SLD assessment
Understanding the difficulty
To explore persistent difficulties in reading, writing or mathematics and understand whether a Specific Learning Disorder may be present.
In person · Castenaso (Bologna)
Dott.ssa Chiara BentivogliPsychologistSLD & Learning
SLD & Learning
Understanding how someone learns
Difficulties at school do not, on their own, tell us how a child or young person learns.
When reading, writing, working with numbers or studying becomes particularly demanding, it can be helpful to understand what is happening and which aspects represent strengths.
An assessment explores cognitive functioning and academic skills, bringing test findings together with personal and school history and the information gathered during meetings.
The aim is not simply to give a difficulty a name, but to build a fuller understanding of the person’s way of learning.
Difficulties and strengths
When learning becomes difficult
Learning is not the same for everyone. Skills such as reading, writing or working with numbers can sometimes remain particularly demanding despite effort and time spent studying.
Specific Learning Disorders affect some of these skills and can shape a child or young person’s school experience in different ways.
DislessiaDyslexiaDisortografiaDysorthographyDisgrafiaDysgraphiaDiscalculiaDyscalculia
Looking closely
First, understanding the difficulty
Not every difficulty at school indicates a Specific Learning Disorder. The assessment therefore begins by listening to the child or young person’s history and developing an initial understanding of what is causing difficulty.
This first phase helps determine whether a specific learning assessment is appropriate or whether the information gathered points towards other forms of investigation.
Two pathways
Two ways of supporting learning
Study and learning
Building strategies
To work on study methods, organisation, strategies and the use of helpful tools, with or without an SLD diagnosis.
Online and in personThe assessment
How the assessment works
An assessment is not simply a series of tests. Each stage adds information that is progressively brought together to understand the child or young person as a whole.
01The first meeting with parents
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The process begins with a meeting with the parents to understand the request and gather the child or young person's personal and school history. It is an opportunity to discuss the difficulties observed, when they first appeared, and how they are experienced at home and at school.
02Meeting the child or young person
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A dedicated meeting offers the opportunity to meet the child or young person directly and learn more about their history and school experience. It allows us to explore the reported difficulties from their perspective and complete the information gathered in the first phase.
03The cognitive profile
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Before assessing academic skills, cognitive functioning is explored using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V). This standardised instrument examines different aspects of the child or young person's cognitive profile and supports a more accurate interpretation of possible learning difficulties.
04Academic skills
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When the information gathered indicates that it is appropriate to proceed, the following sessions assess academic skills using standardised tools. Reading, writing and mathematics are explored with instruments selected according to age and the findings from the earlier stages.
05A complete picture
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At the end of the assessment, the results are considered together and connected with the information gathered throughout the process. Attention is given not only to areas of difficulty, but to the overall profile that emerged from the assessment, including resources and strengths. A feedback meeting with the parents follows, during which the results are shared and explained.
06The clinical report
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At the end of the assessment, a clinical report brings together the findings and recommendations relevant to the school pathway. A further feedback meeting is dedicated to reading the report together and answering any questions.
A set of scores alone
cannot tell the story
of a child or young person.
Repeated experiences of struggle, mistakes or comparison with others can affect how school is experienced and how a young person sees their own abilities.
For this reason, I believe feedback should not stop at the difficulties identified, but should also recognise resources, strengths and personal ways of learning.
Understanding a difficulty can be the starting point for finding different ways to address it.
After a diagnosis
The regional validation process
When an assessment results in an SLD diagnosis, I also support the family through the next steps.
During the meeting dedicated to the report, I help parents upload the documentation to the regional portal for the validation process used in Emilia-Romagna, explaining the necessary steps. The documentation is then reviewed through the procedure established by the Regional Health Service.
Clinical report→Regional portal→Validation process
Strategies
SLD, study and learning
A diagnosis is not required to experience difficulty with studying. Sometimes the challenge is not a single subject, but how schoolwork is approached: getting organised, starting a task, managing time, selecting important information or finding a method that suits the person’s way of learning.
In my work as an SLD tutor, the starting point is to understand together what makes studying difficult and identify strategies that can make it more manageable and effective.
The work may focus on study methods, organisation and trying different strategies, as well as learning to use compensatory tools thoughtfully, including concept maps and other useful study supports.
When an SLD is present, it can also be important to understand the accommodations provided within the Italian school pathway and learn how to navigate the available tools.
The aim is not to offer the same method to everyone, but to help children and young people understand how they learn, discover which strategies work for them, and gradually become more independent in their studies.
Working together
Family and school
Learning difficulties do not only affect study time. They can become part of everyday family life, the relationship with school, and the way a child or young person experiences their own abilities.
It is therefore important that parents can understand the assessment findings and receive clear guidance on how to support the school journey.
After the assessment, I remain available to the family to clarify questions, discuss the recommendations received and consider tools and strategies suited to the profile that emerged.
When the school prepares an Italian Personalised Learning Plan (PDP), I can support the family in reading it and understanding the measures and tools identified, connecting them with the assessment findings.
SLD assessment
In person · Castenaso (Bologna)
Initial assessments up to age 16
SLD, study and learning
Online and in person
Who I work with
Children · Young people · Families
A first conversation
If you have questions about your child’s difficulties at school, or would like to understand what kind of support may be most appropriate, you can contact me and briefly describe the situation.
I will get back to you personally to arrange an initial meeting.
Discuss your request