Intellectual Disability Assessments
Chiswick, West London
We provide in-house assessments, looking into cognitive profiles and daily living skills for children and young people between the ages of 6-17 years. These assessments will look at individual strengths, difficulties and needs at school, at home and in the community, leading to individual recommendations for each child. The assessments can confirm or rule out a diagnosis of an Intellectual Disability.
Assessments are a two-part process, run in line with guidance, jointly by our HCPC Registered Educational and Clinical Psychology Team.
Intellectual Disabilities
In the UK, intellectual disability in children refers to a condition characterised by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour. This condition typically originates before the age of 18.
Diagnostic Criteria:
1. Significant Intellectual Functioning Difficulties:
– Intellectual functioning looks at how easy or difficult it is for your child to learn and acquire new knowledge and skills. This includes working memory, processing speed, verbal skills, visual spatial skills, reasoning, problem-solving, planning, abstract thinking.
– Children who go on to receive a diagnosis of intellectual disability have a global IQ score less than 75 and need special support to acquire new knowledge and skills
2. Significant Adaptive Behaviour Difficulties:
– Adaptive behaviour Refers to the practical, social, and conceptual skills required for daily living. This means how easy or difficult your child finds acquiring daily living skills and how independent they are in everyday tasks, such as self-care, completing simple household chores, communicating and conforming to social rules without excessive direction or guidance.
– Significant difficulties in adaptive behaviour mean that your child might find it harder to navigate communication, social interactions, personal care, or safety awareness than their peers.
3. Developmental Onset:
– For the diagnosis of intellectual disability, these symptoms must appear during the developmental period, usually before the child turns 18. We will also look to exclude any change in intellectual functioning or adaptive behaviour due to other neurocognitive disorders, such as a traumatic brain injury.
Assessment Process
Our assessment is divided into two stages, with the aim to ensure that any child who definitively will not meet the threshold for a formal diagnosis (evident in the cognitive assessment) does not have to undergo the full assessment process. Please note, a full Intellectual Disability Assessment must involve Step 1 and Step 2 and these are not classed as stand-alone assessments. They are a dual process and both steps must be completed in order for a diagnosis to be given.
Intellectual Disability Assessments are provided jointly by our HCPC Registered Psychologists, Julia Anderson: Registration PYL38358 and Dr Anya Gkrimpova: Registration PYL040696
Step 1: Cognitive Testing
Prior to any appointment, we will ask you to complete a detailed developmental history form about your child. With your consent, we will also liaise with your child’s school to assess further how they function in the school environment.
The first stage of the assessment will involve meeting with our Educational Psychologist, face to face, who will assess your child cognitively using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V). This is a widely used, standardised intelligence test designed to assess the cognitive abilities of children and young people.
The appointment usually takes 60–90 minutes, depending on a child’s age, abilities, and the number of subtests administered. The test is interactive and includes verbal questions, puzzles, problem-solving tasks, and visual-spatial activities.
After this assessment, our Psychologist will share with you verbal feedback, explaining what the outcome and the scores mean and what the assessment has revealed. During this feedback, the psychologist will explain whether your child’s scores suggest that the final stages of the assessment, Step 2, is indicated.
Proceeding onto Step 2 is a sensitive and personal choice for each family. Even if you don’t proceed onto Step 2, you will still receive a report detailing the cognitive testing findings, next steps and providing advice on how parents/carers and schools might help your child to learn and develop, as well as recommended methods and strategies to help them learn more effectively. We will not be able to give a diagnosis of intellectual disability at this stage because further investigations would be required to complete a comprehensive assessment. These are undertaken in Step 2.
Step 2: Parent Interview and Child Observation
The next stage of the assessment process will involve two further appointments and we will need to liaise with your child’s school again and request they complete specific screening forms. The Clinical Psychologist may also need to arrange a further telephone call with a professional at your child’s school who knows them well.
Appointment one:
Your child will meet with our Clinical Psychologist for around half an hour. As they will have already been seen in-clinic, for the face-to-face Step 1 appointment, this can be provided either remotely or in-person, depending on what you and your child prefer.
Appointment two:
Our Clinical Psychologist will then carry out a structured parent interview, in line with guidance, without your child present. This will include open-ended questions and rating scales, covering multiple areas of adaptive functioning, such as looking at your child’s communication, daily living skills, socialisation and relationships and motor skills. This appointment will last around 2 hours and can be carried out remotely or in-person, depending on your preference.
We will arrange a remote feedback session to discuss the outcome of your child assessment. This is a 40 minutes’ parent-only appointment and it can take place via a video link or telephone call depending on your preferences. The final report will be with you within 2 weeks after the feedback date. This will detail all the results of all appointemtns, the diagnostic decision (whether your child meets the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability) and recommendations.
Fees
The cost of a full Intellectual Disability Assessment, with Step 1 and Step 2 combined is: £1900. This can be paid in installments, with a deposit due at the time of booking.
Step 1 is charged at £700, and Step 2 is charged at £1200. If after Step 1, the results indiciate that your child would not meet the threshold for an Intellectual Disabillity diagnosis, you can exit the assessment process here.
Please note, if you are looking for an assessment of a Specific Learning Difficulty (for example if your child struggles in a particular area of learning, like maths, reading or writing) this would be via our Educational Psychology Assessment or Dyslexia Assessment service. This is a very differential diagnosis to Intellectual Disability.