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In the group home setting where you have the opportunity to work with a child through on-going therapy, psychological assessments can be of great value. The ideal situation is to have each child tested as soon as possible upon arrival. With the hard data compiled through standard and educational testing, your therapists have a solid idea of the child's capabilities and their current status of knowledge. This serves as a starting place both in therapy and when placing the child in appropriate school classes. Testing also insures that your therapists have all the information available in order to administer proper treatment.
We call this schedule of testing "Follow-up Measurement Analysis." Children change and develop at a rapid rate. The younger they are, the more quickly they are developing. It stands to reason that a younger child would need a closer time frame of measurement to assess his or her developmental progress. In older children the testing can be at longer intervals.
In our population, we not only need to know the level of a child's intelligence, but the level of a child's ability as well. We need a clear picture of how well a child's current therapy is working. We need a measurement of downward trends due to depression or anxiety. We need a reading on learning delays. Regularly spaced assessments can define all of these areas for you.
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