Parents want to help their children be happy and reach their full potential. During their development, children learn how to solve problems, use language, acquire new knowledge and skills, and interact effectively with others. However, some children have trouble learning, paying attention to tasks, and listening to the teacher at school. Their grades start to fall and they may refuse to go to school. Other children have difficulty understanding social cues, getting along with their peers and/or following rules made by authority figures. Then there are children who get easily frustrated and angry; they go from 0 to 60 in a matter of minutes and engage in challenging behaviors (e.g., temper tantrums, throwing things, swearing). Naturally, parents or caregivers become concerned and do not know what to do to help their children. Centre of Neuropsychology and Emotional Wellness provide comprehensive assessment with children to uncover cognitive, behavioral and/or emotional issues and provide appropriate diagnosis necessary (e.g., learning disability, intellectual disability, attention hyperactive disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety, depression) Areas that are typically assessed are:
- Various forms of intelligence (e.g., verbal and nonverbal abilities)
- Visual-spatial and visual-motor skills
- Learning and memory
- Attention/concentration
- Expressive and receptive language
- Information processing speed
- Academic skills (e.g., basic reading, reading comprehension, phonological processing, written expression, spelling, math calculations, math reasoning)
- Emotional/behavioral functioning
The results of the assessment provide parents insight into their children’s difficulties and strategies to help them. Through an appreciation of a child’s strengths and weaknesses, parents can cultivate strengths and improve/assist with weaknesses. Recommendations are provided to support children at home and school and to decide on appropriate enriching extracurricular activities for them.