Psychological Evaluation Report

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL

Date: 29 May 2007

IDENTIFYING DATA

Name: AS

Date of Birth: 01 April 1992 Gender: Female

Dates of Testing: 20 & 25 April 2007

Chronological Age: 15 years old

Educational Status: Incoming 3rd year High School,

OB Montessori School, Greenhills

Home Address: Bulacan

Telephone Number: XXXX

REASON FOR REFERRAL

Fifteen-year-old AS, or A, was referred by her school for

evaluation. She has experienced academic problems particularly
since she entered high school. AS appears very passive and very
shy, according to Guidance Counselor Ms. Targa. The past school
year, her parents note that she had difficulty in Math and
History. As a result, she attended summer classes after her
freshman and sophomore years, since she was unable to attain the
necessary 80 grade point average.

Moreover, her parents shared that AS went with her

boyfriend, whom they had no knowledge about, and the couple
temporarily disappeared for 2 nights in September 2006. She was
returned to her parents by the boyfriend’s family on the third
day.

This evaluation seeks to determine presence of a learning

difficulty and to identify interventions suitable to her needs.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Family

AS is the eldest of 3 children of Ma. V, 33, and Al S, 35.

Her parents are businesspeople who own a bakeshop in Balagtas,
Bulacan. Her father completed a degree in Business Management
whereas her mother attained 2nd year college level for BS
Pharmacy. AS has 2 younger brothers. VA, 11, is a 5 th grade
student at OB Montessori. He seems to understand lessons well.
The youngest, 4-year-old JA or Tovi, is in Junior Casa at a
school in Balagtas.

During school days, AS and her brother VA, reside in a

condominium in Pasig City with their single paternal aunt, M, and
1 house help. Both children have studied at OB Montessori since
they started Junior Casa, with their aunt as their guardian
during school days. M has consistently stayed with the children
through the years, though for a few months, she was temporarily
absent from the household. During such time, only the house help
was the present adult. On Friday nights, they are picked up and
brought to Bulacan then they return to Pasig on Sunday afternoon.

During summer months, the children reside in Bulacan with

their parents and youngest brother. AS maternal grandparents live
in the same compound, with an uncle who is single and another
uncle with his wife and daughter.

When at Balagtas, AS reportedly stays at the bakeshop and

watches over the store. She seems to have skill in artistic
endeavors, notes her mother. She can copy a design onto their
cakes and these are sold to customers.

According to her parents, they have not set rules for

AS(“di kami ma-rules”) while she is home. However, she is not
allowed to watch TV during exam week. Her Tita M, on the other
hand, tends to assign her with simple tasks at home. Her parents
note that AS appears unaffected (“walang takot”) when they
attempt to provide structure but seems scared that she can get
reprimanded for her errors. However, when confronted about
misdemeanors, AS tends to remain quiet.

Her father recalled that as a young child, AS appeared angry

toward him, as she drew angrily over his picture. At present, he
narrated that AS seems to get what she wants (“siya na

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masusunod”). Her mother, on the other hand, prefers for her
husband, rather than she, to attend to the children’s needs
(“ayaw mag-alaga ng bata”). She claims that she and her daughter
appear to have a “generation gap.” She tends to instill
discipline through physical punishment, when AS was younger.

In terms of relationships among family members, AS feels

upset (“pikon”) when her siblings or her cousins tease her. She
may not get along well with her siblings, since they often
quarrel and tell on each other (“nagsusumbungan”).

Personal

AS was born full term through normal delivery. Pre- and

post-natal histories were unremarkable. Her mother had fever
(month of pregnancy unrecalled) and took paracetamol for it.

As a baby, AS was reportedly easy to care for. She likewise

attained developmental milestones at appropriate ages.

As she was growing, her parents observed that AS seems to

fall behind in terms of understanding lessons and memorization
(“mabagal, mahina memory”). Once, when she was about 7 years old,
she went to the bank near their home, to deposit some money. Her
parents later learned that a stranger took the money she had with
her.

At 4 years old, AS enrolled at OB Montessori Center,

Greenhills for Junior Casa. A year later, she attended Guardian
Angels in Bulacan for Senior Kinder but returned to OB Montessori
for Advanced Casa. Currently, she is an incoming junior. Since
she obtained a probationary status from the school since the 1 st
quarter of freshman year, her parents are required to attend a
monthly parent-teacher conference. It is usually her aunt who
attends these sessions. To further assist her with academics, her
cousin visits her at home for tutorial sessions. During sophomore
year, she had these sessions 4 times a week.

According to her parents, AS occasionally talks about her

friends from school, including Re, Cla, and Mar; AS claims she is
closer to the first 2 mentioned. Her friends, however, reportedly
do not have current knowledge regarding her romantic
relationship. With new people, she can adjust to them and
sometimes, joins conversations of adults.
Her parents first learned that AS had a boyfriend when she
was a freshman. She was allowed to have a mobile phone but when
the bill skyrocketed after a specific billing period, her mother

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physically punished her (“ginulpi”). AS claimed she would not
continue her romantic relationship. In September 2006, she went
missing. Her parents later learned she was with her boyfriend, a
17-year-old pedicab driver, whom they did not know. They gathered
from the young man’s family, who lived in their community, that
the couple went to Cagayan Valley, where his other family members
resided. Her parents sought support from the police for this
incident. After 2 nights that AS was missing, her boyfriend’s
family brought her to the police station where her father picked
her up. As it turned out, she was in the relationship for almost
2 years, before the September incident occurred.

In terms of feelings, AS does not usually describe how she

feels and may prefer to keep to herself. She tends to be easily
upset, especially when she gets teased by siblings and cousins.

Her current interests include logging in to Friendster,

reading teen magazines, and using her camera a lot. Her parents
describe her as “pikon, maarte, matakaw, and pa-charming (toward
boys when they are out of the home)”.

INSTRUMENTS ADMINISTERED

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition

Rorschach Inkblot Test
Norris Educational Achievement Test
Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-Second Edition
Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test
Draw-A-Person Test
Kinetic Family Drawing
Thematic Apperception Test

BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS

AS arrived at the clinic neatly dressed in a teal-colored

shirt, jeans, and flats. She wore matching jewelry of gold and
pink stones—3 rings on her fingers and a pair of earrings. She
has fair skin, long, straight hair that was swept away from her
round face and round eyes.

Overall, she remained quiet unless spoken to. She answered

in phrases and sometimes avoided eye contact with the
psychologist. AS seemed self-conscious, covering her mouth with a
handkerchief when she let out a small cough. She responded to
some questions with hesitance, as the intonation of her answer

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ended with a question mark rather than a period. For other items
that seemed rather simple, AS mentioned an answer but either
shrugged her shoulders or shook her head, hardly venturing forth
to respond to the items. Occasionally, she paused at length
before answering, as if her attention has drifted elsewhere. She
appeared to have a blank look on her face that remained constant
when she was asked other questions. However, toward the end of
the testing session, AS addressed a few questions to the
psychologist, seemingly having warmed up to the latter.

In contrast to her limited verbal expression, AS was able to

write short compositions when required. She did this on her own,
without help from the psychologist. Her work was coherent, though
errors in grammar and punctuation were observed.

AS arrived for 2 afternoon testing sessions, as she took

summer classes in the morning. She mentioned feeling “bad” about
taking summer school, as it took her away from doing other
activities during the break. She completed all tasks within the 2
sessions and persisted as she finished the last written task,
refusing to have a break when this was offered to her.

TEST RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION

Adaptive Behavior

Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-Second Edition (ABAS-II)

Skill Area Scaled Scores

Parent Form Teacher Form
Communication 7 1
Community Use 7 9
Functional Academics 7 5
Home/School Living 11 8
Health and Safety 3 11
Leisure 7 4
Self-Care 1 5
Self-Direction 6 6
Social 5 9

Parent Form Teacher Form

Adaptive Scaled Classification Scaled Classification
Domain Score Score
Conceptual 82 Below Average 70 Extremely Low
Social 81 Below Average 84 Below Average
Practical 74 Borderline 90 Average

Global 70 Extremely Low 80 Below Average

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Adaptive
Composite

AS’ mother, her aunt, M, and her former adviser, Mr. Patrick
Ramon Aquino, answered the forms. Only the forms rated by her
aunt and her teacher are included in the analysis, as several
items were rated as “guessed” by her mother.

AS gained Global Adaptive Composite scores classified within

the Extremely Low to Below Average range in the Adaptive Behavior
Assessment System-Second Edition (ABAS-II). This means that she
may not competently manifest adaptive behavior skills or those
skills of daily living as expected of adolescents her age.

AS’ mother and Mr. Aquino rated AS similarly in the Social

Domain, where she obtained a score in the Below Average category.
This means she can relate fairly well with other people and
engage in leisure activities, by herself or with others. The 2
adults note that sometimes when needed, AS invites others to join
her in activities/ games, tries a new endeavor, and plays games
and organized activities with peers. She is also able to follow
game rules and wait for her turn.

On the other hand, her aunt and her former adviser possess
different perspectives regarding AS’s Conceptual and Practical
Skills. Mr. Aquino provided lower ratings for AS’s Conceptual
Skills whereas her mother attributed lower scores for AS’S
Practical Skills.

In the Conceptual Skills Domain, which is composed of the

skill areas Communication, Functional Academics, and Self-
Direction, AS obtained a score of 1 on Communication, as rated by
her adviser, which contributed in obtaining an Extremely Low
score on the Conceptual Domain in the Teacher Form. Among the
communication skills, AS consistently indicates “yes” or “no” in
response to a question, follows the teacher’s instructions, and
ends conversations appropriately. However, she manifests other
verbal and attending skills sometimes when needed. On the other
hand, AS obtained a higher rating in Communication from her aunt.
It is possible that she can verbalize more comfortably at home,
instead of in school. Apart from communication skills, her former
adviser and her aunt rated AS similarly in the areas of
Functional Academics and Self-Direction. That is, she may not
often exercise the use of practical academic skills such as
following instructions in class projects, taking down notes,
reading important school documents, writing down reminders, and
using reference books for school work.

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 Moreover, in the area of Self-Direction, her aunt observes
that AS seems unable to work continuously for 15 minutes on a
home or school activity and to control her anger. She is not
allowed to go out the home unchaperoned. Likewise, AS may not
show persistence in assigned home or school tasks that she
dislikes, including those challenging take home work.

In the Practical Skills Domain, where Community Use, Home/

School Living, Self-Care, and Health and Safety Skills are
included, AS’s aunt indicated low scores in the last 2 skill
areas, since AS may not adhere to specific Self-Care and Health
and Safety Skills competently. For example, she may neither
attend to minor injuries nor take medication for illness by
herself. She also needs reminders to get out of bed on time. On
the other hand, AS seems to manifest independence in Health and
Safety in the school setting, as structure in school may help her
do as expected.

Intellectual Functioning

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV)

Verbal Comprehension Subtests Scaled Score
Similarities 4
Vocabulary 3  
Comprehension 5
Information 1
Word Reasoning 3

Perceptual Reasoning Subtests

Block Design   7
Picture Concepts 10
Matrix Reasoning 9
Picture Completion 7

Working Memory Subtests

Digit Span 8
Letter-Number Sequencing 7
Arithmetic 7

Processing Speed Subtests

Coding 8
Symbol Search 5
Cancellation 9

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Composite IQ/Index %ile Rank Category
Verbal Comprehension     65 1 Intellectually Deficient
Perceptual Reasoning    92 30 Average
Working Memory  86 18 Low Average
Processing Speed 80 9 Low Average

Full Scale 75 5 Borderline

In the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth

Edition, AS obtained discrepant index scores in Verbal
Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning, which indicates her poor
verbal expression and comprehension skills as compared to average
nonverbal reasoning skills. Results in this test surface her
limited knowledge of words, verbal concepts and understanding of
these concepts, and problems with retention and retrieval of
information in long-term memory, but does better in tasks that
entail short-term memory. These factors function as major
hindrances for her to cope with academic and nonacademic skills
required of her age. Moreover, motivational and emotional factors
may affect AS’s overall functioning, which are discussed in the
next section.

She gained a Low Average score in Working Memory (WM),

showing relatively adequate resources in attention, retaining
information for a short period, and manipulating this data to
come up with correct answers. For tasks involving Processing
Speed (PS), AS fared better in simple rote tasks of copying
symbols, following 1 step instructions and canceling objects that
are different from the rest, instead of tasks that involved speed
and accuracy in visual discrimination and visual-perceptual
scanning skills.

AS obtained consistently low scores in subtests that

comprise the Verbal Comprehension Index. This means that she
possesses challenges in processing verbal information and
applying verbal skills in solving problems. She showed limited
knowledge of general information and definition of words which
may indicate limitations in accessing important information from
long term memory. When faced with tasks that entail oral
responses and understanding of verbal data, AS may fail to
analyze and integrate information competently and demonstrate
sufficient practical, social judgment.

In addition, AS may understand concepts relatively better

when words are not utilized. She was able to point out pictures
that fall under the same category. She was also fairly able to
integrate abstract block designs and use nonverbal problem
solving skills.

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 Other test results indicate that though AS seems capable of
examining her experiences adequately and maintaining sufficient
attention, she does not process information as meticulously as
possible. Given this propensity, she prefers to deal with fairly
simple situations and approach problems in a simplistic manner,
hardly exerting effort to arrive at solutions to complex
problems. As AS appears to underestimate her own capabilities,
she may possess limited motivation and effort to understand
concepts or solve problems. In addition, she does not prefer to
shift her attention from one task to another, which can pose as
troublesome when she needs to multi-task.

As related to school tasks, AS may manifest difficulty with

tasks that heavily rely on verbal expression, comprehension,
critical analysis, and complex problem solving skills required of
her year level.

Norris Educational Achievement Test - Form A (NEAT)

Achievement Subtests Standard Score %ileRank Category

Word Recognition 109 73 Average
Spelling 111 77 Average
Arithmetic 74 4 Low

Overall 98 45 Below Average

Supplemental Tests Standard Score %ileRank Category

Oral Reading 71 3 Low
Comprehension 67 1 Low
Written Language 98 45 Below Average

AS obtained scores in the Average category for Word

Recognition and Spelling. However, her scores on other subtests
are within the Below Average to Well Below Average range. This
means that she seems to fall behind in specific academic areas
compared to adolescents her age.
She did not do well in Arithmetic. She answered 1- to 2-
digit multiplication and division problems but had trouble
correctly answering items involving fractions, decimal points,
multiplication, and division problems in increasing difficulty.

AS fared better in reading and spelling words, in contrast

to understanding what she has read, as observed in her scores in
Oral Reading and Comprehension. Even though a copy of the story
was provided in front of her, she was still unable to answer
questions competently. In contrast, she did fairly well when it

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came to Written Language, where her errors involved not
capitalizing words that needed to be capitalized. That is, she
seems better capable of expressing her ideas in written, rather
than oral form. However, errors in grammar, punctuation, and
capitalization affect her overall written output.

ABAS, WISC-IV, NEAT, and Rorschach

AS manifests poor expressive language and reasoning skills

and shows challenges with long-term memory, particularly those
that involve processing of verbal information. She showed better
ability in reading and spelling words and written expression.
Difficulties in verbal expression and comprehension have
implications in her academic and non-academic performance. Her
performance of adaptive behaviors, in general, may fall below age
expectations. Results further show AS’s preference for simplistic
problem solving and limited motivation to undertake challenging
goals.

Emotional and Interpersonal Functioning

Current results indicate that AS experiences emotional difficulties showing features of

depression. Her emotional state, which includes experiencing painful feelings, seems to make it
difficult for her to deal with pressing concerns. She may not necessarily claim that she feels sad
or upset but nonetheless, AS is likely to feel disheartened about her circumstances. As she is
reserved and quiet, AS may be thrust in the background, seemingly forgotten by others. In
addition, she may feel that events occurring in her life are beyond her control. What works as a
protective factor, however, is that AS seems to have retained a degree of hope that matters will
turn out better. This important resource, including those identified later, can help in the
management of depressive feelings.

What may contribute to her present emotional state is her rather poor self-image and self-
esteem and her limited experience of rewarding interpersonal relationships. Primarily, AS’s
avoidance of introspection may be related to her limited motivation to understand complex
concepts since she presumes that she will not do well anyway. She also seems concerned with
her physical appearance, as her ideal body image may not coincide with her present physical
stature. Second, though she demonstrates interest in being with people, AS appears to possess
limited emotional connection with others, even those significant in her life. From her point of
view, she may not share a warm relationship with her parents, though she relies on them for
support. This also indicates a need of nurturance from significant people. AS may feel
abandoned, as if she is left to her own resources to cope with her challenges. She also fears their
scolding of her misdemeanors. Lastly, she tends to act passively in interpersonal relationships
and follow whatever choices other people make for her. However, because of her limited verbal
expression skills, she does not assert herself verbally. Instead, AS is inclined to demonstrate
oppositional behaviors and anger through passive-aggressive ways. She may likewise feel
ambivalent toward her parents, knowing she is supposed to obey them but she is torn between
doing what she wants and following their wishes. As a result, she may manifest disobedience.

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Moreover, being an adolescent, AS is at the stage of forming an identity and establishing
independence from her family. She attempts to exercise independence by bonding with peers but
feels disappointed when, for example, she is not permitted by her parents to go out with peers.

Furthermore, other factors can hinder AS from establishing harmonious relationships.

One is being less willing to deal with feelings and to engage herself in emotionally-laden
situations that arise in interactions whereas another is her tendency to misjudge peoples’ attitudes
and intentions. AS may misinterpret what others say or do and as a result, she may be at risk for
behaving inappropriately. This may be the case when she reportedly joined her boyfriend for the
trip. She may have neither thought of the consequences of her actions nor realized the risk she
may have put herself in. These factors, added to her limited comprehension skills, lack of effort
in understanding complex problems, and inclination toward escaping, instead of confronting her
problems, can put her in vulnerable circumstances.

AS possesses resources which can help in managing her present state. She shows interest
in people and even shows compassion toward those who are less fortunate. Her inclination
toward looking at the bright side of matters and her appreciation of the help that her parents
extend are AS’s added resources.

SUMMARY

Test results indicate the presence of difficulties in

expressive language and comprehension and limited ability to
process verbal information, which seem to hinder AS from meeting
the academic demands of her year level. Her performance of
adaptive behaviors, in general, may fall below age expectations.
Furthermore, she has shown challenges with long-term memory in
connection with retaining verbal concepts. However, AS may also
not persist when concepts become difficult for her to understand,
manifesting limited confidence in her capability. She also
prefers to deal with fairly simple situations and approach
problems in a simplistic manner. Academic accommodations and
educational therapy are required to assist AS cope with academic-
related difficulties.

In addition, her emotional state presents with features of

depression. She possesses difficulties in establishing and
maintaining harmonious relationships, as she is inclined to be passive, distance
herself from emotions, and misinterpret peoples’ attitudes and intentions. Nevertheless, the
presence of AS’s resources is essential which can assist in alleviating her present state.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Regular educational therapy and interventions. AS will

benefit when she attends these sessions regularly. Start with
learning the basics in comprehension skills, with exercises

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 and drills using simple paragraphs and progress to paragraphs
that gradually increase in difficulty. Teach her to break down
a story or question to determine what exactly is asked.
Alongside teaching comprehension skills, help AS build her
vocabulary, knowledge of information, and concepts. As she
improves with these skills, teach her techniques in critical
analysis. The therapist may recommend activities conducted at
home in addition to the tasks done during weekly sessions.

2. Individual and group therapy. AS may attend weekly therapy

sessions (at least 6 sessions for each intervention) geared to
support and help manage her emotional state. She may first
attend individual therapy sessions, where some goals include
development of self-esteem and identifying appropriate coping
skills. Group therapy targets the development of her social
skills, including attending to social cues, establishing
relationships with peers, and learning problem solving skills
in social situations.

3. Parent conferences and parent support. Her parents, with her

paternal aunt, may participate in interventions at school and
in the therapeutic setting. It is recommended for them to
attend parent conferences with the psychologist once a month,
while AS’s treatment is ongoing. Strategies in dealing with
her and helping establish closer ties may be discussed. Her
parents and her aunt can also attend parenting programs
organized by the school and the scheduled parent-teacher
conferences.

4. School setting. Given AS’s areas of weakness, the school can

be helpful by providing accommodations for her needs.
a. Accommodations.
- Alternative program. Assist AS in mastering key
concepts in the various subjects of her previous level.
She may have difficulty understanding present verbal
concepts since these build on mastery of previous
lessons. When possible, prepare an academic program
wherein she may take some subjects that apply to 3 rd
year and others, for 2nd year.
- Alternative outputs. Since AS may perform better in
written work instead of recitation, assign seatwork and
homework that utilize writing exercises to encourage
her to express her ideas in this form. She may be
assigned less problems or questions but which are
supplemented with other outputs.
- Drills and repetitive exercises. Use a repetitive
manner of teaching verbal concepts and information.

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 - Modification of tests. Provide tests that are not heavy
with recall of facts. Include multiple choice tests as
an alternative to providing lists of data from memory.
For tests requiring reading comprehension, include
shorter paragraphs that she will answer. Allow AS to
refer to the story as she answers questions.
- Keep instructions brief. Give short instructions that
are direct to the point. Check with AS to make sure she
understood what is required of her.
- Individual help and time for test taking. The teacher
may check on AS’s work every so often to make sure she
understands the test instructions. Give 10 to 15
minutes additional time to complete her work.
- Pair memorization with understanding of concepts.
Instead of simply memorizing words or information, make
sure AS understands what she is supposed to memorize.
Explain how details of a concept (e.g., total number of
senators and congressmen), is related to a general
concept (e.g., type of government). Help her recall key
points or general concepts and connect them with
details.
- Allow her to earn extra credit. When tests may not be
modified, allow AS to earn bonus points by including
additional written expression items.
b. Homework. Assign written expression items for homework
and other creative output. The focus may be to check her
understanding of the main points of the lesson.
c. Support from teachers. It is helpful when a teacher acts
as a supportive mentor to AS. Teachers may elicit her
participation in classroom tasks (e.g., completing an
errand, collecting homework), but avoid putting her on
the spot for recitation. Praise her positive behaviors
and efforts in accomplishing tasks.
d. Classroom buddy. Pair the students so each one has a
“buddy” who can check on each other’s work and output. At
the end of the class, each one exchanges assignment
notebooks and checks whether information has been
included there.
e. Participation in clubs. AS will benefit when she becomes
part of a club in which she is interested (e.g., culinary
arts). This provides opportunities for developing
confidence and competence.

5. Supervision and bonding with parents. As AS and her brother stays with their aunt during
the school week, one of her parents may need to be consistently present in Pasig City for a
day or two during the week in order to supervise their needs. Each parent may start to
establish a bonding routine with AS (e.g., going to the parlor or spa together with her mother,

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 going on errands with her father), preferably done regularly. These activities will respond to
AS’s need for nurturance and emotional connection.

6. Exercise and well being activities. AS may participate in

exercise programs for teens her age (e.g., dancing, badminton)
to help her keep fit. This may also be an activity that the
family can do together (e.g., badminton, biking). She may
attend seminars for teens that include discussion on fashion,
caring for the self, and enhancing natural beauty.

7. Develop academic-related skills.

a. Strategies in improving memory.
- Use mnemonics. Practice using acronyms to help remember
concepts (e.g., ROYGBIV which stands for the colors of
the rainbow).
- Categorize and chunk information. Organize data into
categories (e.g., names of people and places, words that
start with the same letter) to aid recall.
- Use rhymes. Sing or chant series of information that
needs to be committed to memory. Writing down concepts on
paper and arranging them according to category is another
helpful way to remember data.
- Use color cues. Highlight important information with
specific color codes (e.g., neon green for the capital of
countries, neon orange for the countries, etc.).
b. Comprehension.
- Make it a habit to read short stories, features in
newspapers and magazines, and stories that cater to her
interest (baking, cake decorating, teen fashion).
Exposure to reading material exposes her to familiar and
new words alike.
- Help AS break down a question or series of questions into
parts and analyze what answers are required (e.g.,
determine cause and effect, make inferences, use
deductive and inductive reasoning). Use a pen and paper
to write down specific key words and, if helpful, draw an
outline or diagram regarding what is asked.
- Point out similarities and differences in common objects,
preferably using concrete examples. For example, in
teaching similarities, identify the same characteristics
the objects share.
- Purchase comprehension guides that can assist students
and parents in improving comprehension skills.
c. Expand vocabulary or knowledge of words.
- Word bank. Create a notebook where words (starting with
at least 10 that she has not mastered), their meanings
are written down, and a sample sentence that uses the

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 word. Each day, a new word is added to the list.
Likewise, create a box where index cards of words are
printed on 1 side. At the end of the week, review the
list of words to determine whether he has remembered
their meaning. As a game, pick cards from the word bank
and use these in sentences. Her parents may decide to
provide AS with rewards for being familiar with new
words.
- Use new words frequently. Even when these words are
encountered in the word bank or list, create other
opportunities for AS to use these words (e.g., During
review time at the end of the week, she may be required
to write a short story using most or all of the words for
the week. Her parents may provide 2 to 3 topics which he
has to write about.)
d. Verbal Expression
- Praise AS when she expresses her needs through words. Be
patient with her during times when she does not respond
promptly.
- Encourage singing or performing as a family bonding
activity. Hopefully, AS may feel more confident as she
becomes more competent in her skills.
e. Mathematics
- Teach her to look carefully at the operation first before
answering the item.
- Review the basic processes involved in math operations.
Teach her how to approach these problems in a step-by-
step manner and understand what the operation requires.
- Review the basics where fractions and decimals are
involved in math problems.
- Practice problem solving using concrete, real-world
situations (e.g., making change)

8. Organization skills.
a. Organized notes. Have an assignment notebook, where homework
is indicated, reminders and project deadlines are stated.
b. Teach independence in completing homework. Allow AS to
answer tasks that she can do on her own but give some
guidelines at the beginning; she may ask for help only when
she needs to do so.

9. Home interventions.
a. Daily schedule. It is important that AS, her parents, and
her aunt create and agree on a daily schedule where specific
times are allotted for studying and engaging in recreation.
Aside from those limits, as later stated, a daily schedule
provides AS with a structure that she can follow.

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 b. Focus on the positive. Her parents can make it a point to
highlight the tasks or behaviors which AS complies with or
does well. Notice the siblings for their positive behaviors
when they get along well.
c. Limits and compromise. AS may want to join her friends when
they go out. AS and her parents may strike an agreement
regarding chaperoned visits with friends (e.g., her parents
are in the same building or mall where she is with her
group) and curfews. This way, she is able to meet her need
to belong with a group of peers.
d. Expand her social circle. In her hometown, AS may
participate in community or parish outreach activities with
fellow teens. In this manner, she gets to bond with more
people in her community.
e. Family time. During weekends, continue to spend time as a
family, doing fun activities together.
f. Responsibility. Assign AS with some responsibilities at home
(e.g., tending the store in the mornings, writing down
orders, etc).

10. Team conferences. Conferences among her teachers,

psychologist, and educational therapist may be beneficial in
discussing ways in which they can provide further support to
Anavi.

11. Reassessment. A reevaluation conducted 1 year later, after

most of the recommended interventions have been conducted,
may be helpful to determine AS’s progress.

Thank you for referring AS to us. If you have any questions about this report, please get in touch
with us through our secretary at (02) 4212469, office mobile phone 0917-8080193, or email
<psychconsult@gmail.com>.

Prepared by:

ZACHELE MARIE M. BRIONES, M.A.

Psychologist

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