Psychological and Educational Consultancy Services (PECS) is a Perth-based psychology and education practice specialising in psychological and educational assessments for children, adolescents and adults.

PECS was established in 1999 by Dr Shane Langsford and continues to be operated by him in Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia (WA).

Dr Langsford’s qualifications include a PhD in Educational Psychology, a Bachelor of Education with First Class Honours (BEdHons1), and a Bachelor of Psychology. Completed within the BEdHons1 was a Postgraduate Diploma of Education majoring in School Psychology.

Dr Langsford is fully registered with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) and the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA); and is a Full Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), Australian Association of Psychologists (AAPi), Australian ADHD Professionals Association (AADPA), ADHD Australia, and School Psychologist’s Association of Western Australia (SPAWA).

Dr Langsford is also an APS College of Educational & Developmental Psychologists Full Academic Member. To be awarded Full Academic Member status, an individual has to have completed a PhD in psychology, have at least two years’ experience as a researcher or educator in psychology in the College specific area of practice, and have published a notable body of relevant research in the College-specific area of practice.

Dr Langsford is a registered NDIS provider.

Dr Langsford has personally conducted more than 5000 assessments over the past two decades.

Dr Langsford, or one of the other Fully registered Psychologists, is personally involved with every assessment and/or report at PECS, thus ensuring that every child, adolescent or adult attending PECS is guaranteed of benefiting from the involvement of a highly qualified and experienced Registered Psychologist.

The two most common assessments conducted at PECS are tests for ADD / ADHD and Specific Learning Disorder (SLD).

Other common tests/assessments conducted at PECS are:

• Dyscalculia
• Dysgraphia
• Dyslexia
• IQ
• Neuropsychological Assessments
• Intellectual deficiency / disability

PECS ensures that the consequent report is completed within 10 working days from the assessment.

The cost of PECS’ assessments are in the mid-range of what is being charged within the profession and are provided at set fees to ensure no surprises. In addition, there are also private health and Medicare rebates available, if applicable.

Due to increasing waiting times to see a medical specialist, many paediatricians, psychiatrists and general practitioners are now requesting that an assessment is completed by PECS prior to the patient seeing the specialist for the first time. PECS’ comprehensive range of neuropsychology testing options in Perth allow these medical specialists to have a wealth of information at their fingertips at that first appointment.

Over the past 20 years, PECS has had the pleasure of conducting hundreds of assessments for people that come from rural and remote locations throughout Western Australia such as Broome, Derby and Kununurra in the north; all the way down to Augusta, Albany, and Esperance in the south. Many of the staff at PECS were brought up in the country with Dr Langsford being born in Quairading and growing up in Gidgegannup, and other members of staff originating from Busselton, Toodyay and York.

Dr Langsford’s extensive knowledge and understanding of a large number of psychological and educational disorders led to the creation of the award-winning PsychProfiler, which is oriented to the DSM-5 and has been the most widely used Australian global psychiatric/psychological/educational assessment tool since 2004. For more information, see the Global Screening page.

Dr Langsford’s latest panel appointments

In 2015, Dr Langsford was personally selected from a shortlist by the then Federal Minister of Health (the Hon Sussan Ley) to be part of the 13-member Mental Health Expert Reference Group (MHERG) in Canberra. The group was formed to provide advice to the Commonwealth Department of Health in relation to the government’s response to the National Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services. Dr Langsford was the only practising psychologist in Australia appointed to the group, and the only member in the group from Western Australia.

With regards to ADHD, Dr Langsford has conducted over 2500 ADHD assessments for various psychiatrists and paediatricians in Perth, as well as for schools and the general public. In 2014, he was asked to be on the National Shire ADHD Expert Panel for the “A Snapshot of ADHD: A Consumer and Community Discussion” talk. In April 2018, he was the only psychologist from Australia participating in the ADHD Institute’s “Meeting of the Minds” forum in Madrid. This invitation-only meeting “provided a forum for ADHD scientists and clinicians to discuss the latest scientific evidence and share best practice in the management of ADHD”. Dr Langsford was for the second year running once again the only Psychologist from Australia invited to the 2019 Forum, which was held in Munich (Germany) in November 2019, and also again for the 2020 Forum in Stockholm (Sweden) (For more information, see https://www.adhd-institute.com)

Example of the breadth of assessments conducted at PECS

Anxiety Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD-Inattentive) Depression Dyscalculia (mathematics disorder) Dysgraphia (writing disorder) Dyslexia (reading disorder) Intellectual deficiency Language disorders Learning disorders/learning disabilities NAPLAN results confirmation Neuropsychological evaluations Specific learning disorders/learning disabilities Special Examination Arrangements (SEAs) Strengths and weaknesses