intellectual assessment

What is an intellectual assessment?

Also referred to as a cognitive assessment, intellectual assessments are standardised methods of looking at a child's intellectual skills across a variety of areas. This means that instructions given during the testing have to be worded in the same way to all children. Dr. Hauck uses the following tools when conducting an intellectual assessment:

  • Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) for children ages 2 years, 6 months up to 7 years, 7 months
  • Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V) for children ages 6 years up to 16 years, 11 months

  • Areas of intellectual skills that are explored in these tests include the ability to think and process both verbal and visual information, short term memory skills, and speed of processing visual information and making a response. The activities have been designed to be interesting to children based on their age, and to keep them engaged. Ten or more subtests may be administered, with frequent changes between types of subtests to maintain a child's attention.

When is an intellectual assessment used?

There are various ways that an intellectual assessment can provide helpful information:

  • to assist in school placement decisions, such as for a program for advanced or gifted learners (such as Westmount Charter School or the CBE GATE program), or alternatively if a child needs a placement related to having an intellectual disability or specialised learning needs
  • to understand a child's learning profile to explore their strengths and weaknesses. This may assist with strategies for any learning needs (for example, if a child has stronger visual learning skills and weaker verbal comprehension, a high level of visual supports is one of the recommendations to be used in the classroom as well as at home).

what does the assessment involve?

Intellectual assessments typically last 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the child, and their ability level. Breaks to move around or get a snack are given as needed. Parents are usually asked to not be in the immediate area.

Dr. Hauck will score the assessments immediately following the testing, and then meet with parents to provide a verbal summary of the results.

If a child is being considered as a candidate for Westmount Charter School, parents will be advised if the scores obtained will meet the cutoff criteria that Westmount School uses for entry. A report with the testing results will typically follow within one week, depending on scheduling.

If an intellectual assessment is requested as part of other assessment procedures, the results will typically be included in the comprehensive report that is provided. If a child has scores that suggest an intellectual disability, further assessment to look at the child's adaptive or day to day functioning levels is usually suggested, which requires a parent to complete a questionnaire.

An intellectual assessment typically takes 2 to 2.5 hours for testing and parent feedback, with another 2 hours for report writing.