Kelly Eden, LDANZ Assessor
BEd, GDipTchLn, PgDipHlthSci (Early Intervention) (Dist.) Registered Cognitive and Educational Assessor (LDANZ).
Family Start is proud to partner with Kelly to provide Diagnostic Learning Assessments* for people on the West Coast. Kelly is an LDANZ registered assessor who is employed at Family Start as a Whanau Worker, but can also offer independent assessments for those who need it. For more info and to refer for an assessment, please see below.
Or you can contact Kelly for a free confidential chat on 027 490 3560
There is a fee to this service*
Assessments to Understand
As an LDANZ Assessor, Kelly offers diagnostic assessments for individuals seeking to understand their learning profile and potential learning differences. Our assessments identify patterns of strengths and weaknesses and provide tailored recommendations for accommodations and interventions. These recommendations help individuals and their families improve access to learning, education, and the workplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my child need an assessment?
-
One very useful question to ask is “Do different people have very different views about my child?” As an example, your child’s teacher thinks that the child is “doing ok”, but your mother thinks they have a problem with paying attention. Or, you think that your child is learning as expected, but then the school says that your child needs learning support. When there is this kind of mismatch between views, then it is worth thinking that an assessment by a registered Assessor could be helpful.
-
Another useful question to ask is “Would my child be better off if they knew more about how they learn, and what areas of learning they might need more help in?” If you think that your child will respond well to being given this information about themselves, then it is worth exploring the assessment. One issue to consider is that some children respond to this kind of information by reducing the effort they put into learning if they believe that they are not able to learn.
Does my child need an assessment?
There are two broad ways that an assessment can help your child:
-
The people around your child can take action to make life better for your child when they have more clarity about the problem they are trying to solve.
-
Your child may have greater agency in making use of their own strengths and have less whakama about asking for help with their weaknesses.
What does an assessment look like?
The process for assessment of specific learning difficulties by our LDANZ Assessor is:
-
Make contact with Kelly first.
-
A pre-assessment information sharing will make sure that the assessment is the right path forward, and should include sharing of past experiences such as RTLB involvement, special classes, and medical issues related to learning and school attendance.
-
Complete the referral form. Once you have spoken with Kelly and an assessment is the right path forward for you, complete the referral form.
-
Kelly will reach out to arrange a meeting. She may decide that your child is best served by having a series of shorter assessment sessions, or better to have the whole assessment in one day. The actual time spent with Kelly will vary depending on what your child’s needs are. This is usually between 2 and 4 hours.
-
Kelly will use the pre-assessment information and the scores from the tests to write a comprehensive report on what she has found and offer recommendations for learning strategies at home, school, and work (if relevant).
-
The report will be a bit complex, and you should expect Kelly to spend at least one meeting time with you to explain what the report is all about. She should also be available to talk to the school or anyone else who needs to know what the report says.
-
Once Kelly has explained the report to you and given you a copy, that is usually the end of the assessor's job and the beginning of the advocacy work for the whānau.
Can Adults be assessed?
Yes, older teens and adults can have an assessment. Adults and older teens often have questions about their learning, strengths and weaknesses, or reasons why they are struggling with studies or in the workplace. An assessment can help you understand yourself better. It also helps with access to learning support in tertiary education and accomodations in the workplace.
