Therapy Assessments

Live & Love it therapy. Offer both:
- Occupational Therapy Assessments
- Speech & Language Therapy Assessments
for 0 - 18 year olds

Does my child need an assessment?

A child would benefit from either a Occupational Therapy or Speech & Language Therapy assessment when their ability to participate in, enjoy or experience success in their communication or daily occupations is affected. An Occupation is anything the child or young person wants or needs to do

Assessments can take place at our studio, at a child’s home or at their place of education.

A child does not require a diagnosis in order to receive support as we work on a functional, needs led basis.

What to expect from an assessment:

Our therapy team may use standardised assessment measures as part of the process. These tools require children to complete a series of activities in a specific and measurable way that allows their skills to be compared with what would be expected and identify relative strengths and needs.

 

Therapist’s are also skilled in using non-standardised assessment methods, acquiring clinical observations through play. For some children, for example those with high levels of anxiety related to task demands, this is the most appropriate way to gather all information.

 

Parents / Guardians are encouraged to join their child for the assessment session. This allows you to act as a regulating support for your child, be available for discussions with the therapist and to see the activities that your child participates in.

Types of Assessment

OT Assessment
Speech Assessment
OT Assessment for EHCNA / EHCP
Speech Assessment for EHCNA / EHCP
Assessment of Sensory Processing andIntegration
therapeutic needs assessment
Annual Review / Progress Assessment

Before The Assessment

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Initial screening questionnaire sent to parents/guardians.

 

Individualised assessment plan developed by the team.

 

Questionnaires sent to education provider(s).

 

 

The Assessment

The assessment will usually take place at our studio.

 

Session lasts 90 minutes –  2 hours.

 

The therapist will use a range of standardised assessment tools, discussion and observations of free play to understand the child’s strengths, needs and aspirations.

Following the assessment

Following the assessment, the therapist will draw together all the information gathered to prepare the assessment report.

 

The report will be sent out in 3 weeks. 

 

Meet with the therapist to discuss the report findings, answer questions and plan next steps.

Behind the scenes…

It is important to us that your child’s assessment is bespoke and considers all factors that may contribute to their strengths and needs profile, to achieve this, there are lots of steps that happen behind the scenes.

 

  1. The management team discuss each child, the best assessment plan and match them to a therapist.
  2. The therapist will read through the documentation and plan a bespoke assessment for your child using a range of standardised and non standardised tools including discussion and play to explore the areas of need that have been identified.
  3. Following the assessment, the therapist scores up and standardised results and spends time considering their clinical reasoning and why things may be strengths and needs for your child.
  4. The therapist has access to supervision within the team to discuss as required.
  5. The report is written up by the therapist and recommendations are included related to the areas of need you identified to be a priority.
  6. The report is proofread by the management team.
  7. The report is send out to yourselves to read.
  8. You meet with the therapist for a feedback meeting to discuss the report findings and next steps.

Live & Love it therapists have access to a range of assessment tools, those best suited to your child will be selected;

  • Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency – Third Edition (BOT-3)
  • Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration (EASI)
  • Millers Function and Participation Scales (M-FUN)
  • Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development
  • Test of Visual Perceptual Skills – Fourth Edition (TVPS-4)
  • Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH)
  • Interoception Assessment (Kelly Mahler)
  • Play!
  • Clinical observations
  • Sensory Processing Measure
  • Sensory Profile
  • Brown Executive Function / Attention Scales

Funding for an assessment doesn’t always have to come from private sources. Families may be able to access funding through various options, including local authorities, schools, charities, and private health insurance.

 

Funding Sources page

Most assessments take between 90 minutes to 2 hours. 

The therapist will collate the results from the assessment and prepare the assessment report, this process takes 2 – 3 weeks. Once the report is sent out to you, a feedback meeting will be booked.

 

The therapist will provide feedback on your child’s strengths and areas that may need support. Based on the assessment, the therapist may recommend a tailored therapy plan.

Contact Us

You can reach a member of our team anytime via email using the link below, or by calling the Live & Love It team at 01403 851 200.

 

Our office hours are 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM, Monday to Friday.

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OT Assessment

All Occupational Therapy assessments are planned specifically for the child/young person. The therapists will select the most appropriate tools to explore why a child/young person is experiencing difficulties with occupational participation and performance in activities that they need or want to do.

 

Information will be gathered from their home environment, education environment and in the studio space. The assessment process is highly adaptable so do speak with us if you have any questions about how we will work with yourselves and the child/young person to gather the information needed as part of the assessment process.

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SaLT Assessment

All Speech and Language Therapy assessments are planned specifically for the child/young person. The therapists will select the most appropriate tools to explore why a child/young person is experiencing difficulties with communication and interaction with others. 

 

Information will be gathered from their home environment, education environment and in the studio space. The assessment process is highly adaptable so do speak with us if you have any questions about how we will work with yourselves and the child/young person to gather the information needed as part of the assessment process. 

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OT Assessment for EHCNA or EHCP

An OT assessment for an EHCNA or EHCP will be much the same as our OT assessment but with an additional hour allocated to ensure this is prepared in the ‘EHCP format’.

 

An EHCP supplement hour can be added when you would like to submit the OT report either as part of your child’s Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) or at their annual review of their EHCP.

 

You can make a request that the information is included in sections B (Strengths and Needs) E (Outcomes) and F (Provision) usually in the Sensory/Physical and/or Social Emotional and Mental Health sections.

 

The EHCP supplement covers the additional time for the therapist to write measurable outcomes worded in the EHCP format and make quantified recommendations specific to your child for each of the identified outcomes.

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SaLT Assessment for EHCNA or EHCP

A SaLT assessment for an EHCNA or EHCP will be much the same as our SaLT assessment but with an additional hour allocated to ensure this is prepared in the ‘EHCP format’. 

 

An EHCP supplement hour can be added when you would like to submit the SaLT report either as part of your child’s Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) or at their annual review of their EHCP. 

 

You can make a request that the information is included in sections B (Strengths and Needs) E (Outcomes) and F (Provision) usually in the Sensory/Physical and/or Social Emotional and Mental Health sections.

 

 

The EHCP supplement covers the additional time for the therapist to write measurable outcomes worded in the EHCP format and make quantified recommendations specific to your child for each of the identified outcomes.

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Assessment of Sensory Processing and Integration

Where sensory differences are identified during the referral to be a possible contributing factor to a child/young person’s occupational participation and performance, exploration of their sensory profile will be included in the assessment process.

 

Consideration will be given to how they respond “react” to sensory input, their ability to perceive and interpret sensory information and how they generate ideas and execute movement based activity in respond to the sensory information received (praxis).

All ‘sensory assessments’ will be carried out as part of our usual, holistic OT assessment, considered alongside a range of other factors and in the context of a variety of environments.

 

We will gather information about home and school via questionnaires and discussions as well as seeing the child for an assessment at the studio. We may also recommend and observation in school.

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Therapeutic Needs Assessment

A specialist multidisciplinary assessment is carried out in collaboration with one of the independent psychotherapists we work with.

The assessment can be arranged via the post adoption or kinship care team social worker and is funded by the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).

 

A trauma informed assessment of Sensory Integration and arousal state regulation would be carried out by the Live & Love it OT whilst the child and family psychotherapist would explore the relational health of the family.

We have a support pathway for children/young people accessing services via the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF). A child may be added to our wait list for an assessment at any time; in most cases we will encourage families to access the universal and targeted (group) services available whilst awaiting an assessment date.

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Annual Review / Progress Assessment

All children/young people who are receiving services as part of the EHCP or ASGSF provision will have termly goal reviews and at minimum an annual progress review assessment and report. This report will be shared for the child/young persons annual review.

 

If a child has been seen by another Occupational therapy provider previously and you would like an up to date assessment, we would ask that you share the existing report and complete our initial screening questionnaire; we can then advise as to what assessment is required to bring the knowledge up to date and begin offering therapy support.

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