How to Prepare Your Child for Psycho-Educational Testing
Here are some useful tips to help your child be prepared to participate actively in the assessment process and to ensure the testing process yields valuable results:
Sleep: You will want to ensure your child gets adequate sleep for the nights leading up to the testing session. You should also avoid having your child participate in any activities that involve staying up late the night before the session (e.g., sleepovers, out-of-area trips).
Clothing: Have your child dress in comfortable clothes, ideally in layers to accommodate for different temperatures in the office.
Food: We recommend having your child eat a good breakfast on the morning of the testing session. You should also pack some snacks and drinks for your child to have during breaks in testing — to keep energy and motivation at optimal levels for testing.
Medication: Your child should take all medication, as prescribed, on the day of the testing session.
Assistive devices: Please make sure your child comes to the appointment with their prescribed glasses / contacts, hearing aids, or other devices.
Illness: If your child is not feeling well the night before or morning of the testing session, please let Dr. Ralph know as soon as possible. Given the potential significant impact of illness on performance, it would be better to cancel and reschedule than proceed with testing and obtain inaccurate results. Details about our illness policy are available here
For parents: Parents of children in elementary school will be required to stay on-site in the waiting area during the entire session. It is often reassuring for younger children to spend break time with a parent. Parents of children in middle or high school, on the other hand, can choose to stay during the session or drop off/return at the end of the scheduled appointment. We recommend bringing necessary materials to keep you occupied. Please be aware we do not have guest Wi-Fi service available at this time, so you may consider bringing your personal hotspot device.
How should I explain testing to my child?
To prepare your child mentally for the session, you may consider explaining when and how long they will be in the office; your appointment confirmation email and appointment details in the client portal will contain this information.
You can also explain that they will be working on different activities that help us figure out how best they learn and how to make school feel less stressful. Your child may be asked to work on a wide range of tasks, such as answering questions, solving puzzles, and working on the computer.
Every 45 minutes or so, your child will take a 10-minute break, during which time they can relax in the waiting area, have a snack, use the restroom, etc.
Avoid telling them they will be playing games or having fun. They should try their best on the tasks, as they would for their parent, teacher, or tutor. This explanation will give them a realistic sense of what to expect during the session.