It was an early Sunday morning when the enquiry came in “SLT assessment needed today, report needed by tomorrow as flying“.
I rang the number and the gentleman who answered explained his child was 6 and they were in London until tomorrow evening when they’d be flying back to India. “Can you come and meet them?” the dad asked with a hint of desperation.
Weighing up my options: Sunday lunch with my partner and the in-laws or a jaunt to West London to assess a child plus an evening of report writing and analysis? I took the latter!
Arriving at the family residence, I had been pre-warned I’d need to show my passport as ID and sign a NDA (none disclosure agreement), I was swiftly ushered to the top floor of the building where I see a young child watching cartoons on their iPad.
We informally complete a CELF 4 and CLEAR and head to the park where I can observe some functional communication and consider their motor and independence skills.
I arrived back at the office by 8pm to analyse all the recordings and score the assessments and got to work on the report that dad now needed “by lunch tomorrow“. Completing the report by 2am and sending the final copy to dad I remind myself never to work this way again!
The following day dad calls me and invites me back to the apartment to go through the report. Thankfully I had a gap in my day and so shot straight over.
At the apartment we discuss the ins and outs of the report; my recommendations for a multidisciplinary assessment and next steps. “Come, setup your programme” dad ‘asks’ (more like commands but with a politeful tone!).
Visa: Check!
Ticket: Check!
Bags packed full of resources: Check!
Six weeks later and I’m heading to India.