*2.1.4 Initial assessment*

The following tests were administered in the initial sessions with Child H: Buck's House Tree Person Test, the Bender Gestalt Test, the Peabody Picture-Language Vocabulary Test, the Schonell One Word Spelling Test, the Holborn Reading Scale and the Schonell Graded Dictation Tests (Tests A and B). These test-based evidences were supplemented by implementation of a set of Phonic Inventories (Note 6) as well as pragmatic language tasks involving (a) analysis of a spontaneous writing sample, (b) analysis of school books and (c) analysis and comprehension of a picture story, as well as an IQ (the WISC IV UK) (**Figure 2**).

## **2.2 Child H: profile of results from initial testing of basic skills here**

Initial testing indicated that Child H had adequate vocabulary for age level, but had one word reading difficulties, sentence reading difficulties, one word spelling difficulties, sequential spelling difficulties and problems with sound/letter associations indicating difficulties with phonics. There were also a number of reversals in writing (e.g. b/d) as well as difficulties with rate of work. Observation indicated that Child H was a very well-mannered and engaging child, but that there was evidence of both attentional and focus difficulties. There were also indicators of under-confidence in Child H's drawings as well as anxiety indicators in the Bender Gestalt Test, suggesting that his attentional difficulties could be linked to performance anxiety.

**Figure 2.** *Child H – profile of results from initial testing of basic skills.*

There were a number of indicators of potential learning disability in the case history, as well as evidence of lowered scores in reading, writing and spelling from the two initial sessions conducted with Child H. In addition, there was evidence of phonic errors made on both short and long vowel sounds as well as beginning and ending blends and clusters, slow rate of reading, slow rate of work and spelling errors on pragmatic tasks as well as rate of work difficulties and spelling errors in Child H's schoolwork.

As there was evidence of fluency-based difficulties affecting accuracy and rate of reading, as well as evidence of difficulties with rate and spelling of written work, more in-depth testing was conducted to establish Child H's cognitive profile, as well as testing using the Phonic Inventories [87–90] to establish Child H's patterns of phonic errors. These results are reported below.
