Assessments at Bella Vida

The aim of the Assessments conducted at the Bella Vida Centre is to focus on discovering ways to support children, adolescents and their families who are in need. Psychological testing is a valuable and safe method of obtaining information to help clients optimally.

What is an Assessment?

An Assessment involves the collection of meaningful information to understand and help children and their families cope with problems that they might be experiencing. These problems can be cognitive, developmental, behavioural, emotional or scholastic in nature.

The Assessment of a child is often based on information obtained from a variety of sources. These can include records and reports; interviews with the child, parents, teachers and other caregivers; observation; standardised tests and other special procedures.

The standardised tests used during an Assessment provide the therapist with a means of observing and determining the client's abilities and potential in a systematic way.

An Assessment is not a once-and-for-ever matter. Children and their families change as a result of development, life experiences and interventions. A psycho-educational Assessment aims to determine the child's capabilities and potential at a specific moment in time, in order to find appropriate interventions in collaboration with the parents and other caregivers.

After an Assessment is conducted, a feedback session is scheduled for the psychologist to provide you with feedback on the information, dynamics and symptoms identified on the Assessment. During the feedback session, the Psychologist will make certain recommendations and provide you with a written report.

The Assessment and the recommended interventions are not meant to be seen as a final solution to the child's difficulties. An Assessment should be seen as the beginning of a process: a continuous activity that changes as the child's needs change.

Different types of Assessments available at Bella Vida:

Psycho-Educational Assessment of School-age children and adolescents

• School readiness
• Identification of learning difficulties and barriers to learning & development
• Subject choice / Field of study
• Career Guidance

When to assess:

You'd like to obtain a profile of strengths and developmental needs of your child. This will help you to better understand the child as an individual and know the type of support s/he's in need of.

Your child is:

SCHOLASTIC

• Of school going age soon (5/6) and you'd like to determine if s/he is ready (physically ripe & emotionally ready) for the formal school programme (grade 1)
• not achieving according to his/her potential
• is doing well in some learning areas - but seems to struggle in others
• is struggling with reading, despite numerous attemtps to support reading efforts
• differently abled & seems different from age-related peers
• not progressing academically

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL

• finding it difficult to integrate socially (make & keep friends)
• finding it difficult to assert him-/herself
• has low self-image / self-worth / self-esteem / opinion of self

BEHAVIOUR

• behaving in a way that is causing trouble / social discomfort
• struggling to accept discipline

EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT

• You would like to establish which class: Special class / Learning Support (LS/remedial) class, or type of school (academic/ LS / technical, etc) would best suit your child's needs

SUBJECT CHOICE

• Choose the right subjects for Grades 9-12 to keep options open

CAREER GUIDANCE (See more info under 'Career Guidance tab)

• Based on the child's Interest, Personality & Aptitude in Grades 11-12, broad fields to be explored further can be indicated