Assessment

 

My first priority is to ensure that parents are at ease and are fully informed and involved in the process of assessment and evaluation. After all it is the parents who are on the 'front line' in the fight against their child's developmental difficulties and it will be parents and other family members / friends who will carry out the agreed programme of developmental activities in their own homes.

As many parents will testify, children rarely behave naturally in a strange environment.  With this in mind, in addition to our own observations and testing,  we rely heavily on parents to furnish us with information concerning their children's normal behaviour at home.  In this way, it is possible to gain the most accurate  appraisal of the difficulties they face in developmental terms. 

You can expect the assessment of your child to follow the following timetable.

 

(1). Once you make a request for an appointment with me, you will be sent a detailed developmental and health questionnaire to complete and return at your leisure.

 

(2). Once I receive the returned questionnaire, you will be contacted with an appointment for a consultation in Devon.

 

(3). At the consultation, you will have the opportunity to discuss any issues concerning your child's development with me.  This will also give me the opportunity to meet you and your child.

 

(4). I will then give you my thoughts on the problems faced by your child and how I feel these should be addressed.  You will have the opportunity to ask questions of me at any time.

 

(5). The practicalities of implementing a programme are then explored. - Such issues as how much time the family can commit; - whether their are any other constraints on implementing the programme.

 

(6). Parents do not receive a programme that day.  I do not beleive that a programme is a 'reflex' action.  Over the next few days I will carefully consider all the information you have provided and collate this with what I have seen of your child during the consultation.  When this consideration is complete, I will write your child's programme of developmental activities.

 

(7). Once you have received your programme, which will contain detailed instructions of how to carry out the developmental exercises I have prescribed, I will be in close contact to ensure that you feel confident in carrying out the programme.

 

(8). I then remain in frequent contact to monitor progress and help guide you through difficulties which may arise.  You are also free to contact me by telephone or email for advice and support any time you feel it necessary.

 

Parents carry out this programme of activities, ideally for around two hours per day, five days per week for the next few months. (Although I do accept that not all families can commit to this amount of time).

Subsequently, families are asked to bring their child to Devon for reassessment on a quarterly basis, so that the appropriate amendments to their child's programme can be made, to account for any developmental gains.

  I also accept that the nature and severity of disability of some children unfortunately means they cannot travel to see me.  Although I will need medical evidence of this, I can sometimes accommodate this by travelling to see them.  However, for those living too far away I can provide 'distance advice.

'  I consult with the parents and relevant medical professionals who treat the child and after they have provided answers to my questions and filled in a developmental questionnaire, I then provide advice designed to stimulate the child's development.

 

What is the cost of Assessment?

 

The advantage of working alone means that I am able to keep overheads low, so instead of paying many hundreds, or sometimes even thousands of pounds for assessments and programmes, (sometimes supplied by people who are underqualified and based upon spurious theories about brain function and child development), you pay a consistently low price for developmental advice from someone who is qualified and who has 22 years of experience.  You can also be sure that this advice is not based upon some half baked psycho / neurological theory, but on solid evidence.

An initial assessment will cost £250, with follow up assessments every four months costing £200.  For international customers who seek distance advice, the cost is £200 for an initial consultation, with follow up consultations costing £150.