By Lisa Hayden, M.A., R.Psych. | Reviewed for Clinical Accuracy on July 2, 2026
Many parents feel relief once their child’s psychological or psychoeducational assessment is complete. But it’s also common to wonder what happens next and how the results will actually help your child.
The Bottom Line: After a psychoeducational or ADHD assessment, families typically receive a written report within the same day, followed by an in-person or remote feedback session where I explain what the results mean, whether a diagnosis applies, and next steps for home and school support.
Psychoeducational evaluations help you, your child, and the school better understand learning style, emotional needs, and behavioural functioning, so the right supports can be put in place for your child to thrive.
This guide explains what typically happens after a psychological, ADHD, or learning assessment and how parents can use the results to best support their child moving forward.
If you are still deciding whether testing is the right step, you may also want to read our guide on the signs your child may need a psychological assessment and how ADHD and learning assessments differ.
What Happens After Your Child’s Psychological Evaluation Results Come In?
You helped your child prepare for a psychoeducational assessment so they could give their best effort during the evaluation. The next steps matter just as much. They’re what turn the information gathered into real support for your child.
Here’s what to expect after the assessment day.
1. Preparing the comprehensive report and recommendations
After the evaluation, I go through the results and write a comprehensive report. It covers why we tested, what we found, and individualized recommendations built around your child’s specific situation, learning, social emotional and/or behavioural strengths and needs.
The specifics depend on the type of evaluation and the reason for referral. Everything is written clearly, since parents usually share this report with other professionals: a family doctor, medical specialist, or their child’s school.
In my practice, report turnaround is typically within the same day for in-person assessments.
2. Understanding Your Child’s Results During the Feedback Session
The feedback session is where the results become real for your family. It’s where you’ll clearly understand the findings, what they mean for your child, and how the recommendations apply at home and at school.
I go over the results and recommendations with you and your child or teen seperately. One goal is to make sure your child feels empowered and understands the information well enough to begin advocating for themselves.
Honestly, this process starts earlier than the feedback session. During the evaluation itself, I’m listening to your child describe their own challenges and strengths as we go. A teen might say they remember things from years ago easily but can’t remember phone numbers. In the feedback session, I help translate that experience, showing how their performance reflects what they’ve described and pointing to strategies that can help.
What Do the Numbers in the Report Actually Mean?
Test results are usually reported as standard scores, percentiles, or T-scores, not a pass/fail grade. Here’s how I explain them to families:
| Score Type | Plain-Language Meaning | What Parents Should Do With It |
| Standard Score | Compares your child’s performance to same-age peers on a set scale (usually centred around 100) | Use as the baseline reference point when discussing supports with the school |
| Percentile Rank | Shows what percentage of same-age peers your child scored at or above | Helpful for understanding relative strengths and challenges at a glance |
| T-Score | A standardized score often used for behavioural or emotional rating scales | Ask me directly what a specific T-score means for your child’s referral question |
You’ll have a chance to ask questions about the assessment, the results, and the recommendations. I’ll also go over areas of strength the evaluation revealed, not just the challenges.
How to prepare for the in-person feedback session
Some parents find it helpful to bring a list of questions to the meeting. Here are the ones I hear most often:
- How can I use the results to help my child?
- Who else should I share the report and results with, and why?
- Are any of the results surprising based on the reason for referral?
- How confident can I be that we got accurate information?
- What advice do you have for sharing the results with my child’s school?
- Why did my child receive a diagnosis, and how does it help them?
3. Sharing Results With Your Child’s School (Including IPP Support)
Sharing results with your child’s school helps teachers and support staff understand your child’s learning profile and put the right accommodations in place. In my experience working with Nova Scotia schools, most are collaborative and supportive of these recommendations. Results often inform your child’s academic interventions, adaptations, and Individual Program Plan (IPP).
You’ll have the option of a school meeting and can provide the school a copy of the report for your child’s records. As the parent, that decision is yours.
The school meeting brings together the people involved in your child’s learning. Attendees can vary, but typically include:
- Your child’s classroom teacher
- The resource or learning centre support person
- School psychologist or speech-language pathologist
- A school administrator or counsellor
Together, you’ll review the results, discuss accommodations, and explore how they’ll be documented. It’s also a chance to ask about additional resources the school can provide.
I have extensive experience with Nova Scotia’s local school systems, including the IPP process, and can help you prepare for the meeting or figure out how to share information effectively, even in the rare case a school isn’t as open to the recommendations.
Ready to plan your child’s school meeting? Get help preparing for it, and we’ll walk through it with you.
4. Follow-up phone call in case of additional questions
The feedback session and report cover a lot of ground, and new questions often surface once you’ve had time to sit with the information. That’s why I also offer a follow-up phone call several weeks after the feedback session.
During that call, you can ask me anything that’s come up, talk through challenges implementing the recommendations, or get clarification on the results.
Ensuring You Get the Most Out of Your Child’s Evaluation
The report, feedback session, and school collaboration only matter if they lead somewhere. That’s really the goal: turning results into support that actually helps your child at school, at home, and socially, whatever the reason for the original psychological, ADHD, or learning assessment.
Common Questions Parents Have After a Child’s Assessment
How long does it take to get psychoeducational assessment results, in-person or remote?
Most assessments take about [X weeks] for me to review testing results and prepare a detailed report, whether completed in-person or remotely. You’ll get an estimated timeline on the assessment day.
What do the numbers in my child’s report actually mean?
Results are reported as standard scores, percentiles, or T-scores rather than a pass/fail grade, each comparing your child’s performance to same-age peers. I walk through what each number means for your child specifically during the feedback session.
Will my child receive a diagnosis after the assessment?
Not every evaluation results in a diagnosis, and that’s not a null result. Some assessments rule out a suspected diagnosis or identify strengths and areas of difficulty that guide recommendations for school supports.
Should I share the assessment results with my child’s school?
In most cases, yes. It helps teachers and support staff understand your child’s learning needs and consider appropriate accommodations and specific interventions or supports.
Can psychological assessment results change as my child grows?
Children develop quickly, and their needs can change over time. I sometimes recommend a follow-up assessment down the road to capture new academic or developmental needs.
About the Author
Lisa Hayden, M.A., R.Psych., is a Registered Psychologist (Nova Scotia Board of Examiners in Psychology) and the clinical director of North Shore Psychological Services in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. She leads a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, psychometrists, and speech-language pathologists, and has extensive experience helping families understand psychoeducational, ADHD, and learning assessment results and translate them into practical support at home and at school.
