In part 1 and 2 of our blogs on our learning assessments, we taught you about the WIAT-III and WISC-V assessments.
We have invested in the most update-to-date versions of these assessments so that they can best identify your child’s learning potential and their educational needs.
And now we’d like you to learn about another invaluable assessment tool that we recently acquired — the NEPSY.
It’s a unique and effective test, offered by only a few psychology clinics in Melbourne, and designed to assess the neuropsychological development of children aged 3 to 16.
But before we get into the nitty gritty of the assessment, you’re probably wondering…
What is neuropsychological development?
Psychology involves the study and assessment of the human mind and its functions.
But neuropsychology studies the structure and function of the BRAIN as well as the functions of the mind (like cognition, behaviour and emotion).
Neuropsychology was first developed for assessing how brain traumas and injuries affect mental processing.
(You may have heard of the very famous neurologist Oliver Sacks, who wrote about his most interesting investigations in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.)
What’s revolutionary about the NEPSY test, then, is that it takes the advanced principles of neuropsychology…
And uses them specifically for assessing children, and the developing connection between their brain function and mental capacity.
A trained and experienced psychologist can then use the results of the test and address any underlying barriers that are getting in the way of learning.
The tests also aim to produce early identification and intervention for learning disorders, or other barriers to learning.
The NEPSY focusses on six functional domains:
- Attention and Executive Function. This includes inhibition, self-regulation, attention, monitoring, planing and cognitive flexibility.
- Language and Communication. This includes verbal fluency, language reception, phonological processing, expressive naming and rhythmic oral motor sequences.
- Sensorimotor Functions. This include tactile sensory input, fine motor speed and visuomotor precision.
- Visuospatial Functions. This includes the ability to judge position and direction, and to copy 2D and reconstruct 3D designs.
- Learning and Memory. This includes memory capacity for words, faces, names, narratives and sentences, list learning and recall ability.
- Social Perception. This includes the ability to recognise and identify emotions, in oneself and others, and empathy levels.
So you can imagine how and why such a comprehensive test would be so effective.
The results help to identify those areas a child needs to work on (and which areas to capitalise on) to get the most out of their learning potential, and to perform their best at school.
And like all our learning assessments, although it may seem complex and intimidating on paper, these tests were designed for children, and with their sensitivities in mind.
They’re designed to be fun, and to make kids feel comfortable and confident, so that they’re assessed on their natural ability in a safe and secure environment.
The NEPSY is a fantastic tool for helping your child thrive in school.
Further Reading:
- https://melbournechildpsychology.com.au/blog/wisc-v-assessments-for-improving-your-childs-learning-potential-part-1/
- https://melbournechildpsychology.com.au/blog/wiat-iii-assessments-for-improving-your-childs-learning-potential-part-2/
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