Child & Developmental Psychology

Child & developmental psychology focuses on working with children and teenagers (from the ages of 4 to 18), as well as their parents, to ensure the best possible outcome in their unique physical, cognitive, social and emotional growth during a very crucial developmental age. If you are concerned about your child’s developmental milestones or want to understand how you can better support them through developmental challenges, OT&P is here to help.

Testimonials

For the past 3 years, we have been fortunate to partner with Behavioral Therapist, Rachel Chan Mazariegos, and OT&P. We consider Rachel a member of our Dalton community. She has built strong and trusting relationships with DSHK students, families, and faculty. Rachel is a powerful advocate for students, as she is able to see and honor the whole child and provide concrete, actionable strategies to support each child's growth and development. She is an incredible resource for families and faculty, as she makes research-based practices accessible and easy to implement. Rachel has also led parent workshops that are informative and motivational. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Rachel, as she is a true leader in placing each child at the center and equipping us with the tools to best support each individual's unique pathway.

Shaun Porter

Co-Principal of Dalton School Hong Kong

When to See a Child Psychologist or Child Development Specialist

Child testing her writing skills with psychologist

While there are many indicators of developmental issues in children, these are some general warning signs to look out for:

Unusual behaviour (e.g. bed-wetting, lack of sleep, seeing or hearing things)
Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty concentrating
Drastic mood swings & outbursts of irritability
Weight loss
Persistent sadness
Social withdrawal
Avoiding school
Behavioural difficulties
Emotional dysregulations

Child Psychological & Developmental Assessments

Psychological and developmental assessments help you, as a parent, to understand how your child is progressing through typical developmental milestones in areas such as playing, learning, speaking and behaving.

Though assessments can sound intimidating at first, they allow you to recognise the nature of any problematic behaviours and evaluate whether your child requires special treatment or interventions. At OT&P, we offer four types of assessments to identify your child’s personality traits and abilities:

Intellectual Quotient (IQ) Test

Behavioural

Reading Skills and Comprehension

Psychoeducational

Speech and Language

Intellectual Quotient (IQ) Test

For children appearing to have either very low or very high intelligence. Diagnoses intellectual disabilities and/or identifies intellectual potential.

Our assessment evaluates a range of cognitive domains and specific abilities within both a verbal and visual scale. We use standardised tests to reliably assess intelligence and identify learning disabilities and giftedness, as well as any neuropsychological impairments.

Tests Used

Wide Range Intelligence Test (WRIT)

20-30 minutes

Ages 5 and above

Identifies dyslexic tendencies, provides a profile of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, and recommends intervention strategies.

Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition (RIAS-2)

30-50 minutes

Ages 3 and above

Assesses intelligence to diagnose any intellectual or learning disabilities, and determine educational placement.

Behavioural

For children exhibiting atypical behaviours. Assesses self-help skills and social abilities. This assessment is best for children who may be exhibiting different or atypical behaviours both at home and at school – such as tantrums, aggression and difficulties with independence. It may also indirectly assess a child’s self-help skills and social abilities.

Tests Used

Along with the Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC), there will also be an informal 1-on-1 with a therapist.

Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC)

30 minutes

Ages 2 and above

A multi-method and multi-dimensional system that assesses behaviour and self-perception. It will require parents and teachers to complete 10- to 20-minute forms.

Reading Skills and Comprehension

For children struggling with reading, our in-depth reading skills assessments focus on a child’s abilities within the domain of reading. This includes phonetic decoding, blending of sounds, word recognition, rapid word reading and reading comprehension.

It also assesses visual stress, which occurs in 15–20% of the population and may impact a child’s literacy development. This assessment will benefit children who are struggling with reading at their year level.

Key Measures of Assessment

Academic Domains

Letter and word recognition
Reading comprehension
Sound-symbol association
Decoding skills
Reading fluency & understanding

Social and Behavioural Aspects

Visual stress
Motivation
Confidence
Persistence

Tests Used

Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-3)

15-85 minutes

Ages 4 and above

Evaluates key academic skills in reading, maths, written language and oral language. This will identify any learning disabilities and achievement gaps.

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

45-90 minutes

Ages 4 and above

Screens for dyslexia and identifies academic abilities. Diagnoses learning disabilities, and helps plan instructional objectives and interventions.

Dyslexia Screening Test

20-30 minutes

Ages 5 and above

Assesses verbal and non-verbal abilities, and despite taking an average of less than 30 minutes, it produces results as reliable as lengthier IQ measures.

Lucid ViSS (Visual Stress Screener)

20-30 minutes

Ages 7 and above

Identifies individuals who are susceptible to visual stress when reading, which hinders literacy development. Predicts who would benefit from interventions like using coloured overlays or tinted lenses.

Psychoeducational

Our full comprehensive psychoeducational assessment will provide insight into your child’s current level of abilities and how those specific abilities influence their functioning. It assesses academic domains as well as social and behavioural aspects of schooling by taking a school neuropsychological approach – detailing performances across a wide range of co-normed and evidence-based assessments.

Because some abilities may manifest within a classroom setting, across all subjects and manners of schooling, the assessment will require the involvement of parents, teachers and a school observation. To ensure a fair and well-rounded understanding of your child, interviews with parents, teachers and the child will be conducted before a school observation. This is then followed by two days of 3-hour evaluation sessions.

Key Measures of Assessment

School Neuropsychological Domains

Attention
Sensory-motor
Speed & efficiency
Processing speed
Visual-spatial

Auditory-visual
Memory & learning
Executive functioning
Language

Academic Domains

Reading
Oral language
Writing
Maths
IQ

Social and Behavioural Skills

Attention
Motivation
Persistence
Focus

Tests Used

Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC)

30 minutes

Ages 2 and above

A multi-method and multi-dimensional system that assesses behaviour and self-perception. It will require parents and teachers to complete 10- to 20-minute forms.

Conners Comprehensive Behaviour Rating Scale (CBRS)

10-90 minutes

Ages 6 and above

Evaluates behavioural, social and academic issues, and helps diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Dyslexia Screening Kit

40-60 minutes

Ages 5 and above

Identifies dyslexic tendencies, provides a profile of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, and recommends intervention strategies.

Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement (KTEA-3)

15-85 minutes

Ages 4 and above

Evaluates key academic skills in reading, maths, written language and oral language. This will identify any learning disabilities and achievement gaps.

Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)

45-90 minutes

Ages 4 and above

Screens for dyslexia and identifies academic abilities. Diagnoses learning disabilities, and helps plan instructional objectives and interventions.

Wide Range Intelligence Test (WRIT)

20-30 minutes

Ages 5 and above

Identifies dyslexic tendencies, provides a profile of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, and recommends intervention strategies.

Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition (RIAS-2)

35-50 minutes

Ages 3 and above

Assesses intelligence to diagnose any intellectual or learning disabilities, and determine educational placement.

Lucid ViSS (Visual Stress Screener)

20-30 minutes

Ages 7 and above

BEERY VMI

10-15 minutes

Ages 2 and above

Measures visual-motor abilities and identifies any deficits that lead to learning, behavioural and neuropsychological problems.

Test of Memory and Learning, Second Edition (TOMAL-2)

30-60 minutes

Ages 5 and above

A standardised test for evaluating general and specific memory functions, including verbal memory, non-verbal memory and composite memory.

Speech and Language

This assessment will benefit children who are struggling with language, speech and other auditory processings.

Tests Used

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Fourth Edition

30-60 minutes

Ages 5 to 21

The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals^® - Fourth Edition (CELF^® - 4) helps to quickly and accurately identify and diagnose language disorders.

(CELF - 4)

Eleanor Semel, EdD^[1]
Elisabeth H. Wiig, PhD^[2]
Wayne A. Secord, PhD ^[3]

Scores/Interpretation:

Core Language Score, Receptive Language Score, Expressive Language Scores, Language Structure, Language Content, Language Memory, Working Memory Indexes as Standard Scores, Percentile Ranks, Age Equivalents

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2

15-20 minutes

Ages 3 years old to 6 years and 11 months old

A preferred testing method, Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals^® Preschool-2 (CELF^® Preschool-2) assesses aspects of language necessary for preschool children to transition to the classroom.

(CELF Preschool-2)

Eleanor Semel, EdD^[1]
Elisabeth H. Wiig, PhD^[2]
Wayne A. Secord, PhD ^[3]

Scores/Interpretation:

Core language score, receptive and expressive language index scores, expressive language, language content, and language structure index scores; standard scores, percentile ranks, age equivalents, and growth scores.

Test of Auditory Processing - Perceptual Skills – Revised

15-20 minutes

Ages 4 years old to 12 years and 11 months old

The TAPS is a testing method to diagnose children with auditory-perceptual difficulties that can interfere with learning.

Morrison F Gardner

Scores/interpretation:

Auditory number memory forward and reversed, auditory sentence memory, auditory word memory, auditory interpretation of directions, auditory word discrimination and auditory processing (thinking and reasoning).