Congratulations on taking the first step in addressing your concerns. The Educational Resource Group is committed to having your experience with us be positive and supportive. To assist us in achieving this goal, we’ve put together a few tips that will help make your first appointment a rewarding one! If you have any questions, please call us at (410) 544-6696.
Typically, clients come in for an assessment during their first appointment. If you are coming in for an assessment, we want you to feel at ease. We have three forms for you to complete – the Intake Form, the Skills Survey that is appropriate to the age of the client, and the Learning Goals Survey. All of these forms are available for you to download from our website.
Depending upon the type of assessment, you can expect to spend between 1 ½ to 2 hours at our center. When explaining the assessment to your child, it’s important to emphasize that this is a look into how a person learns. This is not the type of test a person can “fail”, so emphasizing effort is important rather than stressing getting things right or wrong.
Before coming in, it’s important to follow these Test Taking tips:
- Be sure to get a good night’s rest before test day.
- Consider if you scheduled your testing for the time of day during which you will be most attentive and do your best.
- Be aware that the tests are generally fun, but each test is designed to reach the limit of your ability, so don’t worry about getting every item right. Remember, the tests will be challenging, so it’s common to quickly get to a point where you simply don’t know the answer. Just relax and do your best.
- Eat a healthy snack 30 minutes before the assessment. Please avoid sweets and sodas, and don’t eat a heavy meal before testing.
- Just before the testing begins, make sure you have a small drink of water and go to the bathroom.
Parents will be asked to view the film FAT City while their child is in the assessment process. This is a wonderful opportunity to begin to understand what learning struggles feel like in the classroom and how processing deficits are linked to learning struggles. Your appointment will be followed up with a consultation to discuss the assessment results and design specific treatment plan goals and interventions.
If your first appointment is for a consultation, please complete the online forms so that we can get a better picture of your goals. We have three forms for you to complete – the Intake Form, the Skills Survey that is appropriate to the age of the client, and the Learning Goals Survey. All of these forms are available for you to download from our website. In addition, please fax any relevant information to include 504 plans, IEP information, or outside evaluations at least 48 hours prior to your appointment. This will enable us to spend time talking about your concerns rather than reviewing the documentation.
During your consultation, you can expect to spend approximately 1 hour at the center. You can expect to have a thorough discussion of learning strengths and weaknesses and of the goals that you want to accomplish. At the conclusion of your consultation, specific interventions will be discussed and a plan of action will be put into place.
