Royal National
Throat, Nose and
Ear Hospital
Information
on cognitive
assessments
Nuffield Hearing and
Speech Centre
2
What is a cognitive assessment?
It is a formal assessment or test of your
child’s intelligence and abilities in areas such
as verbal and non-verbal skills, memory and
speed of processing information.
The assessment involves a number of
different tasks such as puzzles, answering
questions and remembering certain things.
The cognitive assessment is carried out by a
qualified clinical psychologist, or a trainee
clinical psychologist under the supervision of
a qualified member of staff.
Cognitive assessments are usually part of a
multi-disciplinary team approach aimed at
understanding your child’s abilities.
Why might your child be referred
for a cognitive assessment?
Children might be referred because of
concerns about:
•
School performance
•
Whether they have specific (e.g. language
disorder) or broader learning difficulties
Why have your child assessed at
this service?
We have specialist expertise in assessing
children with a hearing loss and/or speech
and language disorders.
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How might a cognitive assessment
be helpful to you and your child?
•
To give you an idea of your child’s learning
strengths and weaknesses.
•
Recommendations or advice can be given
on how to support areas of weakness.
•
It may also help you in selecting a school
placement that would best meet your
child’s needs.
What are the possible
disadvantages of having a
cognitive assessment?
•
Your child may not do as well as you hope,
which may be upsetting.
•
Some parents have concerns about putting
figures or labels on their children’s abilities.
•
Some are concerned that assumptions will
be made about the child’s potential as a
consequence of the assessment.
What can you expect when you
come for the assessment?
We recommend that parents are not present
during the assessment itself. Most children
work better when unaccompanied. If you
choose to be present, we will ask you to sit
behind your child so that they do not have
eye contact with you, and ask that you do
not help them in any way with their
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responses. We are aware that it can be
frustrating if your child does not answer a
question you believe they know, but we ask
that you do not comment if this happens.
It is likely your child will need to come to two
appointments to complete the assessment.
You should allow at least half a day for each
appointment. Your child will be able to have
breaks during the assessment.
We will not be able to tell you how your child
has performed on the day, as we will need
time to score up the responses and write the
assessment report.
Contacting other professionals
We ask permission to contact other
professionals who are involved in your
child’s care, such as their school teacher.
We will ask them about your child’s strengths
and difficulties and the support they are
currently receiving. This helps us with our
assessment and also informs the
recommendations we make. We will also
ask to see any previous educational
psychology reports.
What will happen next?
We will invite you to another appointment to
talk you through the report and explain the
findings. Depending upon the age of your
child, we may ask you to bring them to this
appointment.
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What will the report be like?
The assessment report details how your
child scored on each of the tests and also
overall on the various areas. The results are
calculated by comparing how your child
performed with how you would expect a child
of their age to do. At the end of the report will
be a summary of the findings and a list of
recommendations.
While the report may be used in the process
of obtaining a statement of special
educational need, we are unable to directly
comment on the provision of additional
support in the classroom.
Who gets a copy of the
assessment report?
The report is a confidential document that
will only be sent out with your approval.
However, for the assessment process to be
worthwhile it is important that copies of the
report be sent to the professionals involved
with your child, such as their class teacher or
school SENCo. In this way, those working
with your child will have a greater
understanding of your child’s strengths and
weaknesses, and recommendations made
can be acted on. If you are not happy for
reports to be passed on, please raise this at
your first appointment, as it may not be
appropriate to continue with the assessment.
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Contact details
If you would like to find out more about what
a cognitive assessment is, or if you have any
questions, please call us.
Nuffield Hearing and Speech Centre, 330
Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8DA
Telephone: 020 3456 5135 or
Telephone: 020 3456 5009
Where can I get more information?
NHS Direct
Telephone: 0845 4647
Website:
www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
University College London Hospitals
235 Euston Road, London. NW1 2BU
Switchboard: 0845 155 5000
Website:
www.uclh.nhs.uk
UCLH cannot accept responsibility for
information provided by external
organisations.
PALS - If you have any concerns
PALS is a patient-friendly, easy to access
service designed to provide a personal
contact point to assist patients, relatives and
carers. If you have a problem that you have
not been able to sort out we can help you to
resolve it. PALS are open 10:00 till 16:00
Monday to Friday.
Telephone:
Email:
020 3447 3042
[email protected]
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If you need a large print, audio or
translated copy of the document,
please contact us on 020 3456 5305.
We will try our best to meet your
needs.
How to get here
The hospital is near King’s Cross Station.
There is no car parking at the hospital. Pay
and display parking areas are available
nearby but these are frequently full. You are
advised to travel by public transport.
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" First published:
April 2012
Last review date:
October 2012
Next review date:
October 2014
Leaflet code:
UCLH/SH/RNTNEH/NHSC/ICA02
© University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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