In those primary and post-primary schools that are served by the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, the length of time before an educational psychologist sees children with attention deficit disorder, ADD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, ODD, or dyslexia varies widely, according to the severity of the presenting symptoms. Each case is dealt with on an individual basis and there is, therefore, no useful average figure for waiting times.
In the case of ADD, ADHD and ODD, the main problem for the school is usually that of the management of difficult behaviour and every effort is made by NEPS to give priority to these cases. An individual cognitive assessment may not be appropriate or relevant in all circumstances. However, NEPS psychologists can give immediate advice to the school on how to set up a behaviour management plan and this can be provided without the necessity of the psychologist's seeing the child. If problems persist, the psychologist may observe the child in class before offering further advice.
The psychologists also work in collaboration with teachers and parents to use internationally agreed diagnostic criteria to identify the specific syndrome that is causing problems. In some cases, they refer children on to clinical services for further advice, if they feel that a clinical diagnosis and support from a multidisciplinary team may be needed. Regardless of whether this course of action is followed, the educational psychologist continues to provide advice to the school on educational programmes and behavioural management. The timescale for these actions is be determined by the severity of the problems being experienced by the child and adults concerned.
With regard to dyslexia, the main concern will be failure to make progress with literacy skills. In these cases, the NEPS psychologist will meet the class teacher and the learning support or resource teacher to help them to identify the specific nature of the difficulties and to plan and implement an individual learning plan. Consultation appointments of this nature are arranged as soon as possible. A full psycho-educational assessment will only be undertaken in cases where difficulties persist following the implementation of the plan over a certain instructional period, usually of at least one term. Therefore, the waiting time for an individual assessment will be at least one term but advice that will help the child will be provided earlier than that.
By working in this consultative manner, NEPS is able to deliver support to many more pupils than would be possible if every child about whom teachers had concern were to be assessed individually. It also enables psychologists to give priority to children with severe problems when planning their work in schools.
A priority for NEPS is working with teachers in this supportive and consultative manner to increase their competence and confidence in dealing with pupils' difficulties. A number of NEPS psychologists have provided short training inputs to schools or clusters of schools on the management of behaviour problems and on appropriate responses to dyslexia.