Archive:

What do you do?

‘I work as a clinical psychologist in private practice and also for a looked after children’s service.’

Why did you decide to study the Cognitive Abilities Profile (CAP) course with us?

‘I have trained in some dynamic assessment (DA) instruments and so I was keen to see how CAP could expand on my skills in this area, especially with the LAC population who may struggle to engage with long assessments.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I enjoyed it all.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘The course has enabled me to administer a detailed cognitive assessment in a significantly shorter amount of time than I perhaps could with traditional and regular DA tests. Being able to compare the profile of parents and teachers is also very helpful, as it tells me firstly whether they are seeing the same things and secondly, if not, then it enables me to generate some hypotheses about why this may be the case.

‘The detail within each domain of CAP has sharpened my general interview technique to cover areas of attention and perception, for example, that I would not have included before the CAP training.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘In addition to the above, CAP can provide a useful baseline measure when applied within a school setting. It acts as a springboard for bespoke recommendations and provides an opportunity to see if there have been any improvements at the time of re-test.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘For all of the reasons above!’

What do you do?

‘I am a specialist teacher.’

Why did you decide to study the Cognitive Abilities Profile (CAP) course with us?

‘I decided to study CAP as part of my training as a thinking skills specialist.’

What was your favourite part of the course?

‘I would say that my favourite part of the CAP course was the task analysis side of things: being able to describe the relationships between the cognitive demands of tasks and the difficulties a learner may experience with that task.’

What impact has it had on your professional life?

‘The CAP course has really helped to develop my understanding of the thinking process and the cognitive demands of tasks. CAP provides a structure through which a profile can be generated so that interventions can be targeted specifically and progress can be evidence based.’

What can someone who has taken these modules offer?

‘I think that after doing this course, the individual possesses the ability to analyse the cognitive profile of a learner. By this, I mean that they can identify areas of strength and areas that need development and the relationship of those areas to curriculum tasks and/or everyday functioning.’

Why would you advise someone to take this course?

‘The CAP course is interesting and engaging and provides meaningful insight into the needs of learners. It also offers dynamic, practical and evidence-based interventions.’