Overview
Cognassist is an external organisation who we are partnered with at Multiverse that supports the assessment and personalised support of cognition and neurodiversity. During your programme, you’ll get the chance to complete an optional neurodiversity assessment through the Cognassist platform. This article will explain what you can expect from the assessment and what resources are available to you.
What is neurodiversity?
Neurodiversity is the concept that as individuals, we all think, work and learn differently as a result of all having unique cognitive strengths and areas where we may need support. Naturally, we all have areas that we excel at, as well as areas that we may find more challenging - and this is completely normal.
Neurodiversity assessment
The neurodiversity assessment forms the first stage of the Cognassist process and is a 35-minute online assessment that assesses your cognitive profile across nine key learning domains of the brain.
These domains are: Literacy, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Memory, Numeracy, Visual Perception, Non-Verbal Memory, Visual Information Processing Speed, Executive Function and Reading Decoding.
These domains cover three cognitive indexes which represent broad areas of cognition. These indexes are: Language & Numbers, Visual & Fluid and Memory. The assessment also assesses your overall speed of working.
The benefits of Cognassist
Through Cognassist, you can learn more about how you work and learn and put into place proactive strategies and support. This forms the foundations of apprentice support, supporting you to mitigate or overcome any potential difficulties and utilising your cognitive strengths to give you the best opportunity to thrive on your apprenticeship.
By understanding your neurodiversity, we at Multiverse are able to put into place strategies to best support you on your apprenticeship. We can also consider putting into place adjustments for any assessments you may need to complete on-programme, and if you are happy to share your Cognassist data with your employer, they may also be able to use it to ensure you’re receiving the most appropriate support at work.
What to expect
As a new apprentice, you’ll be sent an invitation to complete the Cognassist assessment the day after your Flying Start takes place. If you would like to complete the assessment, just open the link in the invite.
If you don’t receive the invite, or if it has expired, just let your coach know and they’ll be able to send you a new invite.
Once you’ve completed the assessment, your cognitive profile will be collated into a report which will contain your performance in each domain, as well as any recommendations for where further support could be explored if you have matched. You will be provided with your assessment results within 7 working days of completing the assessment by the Multiverse Apprentice Support team.
If you decide to complete the personalized learning journey, just let your coach know and they will send you an invite to sign up to the Cognassist platform, where you can access the modules and strategies.
Confidentiality
The data captured on the Cognassist assessment is treated as confidential - the only individuals who will have access to the data are:
You
Your coach
The Apprentice Support Team at Multiverse - this is to ensure that we’re able to use the information to best support you on-programme
Your Cognassist information will not be shared with your employer or manager, unless you consent or specifically request for this information to be shared. However, we do encourage you to share this information with your manager if you are comfortable as it can be used to help ensure you receive tailored support at work.
What Cognassist isn’t
Cognassist is not a diagnostic tool for Additional Learning Needs. It is a tool designed to assess and support neurodiversity at a broad level but the results of the assessment will not provide an indication of any specific conditions. The results of the assessment may initiate a conversation regarding further investigations and a potential diagnosis but do not themselves represent a diagnosis of any formal condition.
Cognassist, like all digital assessments, is also not 100% accurate in all cases. Therefore, it is possible that despite having a pre-diagnosed or identified condition, you may not match on the assessment, or may not match in the areas you expected to. This is because the assessment can be impacted by factors such as masking and as a result, Cognassist forms one component of our expansive apprentice support offering and is used alongside other support mechanisms to ensure the best possible combination of support.
If you have any questions about Cognassist, you can reach out to your coach, or the Apprentice Support Team at Multiverse: