Dyslexia Assessments

1. Prior to Assessment 

 
Background information is collated from Parents/carers, Teacher/s and the learner themselves in a set of pre-assessment questionnaires. This is fundamental to an accurate assessment as it provides the ‘wider picture’ of an individual. It helps put the assessment data collected in context and allows the history of difficulties to be explored.  
 
There is also a visual screening questionnaire to complete and it is important that the child has had a recent eye test (in the last 6 months) to ensure that the challenges identified with reading and spelling cannot be explained by issues with eyesight. With visual difficulties ruled out, other reasons for lack of progress in literacy can be investigated.  
 
Children referred for assessment often report symptoms of visual discomfort when reading such as words moving or disappearing on the page, headaches when reading or sleepiness induced by reading. These symptoms are not necessarily eye sight related and could be related to a specific learning or developmental difficulty. These concerns should be mentioned at the eye test appointment so that referral to a specialist optometrist can be made if difficulties are identified. 
 
All information supplied in the pre-assessment questionnaires is kept completely confidential. 

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2. The Assessment 

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As dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling, the assessments provide a thorough understanding of a learner’s strengths and weaknesses in cognitive abilities and in attainment areas linked to literacy. 

 

The assessment usually takes about 3.5 hours (including breaks) and consists of a range of cognitive and attainment tests to explore underlying ability, working memory, processing speed, phonological awareness, reading, spelling and writing. If difficulties with mathematics are identified in the pre-assessment questionnaires, then a simple arithmetic test may also be administered. 

 

There is a lot to get through and it’s tiring, but it’s a child-centred process and is broken up with breaks as and when needed. Other adjustments are made as needed too (another reason why the background information is so important.) In the Dyslexia Sense pod, it’s relaxed, but purposeful and actually can be quite an enjoyable process.  

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3. In-depth Data Analysis and Interpretation   

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The next stage requires a thorough analysis of all the results to produce a profile of the learner’s strengths and weaknesses in all the areas assessed. All this data, along with the background information and informal observations made of the individual during the assessment are used together to reach a conclusion on the diagnosis. 

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4. The Report  

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Finally, all this information is written into a very detailed report which explains the findings and makes recommendations to help the individual with their difficulties.  

 

These recommendations include suggestions for the educational setting to implement, individualised teaching (recommended interventions) and also some ideas of how parents/carers can help at home. The advantage of a formal diagnosis is that dyslexia is covered by the Equality Act 2010, which means that education institutions (and the workplace) have a duty to take this into account and therefore make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the needs of the individual. If the assessment is carried out by an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC) holder like at Dyslexia Sense, then the report can also be used to support an application for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). 

 

Maybe most importantly though, is how the report helps parents/carers and the learner to understand the reasons behind their difficulties and because it details the learner’s strengths as well as the weaknesses, this can help them to understand how to make the most of their abilities to maximise their potential!