FAQ: Students with Disability Assessment Service

The Victorian Department of Education provides a range of resources, programs and supports to ensure students with disability and additional learning needs have access to high quality education. Further information for schools can be found here. Information for parents can be found here.

No. Our service only conducts assessments where there is evidence to suggest the student is likely to have an intellectual developmental disorder, severe developmental language disorder with high functional needs, or childhood apraxia of speech.

Paediatricians see students with a range of medical and/or developmental concerns. As a result, there are many reasons why they might recommend an assessment. Where an assessment is recommended, we will review all the referral information and will only accept the referral where we are satisfied the evidence suggests the student is likely to have an intellectual developmental disorder, severe developmental language disorder with high functional needs, or childhood apraxia of speech.

We can only progress referrals and complete assessments where the information suggests the student is likely to have an intellectual developmental disorder, severe developmental language disorder with high functional needs, or childhood apraxia of speech. Your Regional Disability Coordinator may be able to suggest other options if you need assessments for other purposes.

Yes, we can take referrals for students the year before they are due to start school. The referral needs to come from a Victorian government school, and we cannot take referrals from preschools, childcare centres or parents. Referrals are usually accepted from mid-year, with specific dates communicated to schools via our newsletter. The school will usually work with the student’s preschool or childcare centre to have the Teacher Referral Form and Vineland-3 assessment completed.

The Parent/Carer Consent Form is a legal document that needs to be signed by the person who has responsibility for making decisions about the student. This will usually be the student’s parent. For students in out of home care, the consent form should be signed by:

• the parent if they retain decision making responsibilities for the student.
• DFFH if they have decision making responsibilities for the student.
• a formal carer where court or protection orders are in place (a copy of the current order is required)
• · an informal carer where there are informal carer arrangements in place and the person with decision making responsibilities is not able to provide consent. In this case, the Informal Carer Statutory Declaration is to be completed.

Relevant policy advice is available on the department’s website: Decision Making Responsibilities for Students : Policy | education.vic.gov.au

Provided there are no court orders in place that affect decision-making responsibilities for the student, consent and referral information can be provided by only one parent. However, it is recommended that both parents are involved and active participants in the process. This includes the decision about making the referral, completion of the Parent Consent Form and Parent Referral Form, being informed of the assessment date, receiving feedback after the assessment, and receiving a copy of the report.

Relevant policy advice is available on the department’s website: Decision Making Responsibilities for Students : Policy | education.vic.gov.au

Yes, we can accept referrals for students with complex backgrounds such as these, as long as evidence suggests the student is likely to have an intellectual developmental disorder, severe developmental language disorder with high functional needs, or childhood apraxia of speech. There are questions in the Teacher Referral Form asking teachers or school contacts to think about these factors and explain why they believe they are not the main reason for the student’s difficulties.

For referrals that are progressed to assessment, the assessor will use the information in the referral documents to compile an initial case history and assessment plan. They will consider information provided by the school and family, their own observations of the student, and relevant professional guidelines to make sure they use the most appropriate test. Sometimes an interpreter or a nonverbal test might be used to make sure the assessment is fair and valid and gives the best picture of the student’s thinking skills.

Information on how to book an interpreter is available at: Interpreting and Translation Services. More information about nonverbal tests is available here.

We will provide feedback to the school when a referral does not progress to assessment. This will include the reason(s) for the decision and appropriate actions the school may take. The school can call us on (03) 9678 5100 if they have any questions about the information or believe they can provide additional information to support the referral.

If the referral did not progress to assessment due to a Vineland-3 score above 70, the possibility of a review can be discussed with our Clinical Team. This will usually require an explanation from the teacher as to why the existing assessment is not accurate or valid.

For referrals that are progressed to assessment, full details of the Vineland-3 assessment will be provided in our comprehensive report along with the results of the cognitive assessment. At that time, the validity of the Vineland assessment will also be confirmed by the assessing psychologist. The assessment of adaptive behaviour is an important part of the diagnosis of intellectual developmental disorder. Vineland- 3 scores will not be provided in isolation if a cognitive assessment is due to be completed.

For referrals that are not progressed to assessment, a one-page summary of the Vineland-3 assessment will be linked to the email that is sent advising of this outcome.

The test developers recommend tests be completed with just the assessor and student in the room. This helps make sure the tests are consistent and the scores are valid. For these reasons, our tests are usually completed with just the assessor and student.

Sometimes exceptions are made if the assessor believes the student may benefit from having another adult present. This decision can only be made by the assessor and is based on the facts related to the individual student. Where this occurs, the assessor will explain the situation in the report and discuss any impact this may have had on the test results.

All of our psychologists and speech pathologists are experienced in conducting and scoring these assessments and closely follow the rules of the test(s) used. They are the most appropriate professionals to interpret the test results and determine if they are valid.

Test scores only give a small piece of information about a student’s skills, so they will often have strengths and challenges in areas not covered by the test. For students with challenges in other areas, it can be helpful to get a better understanding of those issues and the supports and adjustments to help address them.

If you have any questions about the test results and recommendations, you can discuss these with our Clinical Team on (03) 9678 5100.

Information from our cognitive assessments can be used to inform processes for enrolment in a specialist school for intellectual disability. Decisions about enrolment eligibility are not made by our psychologists; however, a specialist school can use the report as one piece of evidence in determining whether a student is eligible to enrol. For information on policy and processes for enrolment in specialist schools refer to: Enrolment in specialist schools and other specialist education settings

Nonverbal cognitive tests measure overall thinking and problem-solving skills, not just nonverbal thinking skills. ‘Nonverbal’ means the test does not use spoken words. There are many reasons for using nonverbal tests. They are not just used for nonverbal students. They can be used for students who have complex communication needs, limited functional language, or hearing or vision problems. They are also good for students who do not talk to people they do not know or has not spoken English for very long. Nonverbal tests are useful for students who have missed a lot of school or lived in a different culture.

Nonverbal tests are often fairer and more appropriate for students in these situations. They take away the need to speak and understand words. This makes sure the results give a true picture of their thinking skills, and low scores or difficulty participating in the test are not due to language or other difficulties. This means that some students who have been unable to take part in a test that relies on speaking and understanding words may be able to participate in a nonverbal test. This gives us more information about a student’s thinking skills and their strengths and challenges.

The assessing psychologist chooses the best test for each student. They have specialised knowledge of the different tests and consider each student’s ability to access and participate in the assessment process. They carefully consider all the referral information provided by the school, family, and other professionals, their own observations of the student’s language skills, and relevant professional guidelines to make sure they use the most appropriate test. It is important they have confidence in the test results and their opinion about intellectual developmental disorder. More information about nonverbal tests is available here.

Schools should contact us if any errors are found in reports. We will review the information and determine how best to proceed. If an error needs to be corrected, this will usually be done in the form of an addendum, which is a statement correcting the error that is then kept with the original version of the report. We do not add extra information in the report if it was not made available to us before the report was finalised.

Our report will include all the information relevant to the purpose of the assessment and a clear diagnosis where appropriate. We are unable to provide additional information for any other purpose, such as applications for extra support from non-department organisations. We also do not add extra information in the report if it was not made available to us before the report was finalised.

Parents can discuss individual requests with the school and the department’s Student Support Services might be able to provide further guidance on this.

You can provide feedback by e-mailing our National Quality Manager at quality@maxsolutions.com.au. You can also view our SwD-AS Complaints and Feedback Policy here.