There are two types of tests for dyslexia: screening tests and comprehensive tests.
Screening tests
These tests are designed to be used on very large numbers of children or adults, to narrow down the group who might need a more thorough test for possible dyslexia. They are not tests for dyslexia, but are designed to help researchers focus on children or adults who appear to be having difficulties with their learning, and who might be dyslexic.
Typically, these tests consist of a short list of questions, such as:
- Do you have difficulties with spelling?
- Do you find directions confusing?
- Are you or were you reluctant to go to school?
- Do you have problems with math/s?
Children or adults selected by this method could
be having problems with their learning for any number of reasons - emotional problems,
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), delayed learning, autism, dyspraxia,
and possible dyslexia. Screening tests like these cannot be seen as valid tests
for dyslexia, but they are very helpful for researchers.
Comprehensive
tests
Comprehensive tests for dyslexia look at the whole person and examine
the root cause of any learning difficulties in the light of research into dyslexia
and its causes. The word 'comprehensive' means 'thorough', and these tests examine
which brain functions are interfering with the child's or adult's acquisition
of normal school learning. Tests of reading, spelling, and intelligence are given,
as well as visual tests, laterality tests, visual scanning tests, sequencing and
other tests.
The results are assembled into a complete report on the person,
which outlines the evidence for the conclusions reached.
A comprehensive
dyslexia test may be administered in two ways, either by a psychologist
or at a distance.
Comprehensive testing by a psychologist
Chartered psychologists operate either through schools or privately in a consulting
room.
You may see a psychologist in your child's school if the principal/head
teacher recommends it. The psychologist has to be paid by the school authority,
and there are constraints on the amount of money that is available for psychological
testing. Many parents have written to us about the difficulties they have experienced
trying to get the school to have their child assessed for possible dyslexia, and
parents in some areas may find that it is necessary to put quite a lot of pressure
on the school before a psychological assessment is forthcoming.
Assessment
by the school psychologist seems to be the method that works for the majority
of children, though we do receive a lot of e-mails from parents who are dissatisfied
with the process. More than one parent has reported that their school denied that
dyslexia existed!
Some parents seek a private assessment by a psychologist.
Although expensive, this is more straightforward. A lot of parents report having
paid a thousand dollars (over six hundred pounds) and upwards for a private assessment,
but the costs seem to vary. The assessment takes a few hours, and you should expect
to receive a detailed report which you can show to the principal/head teacher
when asking for extra help for your child. Although assessments are thorough,
few psychologists provide detailed recommendations for improving the child's learning
skills.
Comprehensive testing at a distance
An alternative
is comprehensive dyslexia testing at a distance. This has the advantage of improved
objectivity: the psychologist remains completely objective about the child's or
adult's performance in all the tests, as he/she never meets the child, parent
or principal/head teacher, but bases the assessment purely on the child's test
results.
The tests used are the same as, or very similar to, those used by
psychologists in schools or privately, but have been adapted so that they can
be given by parents to their child at home. This type of test produces a far more
detailed assessment report than a psychologist normally provides, and contains
lengthy and detailed recommendations for learning techniques that will help the
child raise their achievement into the broad average level. Typically, a test
like this costs only a fraction of the cost of an assessment by a psychologist.
Whatever method you decide upon, all the recent research indicates that -
after age seven - the younger your child is tested the better: the sooner the
diagnosis of dyslexia is made, the sooner the child starts to develop the appropriate
learning strategies and raise their level of achievement in school.
Juliet Freud
1999
