Your child completes a one-to-one cognitive assessment using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V).

The WISC-V provides a detailed picture of different areas of cognitive functioning, including abilities such as verbal reasoning, visual-spatial and fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed.

Rather than focusing only on an overall IQ score, the assessment helps us understand your child’s individual pattern of cognitive strengths and relative difficulties.

This is particularly useful in a learning assessment because it allows academic performance to be considered in the context of how your child processes information. For example, difficulties with working memory or processing speed may help explain why some classroom tasks require significantly more effort, even when a child has strong reasoning abilities.

Cognitive testing does not diagnose a learning disorder by itself. Instead, it forms one important part of the broader assessment picture.

Your child also completes the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Third Edition (WIAT-III).

The WIAT-III assesses academic skills across areas such as reading, written language and mathematics, allowing us to look closely at the specific areas in which your child may be experiencing difficulty.

Depending on the referral question, assessment may examine areas including:

Reading
Word reading · Reading accuracy · Reading fluency · Reading comprehension · Phonological skills

Written Language
Spelling · Sentence composition · Written expression · Writing fluency

Mathematics
Numerical operations · Mathematical reasoning · Calculation skills · Mathematical fluency

These results are interpreted alongside your child’s age, year level, educational history, cognitive profile and the support they have already received.

The purpose is not simply to identify whether a score is “low.” It is to understand the pattern of learning difficulty, whether it is clinically significant, and whether the overall findings are consistent with a Specific Learning Disorder.

Learning difficulties often become most apparent in the classroom, so information from school can be an important part of the assessment.

Where appropriate, questionnaires or information may be gathered from parents and teachers, alongside school reports, intervention history and other relevant educational information.

This helps us understand how difficulties present across different settings and whether the concerns seen during formal testing are also reflected in your child’s everyday learning.

Where relevant, we also consider factors that may influence academic performance, including attention, emotional wellbeing, school attendance, anxiety, developmental history and previous access to targeted intervention.

Bringing together these different sources of information helps ensure that the assessment reflects the whole child rather than relying on a single test result.

Once testing is complete, a substantial part of the assessment takes place behind the scenes.

Cognitive and academic measures are scored and interpreted, and the results are considered alongside your child’s developmental history, educational history, school information, questionnaires and any previous intervention or assessment data.

The key question is not simply “Is this score below average?”

Instead, the assessment considers how the different findings fit together, whether there is a persistent pattern of difficulty in a particular academic area, the extent to which the difficulty affects everyday learning, and whether the overall presentation is consistent with diagnostic criteria for a Specific Learning Disorder.

Other possible explanations or contributing factors are also considered where relevant.

This process of clinical interpretation and integration is what turns test results into a meaningful understanding of your child’s learning profile.

Following the assessment, you receive a detailed, personalised psychological report bringing together all of the information gathered throughout the assessment process.

The report includes your child’s relevant developmental and educational history, cognitive assessment findings, academic achievement results, clinical interpretation and diagnostic outcome where criteria are met.

Importantly, the report is designed to explain what the results mean for your child in everyday learning, rather than simply presenting a table of scores.

Your child’s strengths are considered alongside areas of difficulty, helping to build a clearer picture of how they learn best and where additional support may be needed.

The report also includes individualised recommendations, which may include:

• Classroom adjustments
• Strategies for reading, writing or mathematics
• Recommendations for targeted intervention
• Examination or assessment accommodations where appropriate
• Strategies for home learning
• Recommendations for further educational or allied health support
• Practical ways to support your child’s individual learning profile

The goal is for the report to remain useful well beyond the assessment itself — something that can help parents, teachers and other professionals understand your child and make informed decisions about support.

Once the report is complete, we meet for a dedicated feedback session to talk through the findings together.

I’ll explain the results in clear, practical language, including what your child’s cognitive and academic profiles show, how the different pieces of the assessment fit together, and whether criteria for a Specific Learning Disorder are met.

If a diagnosis is made, we’ll discuss what that diagnosis means and the recommendations most relevant to your child.

If diagnostic criteria are not met, the assessment can still provide valuable information. We’ll discuss what the results do tell us about your child’s learning profile, what may be contributing to their difficulties and what support may still be helpful.

You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss next steps for home, school or further intervention.

Specific Learning Disorder Assessment (Psychoeducational) — $1,595

The fee covers the complete assessment process, not only the hours your child spends completing testing.

It includes:

• Parent interview and developmental/educational history
• WISC-V cognitive assessment
• WIAT-III academic achievement assessment
• Standardised assessment materials
• Review of school reports and relevant documentation
• Parent and teacher information where appropriate
• Scoring and interpretation of cognitive and academic results
• Integration of all assessment findings
• Diagnostic consideration
• Preparation of a comprehensive personalised psychological report
• Individualised recommendations for school and home
• 30-minute feedback session

A significant amount of psychologist time is spent outside the testing appointments reviewing information, scoring and interpreting results, considering how the findings fit together, evaluating diagnostic criteria and preparing a report specific to your child.

The purpose of the assessment is not simply to provide a label. It is to help you understand how your child learns, why certain areas may be difficult, what their strengths are, and what can be done to support them more effectively.