| Are you the parent of a child with autism that will be | | | | testing tedious for the child, is the child hyperactive or |
| evaluated shortly by your school district psychologist? | | | | hypoactive etc. |
| Do you wonder what items need to be included in | | | | Item 4: Test Results and Interpretations of Test |
| your child's testing and in the psychological report to | | | | Results |
| help determine your child's educational needs? This | | | | This section of the report is important because the |
| article will discuss the 5 things that need to be included | | | | test results are given and the results are also |
| in special education evaluations and psychological | | | | interpreted. This section of the report should also state |
| reports to benefit your child's education. | | | | whether the child is making educational progress and is |
| The psychological evaluation is important to determine | | | | benefiting from the specially designed educational |
| if a child is eligible to receive special education services, | | | | instruction. |
| and what educational services they require. That is | | | | Item 5: Summary of Test Results and |
| why it is critical for parents to be involved in the | | | | Recommendations for Intervention |
| process of determining what type of testing will be | | | | This section of the psychological report has a |
| done. Below are 5 things that need to be included in a | | | | summary of test results as well as recommendations |
| psychological report. | | | | for interventions. In my advocacy I rarely see |
| Item 1: Reason for the referral | | | | recommendations for educational interventions in |
| This section should specifically state why the child is | | | | school psychology reports. But as a parent you have |
| being referred for an evaluation. Academic difficulties, | | | | a right to ask for them if they are not in your child's |
| fine motor difficulties, behavioral difficulties, speech | | | | psychological report. |
| language difficulties, sensory integration problems etc. | | | | This section should also state whether the child is |
| This part of the report gives the reader a framework | | | | eligible for special education services or not. Many |
| for the evaluation findings. | | | | school psychologists are not even mentioning this in |
| Item 2: Child history and background information | | | | their psychological reports or are stating something like |
| The psychologist needs to do a thorough history of | | | | this; The child's eligibility for special education will be |
| the child to include a medical history and pre natal | | | | determined by the IEP team. If your child's report does |
| history. | | | | not mention eligibility, bring it up at the IEP meeting. Also |
| This historical section should also contain a complete | | | | make sure that your child's IEP has the box checked |
| review of the child's educational history and concluding | | | | where it states that your child is eligible for special |
| with the child's current placement. | | | | education services. |
| Item 3: Child behavior during testing | | | | By understanding what 5 things should be in a school |
| Behavioral observations of the child during testing are | | | | psychology report you will be able to bring up at an IEP |
| critical to the entire psychological evaluation. It is not | | | | meeting anything that was left out. This will help you to |
| only important how the child tests in terms of scores | | | | be an equal member of your child's IEP team, and also |
| but what does the child do during the process of the | | | | help you advocate for your child. |
| testing. Is the child able to attend to the testing, is the | | | | |