Educational and Neurodevelopmental Assessments

Non-Diagnostic Assessments Melbourne

Our Non-Diagnostic Assessments are designed for families who want clarity without jumping straight into a formal diagnosis. It offers a structured, professional way to understand your child’s development, highlight strengths, and identify areas where extra support may be helpful.

This assessment helps guide informed next steps, whether that means early intervention, monitoring progress, or planning for further assessment down the track.

Preschool and early primary developmental assessments

Cost: $290 per session for up to 3 sessions

Our Preschool and Early Primary Developmental Assessment is a proactive pathway designed to identify emerging developmental, learning, or behavioural differences. By gaining early insights into your child’s unique profile, we can implement the right supports at the right time—ensuring they thrive during their crucial preschool and early primary school years.

Why start with a Preschool and Early Primary Developmental Assessment?

Navigating your child’s development can feel overwhelming. This assessment serves as a vital first step, offering:

Holistic Insight: A clear picture of how your child is functioning across both home and educational settings.
Shared Understanding: We bring parents, educators, and clinicians onto the same page, ensuring a consistent and supportive approach to care.
Immediate Strategies: Practical, evidence-based tools tailored for the home, kindergarten, or school environment.
A Clear Roadmap: Professional guidance on whether a formal diagnostic assessment is necessary, or if early intervention is currently the best path forward.

Our Flexible Assessment Journey

We don’t believe in a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Our assessment framework is built as a series of one to three sessions, allowing us to pivot based on your child’s needs and your family’s priorities. You have the flexibility to decide how far we go based on the insights you are looking for.

Is this right for my child?

This assessment is ideal for parents who have questions or have specific concerns about their child’s development and are seeking expert preliminary guidance. It provides the clarity needed to decide on next steps, whether that involves immediate intervention or planning for future diagnostic assessments.

Preschool & Early Primary Developmental Assessment Process

A Preschool & Early Primary Developmental Assessment helps build a clearer understanding of your child’s strengths, emerging differences, and everyday challenges.

It focuses on how your child is developing across key areas such as learning, behaviour, emotional regulation, and social interaction, and how these areas show up at home and in educational settings.

Transparency & Choice

You are in the driver’s seat. Whether you stop after the first session or continue through to the final observation, you walk away with professional documentation to support your child’s next steps.

Session 1: Initial Psychological Consultation

(50 mins)

Best for: Families seeking an expert starting point and initial guidance.

The Focus: We explore your child's developmental history and your primary concerns.
The Preparation: Prior to meeting, we ask you to complete a detailed background form and behavioural screening measure.
The Outcome: You gain professional clarity from the start. If you choose to conclude here, we provide a Written Summary of our clinical discussion, preliminary assessment results and reccomended next steps, providing formal documentation of support needs.

Session 2: Home and school functioning and collaborative planning session

(50 mins)

Best for: Families wanting to understand behavior and functioning across home and education settings.

The Focus: we bridge the gap between home and the classroom. We gather specific information from you and your child's educators via parent and teacher targeted questionnaires.
The Preparation: We review and discuss these results together to identify patterns across different settings.
The Outcome: A deeper understanding of "the why" behind certain behaviors. A Written Summary is provided at this stage, integrating all teacher feedback and assessment data, including recommended next steps, and provides formal documentation of support needs.

Session 3: Real-World Clinical Observation

(50 mins)

Best for: Families requiring an additional lens on their child to inform inclusion supports in educational settings.

The Focus: We see your child in action, ideally in their Kindergarten or Primary School, to support their inclusion in the education setting.
The Preparation: We coordinate with your child's educators to ensure the observation is discreet and insightful.
The Outcome: To gain the most complete understanding of your child and increase capacity to meet their needs across settings. A Written Summary integrates these real-world observations with all findings from previous sessions, recommended next steps and provides formal documentation of support needs.

Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA)

Cost: $2300

At Raise the Bar Psychology, our comprehensive Functional Capacity Assessment is designed to celebrate an individual’s unique profile while identifying the practical pathways to a more supported, independent life. By focusing on how a person interacts with their world, we create a detailed roadmap that highlights both their inherent strengths and the specific environmental supports they need to thrive.

This assessment is a powerful tool for self-advocacy. It provides the essential clinical evidence required for NDIS access or Plan Reviews by painting a holistic picture of an individual’s lifeacross key domains. Our goal is to ensure that the NDIS understands exactly what is needed to bridge the gap between current challenges and future goals, ensuring every individual has the resources they deserve to participate fully in their community.

Mental Health Screening Assessment

Cost: $580

Our Mental Health Screening Assessment is a compassionate, evidence-based starting point for individuals experiencing emerging emotional or psychological challenges. Designed for older children (late primary), adolescents, and adults, this assessment aims to identify concerns early, allowing for the timely implementation of effective support and treatment pathways.

Why start a Mental Health Screening Assessment

Understanding mental health is the first step toward well-being. This screening provides a structured way to move from “worry” to “action” by:

Pinpointing Emerging Concerns: Identifying the underlying nature of emotional or behavioural changes before they become more complex.
Tailored Support Strategies: Developing practical tools for the individual, their family, and—where appropriate—their school or workplace.
Clear Treatment Pathways: Providing expert guidance on the most effective therapeutic interventions and whether further diagnostic assessment is recommended.

What our Mental Health Screening Assessment Includes

We provide a comprehensive overview of mental health functioning through a structured four-stage process:

Initial Consultation (50 mins): A confidential session with a psychologist to discuss current concerns, history, strengths, and the specific challenges being faced.
Clinical Questionnaires: Completion of evidence-based screening tools by the individual (and parents/educators where relevant) to provide a data-driven view of functioning across different environments.
Feedback & Support Planning (50 mins): A follow-up consultation to review the screening results and collaboratively design a support plan that prioritises mental well-being.
Summary of Functioning Letter: A formal summary outlining identified strengths and challenges, along with clear recommendations for ongoing support and intervention.

Is this assessment right for you or your child?

This screening is ideal for adolescents or adults who are noticing shifts in mood, anxiety, or social engagement and are seeking professional clarity. It offers a bridge between noticing a concern and starting a targeted treatment journey, ensuring that any support put in place is both appropriate and effective.

Book Your Assessment

We believe that with the right assessment and support, we can help create an environment where everyone has an opportunity to thrive.

We’d love to support you; whether you have a few questions or concerns, want to know your options, or are looking for the best provider for you, book a call with us today.

FAQs about the Preschool & Early Primary Developmental Assessment

Do I have to commit to all three sessions at once?

Not at all. We believe in providing only what is necessary for you and your child. Many families find the clarity they need after Session 1 or 2. You can decide whether to book the next session after reviewing the results of the previous one.

Why is a written summary provided?

We want you to have tangible value at the conclusions of the service. If you decide that Session 1 or 2 provides enough information for now, you still have a professional document that you can take to your GP, pediatrician, or school to start getting the right support in place.

How do kinder/school observations work?

If you choose to proceed to Session 3, we coordinate directly with your child’s school or kindergarten. We aim to be as discreet as possible, observing your child in their natural setting to see how they interact with peers and navigate classroom demands.

Are these sessions covered by Medicare?

A Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) may apply as parent session under your child’s MHCP. We recommend checking with our reception team or your GP regarding your eligibility.

Are these sessions covered by NDIS?

Many families can use their NDIS funding for these sessions if they are Self-Managed or Plan-Managed. However, it depends on how your child’s goals are written and which budget you have available. We recommend checking with our reception team or your plan manager.

What if the teacher doesn’t return the forms before Session 2?

Teacher insight is a vital piece of the puzzle. If forms are delayed, we can either focus Session 2 on the parent-led data or reschedule the session to ensure we have a complete picture to discuss with you.

Can I do these sessions via Telehealth?

Session 1 and Session 2 are perfectly suited for Telehealth, allowing you to speak freely from the comfort of home. Session 3 (the observation) is best conducted in person at the school/kinder, though in-clinic options are available if needed.

Will this service lead to a diagnosis?

This assessment is ideal for parents who have noticed “niggles” or have specific concerns about their child’s development and are seeking expert preliminary guidance. It provides the clarity needed to decide on next steps and can support future diagnostic assessments if desired.

Are there travel fees for the clinical observation session?

Yes travel fees apply for the clinical observation session and vary depending on the distance. Medicare rebates or NDIS funding may apply. We recommend checking with our reception team to find out more.

How far away from the clinic can the kindergarten/school be for an observation to occur?

Typically our clinicians travel within 15km of the clinic location, however we recommend checking with our reception team as alternative arrangements may be possible.