What is dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which affects reading and spelling, but it is also about how a person processes information. Dyslexia also frequently co-occurs with other developmental disorders and it incorporates the idea of unexpectedness, persistence and fluency, especially reading fluency, as can be seen with this new definition of dyslexia:
Nature
The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences.
Manifestation
Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling. The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed. Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.
Impact
In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments. Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are a key marker of dyslexia.
Variance and co-occurrence
Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity. Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language. Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder.
Dyslexia assessment
If you are concerned about your child’s progress, the first port of call for under 18s would be to talk to the school or College. You are also welcome to contact me to set up a free informal phone consultation about anything to do with the process.
If you still have concerns after additional support has been put in place, a more detailed assessment by someone with the right qualifications may be valuable, and may lead to a formal diagnosis.
Screening assessment for dyslexia
This is a shorter assessment for ages 7-14 years old that incorporates tests on phonological awareness (ability to accurately identify, discriminate between and manipulate the separate units of sounds in words) and tests to assess attainment in spelling, writing and reading, producing a shorter report. It is important to note that Dyslexia Screeners are not a full diagnostic assessment and cannot be used for an application for Disabled Student Allowance. Their purpose is to identify students who are experiencing difficulties known to be associated with dyslexia that may require further investigation. The results from screeners are not intended to give firm evidence that dyslexia is identified.
The total time with the student is about
1-1½ hours, depending on the student, with rest breaks as needed- there is no rush 🙂
Full diagnostic assessment for dyslexia
This is created from a deeper investigation than is possible with a screener.
Initially, information will be gathered from school/ college/ your family or yourself as an adult, to establish the nature of the difficulties that the student is currently experiencing.
Following this, in a comfortable setting – usually at my home, but sometimes in school- some time is spent getting to know the student. Finally, a carefully selected series of assessments is administered – these are not ‘tests’ with simple ‘yes/no’ answers. This takes around 3 hours and provides a detailed understanding of the particular individual and leads to positive activities for the way forward.
The assessments will include tests in 3 key areas:
- core skills such as spelling, reading accuracy and fluency and writing.
- particular language, memory and processing skills which are known to be associated with specific difficulties.
- general language and congnitive skills – for example visual problem solving, vocabulary and verbal reasoning.
All this information and results will be collated to form a formal report. The report will contain all the assessment results and recommendations for assistance that the student will benefit from. These recommendations will be aimed at both the school/ college/ University and home environments, to allow as much support as possible to be offered. On occasions, referrals to other professionals may be recommended as well. A diagnosis of dyslexia will be made clear within the report should evidence be found to support this. If a diagnosis is made, this report is evidence which can be used to support a claim for Disabled Student Allowance when the student progresses to University.
Costs
Screener for 7-14 years olds: £300
Full dyslexia assessment for 8-16 years (without screener): £530
Full dyslexia assessment for post-16: £550
Please do get in touch:
- rebecca@educationaccess.co.uk
- 07999 016437
Testimonials: