Talking with Your Child about an Evaluation

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By Andrea Brown, Ph.D.

Before your child has an educational evaluation, it is important to talk about why this testing is essential and to describe what the evaluation will be like. To help you, we have provided responses to questions and concerns most often asked by children and their families.

Questions Most Often Asked by Children

"Why do I have to be tested?"
This evaluation will help us understand your learning strengths and weaknesses and give you, your parents and your teachers an idea of how you learn best. It is important to find out why you are having difficulty in school. All of us learn differently, and sometimes these differences make it hard to succeed in school.

Many children have trouble in school. Some have difficulty learning to read, write or do math. Some have trouble understanding what they hear or read, or remembering new information. And other students find it hard to pay attention or sit still. Some feel different from other children. Some children have learning differences (sometimes called learning disabilities) and by law, schools need to provide special help to certain children with different learning needs.

" Is there something wrong with me if I need an evaluation?"
By the time a comprehensive diagnostic evaluation has been scheduled for your child, it is likely that he/she has experienced negative feedback about academic performance or behavior in school. Having an evaluation is not a punishment for something he/she has done wrong.

If your child is having an evaluation at the Stern Center, one of the first things you might want to talk about is that coming to the Stern Center is not unusual. Since the Stern Center was founded over seventeen years ago, thousands of children and adults have received an evaluation. Reinforce the idea that every student learns differently (in fact, the Stern Center motto is "all great minds don't think alike") and that in order to best understand how children think and learn, an evaluation at the Stern Center to determine strengths and weaknesses will be helpful.

"What will I be tested on and how hard will it be?"
The evaluation will include testing in most or all of these areas:
1. Thinking and problem solving
2. Speaking and understanding language
3. Academic subjects: reading, spelling, writing and math
4. Attention and concentration
5. Visual processing
6. Fine-motor skills
The evaluator will also talk with your child about what he/she likes to do and how he/she feels about himself and school.

Explain to your child that the tests used are appropriate for children his/her age, but some questions might be pretty difficult or challenging. Questions will start off fairly easy and then get progressively more difficult. Ask your child to try to do his/her best during the evaluation but explain that no one expects him/her to know all the answers.

"What will the tests tell me about myself?"
The purpose behind the testing is to gather information on how you learn best in many different areas. You will not pass or fail or receive a grade on the tests that are given during the evaluation. We will use the information gathered from testing to help figure out how you may do your best in school and feel good about yourself. Test scores are typically compared to other similar-aged children, providing a picture of how you are performing relative to what is expected for your age or grade.

Questions Frequently Asked by Parents

"Should what I say change depending on how old my child is?"
In general, younger children may not need to know as much about the evaluation process as older children or adolescents might. Young children may simply want to know whether they will have fun and what the place looks like. You may find it helpful to tell your youngster that a lot of the evaluation will be fun and even amusing. You may wish to tell your child that he/she will use brains to think with words, eyes to look at things and hands to build things. If you are coming to the Stern Center for your evaluation, we have a waiting room with toys, books, a blackboard, and a really big aquarium. Your child will sit at a small table for most of the evaluation and will, in most cases, work primarily with one evaluator.

Older students may need to feel that their time away from school or any other activity will be well spent. Older students should be told about the value of the evaluation and that their participation and cooperation in the process will be helpful to their parents, teachers and themselves. Sometimes, individuals may also need to be evaluated for how they feel and think about themselves and things that are happening in their world (psychological tests). Many students who are evaluated at the Stern Center find the academic and language testing to be the most challenging, because this type of work is similar to the work they are expected to do in school.

"How long do evaluations take?"
At the Stern Center evaluations usually last between five to six hours. The evaluation starts in the morning with the parents meeting the evaluator while the child waits in the waiting room. Following this interview, the evaluator and the child work together until lunchtime. Breaks are taken for snacks. Parents are asked to provide lunch for their child; many parents take their child to one of the nearby restaurants. After lunch, the evaluator and the child work together until mid-afternoon. Once testing is completed the evaluator will again meet briefly with parents. On rare occasions, a return visit may be required due to time constraints.

More helpful ideas
Ask your child if he/she has any other questions about the testing that you have not talked about.
From time to time in an evaluation it is helpful to get an idea of what the child's life is like at home, what sort of things they like to do, and whether they get along well with other family members. But, some children may feel uncomfortable talking about their family to someone they don't know very well. You can ease any concerns your child may have by giving them permission to talk about themselves and their family.
You may wish to tell your child that the evaluator with whom he/she will work has lots of experience working with children with different learning styles, and that he/she will be understanding and fun to work with.
For children or parents who are nervous about the evaluation, a short visit or meeting with the evaluator prior to the evaluation may be helpful.
If you are coming to the Stern Center for your evaluation, show your child the Stern Center brochure and information pamphlets.