Assessment Information
Thank you for your enquiry regarding an OT assessment. Along with this letter. If you would like to continue with an assessment, you will receive a Child History Questionnaire and a Parent Contract to complete. Shortly after that, a link for an online questionnaire will be sent to both you and your child’s teacher. The questionnaires cover pertinent medical, birth, developmental and sensory-motor history. It also addresses what you, or your child’s teacher’s main concerns are. Our initial meeting is free of charge and should we require any additional information after we have received your completed questionnaires, we can either meet in person or discuss these questions telephonically.
The next step is the assessment with your child. The activities are child-directed and fun so the children enjoy these mornings. During the assessment, we will conduct a battery of standardised tests and observations to identify whether your child requires OT or not. Depending on your child’s age, this takes between three and four hours and is done during the school day. We want your child’s best performance and so, if your child is not coping with the duration of the assessment, we will discontinue and recommence assessment on a different day. We will also give your child as many breaks as he/she needs to have. The assessment looks at four main areas of development, namely, sensory functioning, gross motor skills, fine motor development, and visual-perceptual skills.
We will also perform a classroom observation and will meet with your child’s class teacher to discuss their concerns. We may also contact other related health care professionals working with your child, if applicable.
We then score and analyse the assessment results which can take up to two weeks. A detailed verbal feedback follows which takes between 45- and 60-minutes. You will receive a summary report based on the assessment findings within four weeks of feedback. A detailed and comprehensive report will be charged at an additional R550 if you would like one. We are governed by the Ethical Rules of the Board of Health Care Funders and to that end, a copy of the report will be sent to your child’s doctor. Unless we receive written instruction to the contrary, a copy of the report will be sent to your child’s school as well.
Should your child require therapy, times will be arranged at the feedback consultation. Therapy typically takes the form of either one 45- or a 60-minute session per week.
Codes and costs of the assessment:
We are a cash-based practice and contracted out of medical aid rates. We unfortunately do not negotiate with medical aid schemes to settle accounts. However, once you have settled your account with us, you can submit your account to medical aid and claim back from them. The assessment fee is payable within two days of feedback. We will provide you with an invoice via e-mail on the day of feedback.
Please remember the following:
- Please bring any other assessment reports that may have been carried out previously, including your child’s most recent school report.
- Please bring a healthy snack and water for your child.
- Please ensure that your child comes to the assessment in comfortable clothes so that he/she can move easily.
Should you for any reason be unable to keep this appointment, please make it a priority to let us know as soon as possible, to allow another child to take advantage of this opportunity.
