Initial test results: (CAAT - Canadian Adult Achievement Test and Math Skills Inventory)

• Vocabulary 10.3, reading comprehension 6.5 and spelling 7.7.
• Math results indicate that she can add, subtract and multiply single-digit numbers but has difficulty with double-digits and division. As a result, she struggled with her percentages and fractions. Although her adding and subtracting were strong, when they were put into a word problem format she was unable to solve them.

Initial interpretation and additional information to ask

• Based on the information gleaned from the intake interview and the CATT results, it appears that Samantha has difficulty with reading comprehension and spelling which may indicate some type of visual processing disability. Her vocabulary and verbal skills are excellent, ruling out any intellectual inability and her medical history reveals no interfering factors to her learning. Samantha's key strength is her determination and realistic understanding of herself. She has a good support system and is clear about her goal.
• Samantha and the practitioner went through a self-assessment tool orally to gain insight into Samantha's understanding of her strengths and weaknesses. Samantha indicated that her difficulties were related to her reading. This interfered with her understanding of bills and any forms or government documents she has to deal with. She prefers to be given oral directions. Samantha felt she was fairly organized and had a pretty good attention span. She would like to read more, especially since her son is focusing on this in school. Samantha stated that she is starting to find some of his homework hard to understand. She enjoys being with people, although she prefers to be with children. She finds them less intimidating.
• After some discussion, Samantha shared how she has dealt with her reading challenges. The practitioner had her think about how she compensated for them while raising her son. Samantha said that when she reads to her son she usually will read the story first to herself and practice or she will buy books that she is familiar with from her childhood. Now that her son can read, Samantha pretends that it is his homework to look up the unknown word in his picture dictionary, instead of admitting that she can't read it. Overall, Samantha relies heavily on her verbal skills and her ability to remember things. When Samantha or her son require medical attention, she has the nurse or pharmacist explain the medicine or any procedure, instead of personally having to read the brochure or prescription information.