Well, it is a short week and it begins with an initial eligibility conference. I did the psychological evaluation on the student who is in the 3rd grade. The meeting takes about twice as long as usual because we need to use a translator and the parents ask very good questions. By the time it is over it is almost time for the Thanksgiving Party at the alternative program that is housed in the same building as our offices.
By the time the party is over, it is a short time until the end of the day. I organize some observations about a set of projectives that I did on a student and call the father of the special referral that we had. And that brings the end of the day.
On Tuesday, I get in and finally finish the emotional/social section of the report that has been torturing me for the past two weeks. I'm proud of myself because I got the reading level and passive sentences down further than ever before. Why is this important? Well it goes back to my classes in grad school and some workshops I've attended on report writing. It boils down to this: You have to remember your audience. As a school psychologist, the audience is usually a parent who is unlikely to have any training in or familiarity with the jargon of the profession. You have to convey the information in the report to the parent in a way that they can understand. That may sound condescending but it isn't meant to be. Even well educated people are unlikely to be familiar with the terminology of psychological evaluation unless that is their background.
Following this I try to find information on the cost of a neuropsychological evaluation with very little success. I also talk to some coworkers about a date for an initial referral conference.
Well only one half-day left for the week then it is time for a nice long weekend.
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