cards and books
For more details about these products plus the full range available please visit www.specialdirect.com
Technological aids
Your school will have access to various teaching strategies to assist children who are struggling with reading, spelling and numeracy;
Toe-by Toe – a well renowned resource, Toe by Toe is a multi-sensory approach to aid reading. A popular resource for schools and can be used at home. The concept is to teach phonemes through nonsense words (called ‘polynons’). These taught rules are then applied to multi-syllabic words, enhancing the child’s ability to effectively de-code words. For more information go to www.toe-by-toe.co.uk
Wordshark and Numbershark
Wordshark – Age appropriate computer games to assist and reinforce spelling and reading. The games set up of the programmes is attractive to children who may be struggling or disengaged with mainstream teaching strategies.
Numbershark – Aims to address the difficulties a dyslexic or dyscalculic pupil may have with numeric concepts. The age appropriate games help reinforce number concepts and aid memory by giving visual examples of mathematical concepts.
For more information on either the literacy or numeracy applications go to www.wordshark.co.uk
Clicker 5
A multi-media approach to aid with successful reading and writing skills. It can be applied to improving skills, assisting those with SEN and those with English as a second language. Very popular in primary schools due to its clear grid layout and attractive design. The child can choose whole words or phrases to make a sentence. There is a natural voice aid that speaks the word chosen as the word is highlighted on the screen, enabling the child to review text they have written or preview words they want to write. This enables the writer to hear errors and self-correct, as well as reinforcing word recognition. There is a version available for home use. For more information go to www.cricksoft.com