It is natural to feel uncertain when you visit any therapist for the first time. You might wonder how your child will cope in an unfamiliar setting, or feel anxious about what the assessment might reveal.
An assessment should be viewed as a starting point; it is a snap shot of a child in a moment in time that can help the therapist understand your child’s individual strengths, challenges, and the specific support they need at home, at school, and in the community to be successful. It may also provide a basis for further exploration and investigating. The assessment process should be viewed as a collaborative approach that can begin to build a picture of your child or teen’s strengths and challenges.
What Is an Occupational Therapy Assessment for a Child?
An occupational therapy assessment will investigate how factors might impact on a child’s participation in daily occupations. A child or teen’s occupations might include their play, their self care, their daily living skills, their friendships/relationships, their school/early years setting or for teens it might be their employment. It is very complex for an occupational therapist to assess all these areas in an assessment process. An assessment of all these areas is often called a Functional Capacity Assessment and will often take up to 15hours of time to complete.
Typically, the assessment process is far more targeted. This assessment will be based on why the child or teen was referred and the key goals for therapy.
What Types of Assessments Does Child Sense Perform?
Child Sense conducts a range of occupational therapy assessments. New service participants can choose from:
Standard Occupational Therapy Assessment: This is a dynamic assessment process that is individualised to your child. This process includes:
- An initial interview goal setting meeting with the carers and/or child if they are able to be part of the process (e.g. teens).
- Direct observation of your child in the clinic and/or community setting depending on the discussions in the initial interview.
- Scoring and reviewing questionnaires and assessment results.
- A formal report or short summary of findings depending on the participant’s need.
- A feedback meeting to discuss results and plan ongoing service delivery if required.
Evaluation of Ayres’ Sensory Integration (EASI)
Child Sense offers EASI assessments focused on assessing key sensory integration functions. The process is similar to the above however the administration time of this assessment can range from 1.5-3.5 hours so can be broken up into multiple assessment times if required. Your therapist will advise how many sessions are required after meeting your child.
Dynamic Assessment
This form of assessment typically occurs over a number of weeks and is suitable for participants who may not be appropriate for standardised testing, or those who benefit from prioritising rapport building and connection at the beginning of therapy. Dynamic assessment is also appropriate for participants with highly specific goal areas, such as learning to tie shoelaces or developing a particular daily living skill.
Functional Capacity Assessment
A functional capacity assessment is a broad and in-depth assessment of a person’s ability to participate in everyday life activities. The report needs to identify the support needs of the person, identify opportunities for capacity building, make recommendations on supports required and cover all areas of function. Functional Capacity Assessments require an estimated 10-15 hours and includes:
- An interview with the carer or participant
- Administration and scoring of home questionnaires
- Functional observation whether in clinic or in the home (or both)
- Reviewing other providers reports and discussion with other providers
- Report writing and feedback with the participant
What Does the Standard Occupational Therapy Assessment Process Look Like?
The Referral
The assessment process begins before you see your therapist. As part of our intake into the service participants will complete some referral information. This can be done through our online referral form or by phoning the clinic and providing the information over the phone with the administration team. Referral information includes your child’s basic information but also your key goals for therapy.
The Initial Interview with Parents or Caregivers
The initial interview normally lasts up to an hour. This is an extended discussion just between the therapist and carer and/or participant (if older) which can be conducted online, in person or on the phone. This allows the therapist to:
- Hear the expectations from the carers or participant of the assessment process
- Develop goal areas for therapy
- Gather some historical and background information about the participant
- Discuss the assessment plan with the carer
The therapist will ask about your child’s development, their daily routine at home and school, and the specific concerns that led you to find support. Questions that they may ask include:
- Can you tell me what your normal morning routine looks like?
- Can your child dress and undress independently?
- Do they manage tasks like brushing their teeth or washing their hands without assistance?
- What does meal time look like in your household?
- Are there any activities in school or at home that your child finds difficult, like writing, concentrating, or group activities?
- How does your child respond to sensory experiences like loud noise, crowded spaces, or certain textures?
The Face to Face Observation
The face to face observation will be based around the goals set in the initial interview process. For some participants a more collaborative and child directed assessment process is the only option in order to ensure safety and security and to see the child’s strengths and interests. For all participants however, identifying their strengths, interests and values is an essential part of any assessment process. A child’s diagnosis does not define who they are or their capacities. Child Sense aims to meet the child where they are at a build of their strengths and abilities to maximise their participation. The assessment process should provide a window into these strengths and abilities.
For many children, the assessment process is often based on playing, as children will demonstrate their most authentic skills when they are engaged and at ease. When a child approaches activities in a playful way they are demonstrating curiosity and interest, which are signs of reduced anxiety. A therapist might observe areas such as how your child moves, how they hold and manipulate objects, and how their hands and eyes work together, how they connect and share experiences, whether they show any sensitivity to sensory input or difficulty sustaining attention.
To the child, it feels like a play. To the therapist, each activity provides meaningful clinical data. Building with blocks, drawing, throwing a ball, or navigating an obstacle course all reveal different aspects of motor development, sensory processing, and self-regulation.
For some children, the assessment process can be more direct with the use of specific assessment protocols including standardised measures. Some of the standardised measures used by the service include:
- The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-3
- The Evaluation of Ayres’ Sensory Integration
- Peabody Developmental Motor Scales -2,
- Developmental Assessment of The Speed of Handwriting-2
- Beery Buktenica Test of Visual Motor Integration 6th Edition
Feedback About The Results
Often at the end of the face to face observation the therapist will focus on transitioning smoothly out of the session rather than providing extensive verbal feedback of what was observed. This also protects the child’s self esteem by avoiding speaking about a child while they are present. Instead a feedback meeting will be booked following the face to face assessment to discuss the assessment findings. The feedback meeting usually takes 45minutes but can take longer.
Between the face to face assessment and feedback meeting the therapist will compile their results. If a formal report has been requested by the family this will take up to 10 working days to complete following the face to face assessment.
During the feedback meeting the therapist will discuss:
- A summary of the assessment findings
- Refining the initial goals if required
- The plan for ongoing therapy if required
- How carers would like weekly recommendations provided
- Recommendations for other paediatric health professionals where appropriate
How Child Sense Can Help
The team at Child Sense takes a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach to paediatric occupational therapy. We tailor an assessment process for a range of neurotypes including those who are Autistic and those who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
We also assess the capacities of children and teens with a range of diagnoses and challenges including coordination challenges, handwriting difficulties, mental health diagnoses, executive functioning challenges, developmental coordination disorder/ dyspraxia, developmental delay, emotional regulation challenges, and complex and co-occurring needs.
Our sessions are for 45 to 60 minutes each and are tailored to your child’s specific needs. Child Sense is a registered NDIS provider that supports families on both self-management and managed plans. We also offer school visits, educator consultations and group programmes.
If you have questions or would like to book an initial assessment, visit childsense.com.au or contact the team directly.