I’m a dyslexia assessor AMA

[Yawnyyawny]

Maybe interesting, maybe not. Often people have ‘ooh my child does this, could it be dyslexia’ type questions…if so, ask away!

@Biscottiforever Hi, does his dyslexia report have any recommendations for secondary school? Exam access arrangements and things? If he is going to need access arrangements, such as extra time, a reading pen, a scribe etc, then the secondary school has to be able to say that those are what he uses for his “normal way of working”. So basically they need to be able to say, “he needs extra time and a scribe, and that is what he usually has in class”. You need to be making sure, when he’s around year 9, that school have in their mind that he will need them to test him for access arrangements and to be putting things into place for him.

In the meantime, if I had assessed him, I would have included in my recommendations that there are lots of speech to text programmes nowadays which he can literal speak his answers into and they will come out typed. Using a laptop with spellcheck and learning to touch type - there are lots of programmes and games which teach touch typing too if you have a Google around. Hope that helps a bit.

@craniol often people think that words moving on the page means dyslexia. This is not the case. Dyslexia is not an issue with vision. It is difficulties with working memory, phonological awareness and processing speed which have an impact o reading and/or spelling ability.

However, there are a lot of people who are dyslexic AND have visual stress difficulties. It is always best to get vision checked first as it can make diagnosis difficult if there is a question mark about vision.

You can be highly intelligent and have slow processing. It is not an indicator of intelligence, just that some take longer to process the information and come up with a response.

@Babybearissleeping have you had her tested by an optometrist? It sounds like she maybe has Irlen syndrome. It’s not to do with vision so wouldn’t be picked up in a regular eye test, it’s something to do with how the brain processes visual information and is something to do with light (I’m no expert can you tell?!). Anyway, being diagnosed and prescribed tinted glasses or overlays can make the world of difference to reading attainment.

If reading improves but spelling difficulties, comprehension etc still prove difficult, then it could be that she is also dyslexic. How’s her memory? Her ability to organise herself? Her ability to hear rhymes etc.

Defo the vision first though.

Do you class dyslexia as a "learning difficulty"?

Do you know if there is a genetic link and do you take a family history in the assessments.

3 of 4 of my children are diagnosed dyslexic. All 4 have dyspraxia. 3 have gone to uni and one is doing her 2nd degree. It has been hard for them particularly at school, which is awful (one was a reception teacher so I know it hasn't changed).

Edited to add one has Irlen Syndrome diagnosis but all of them use coloured overlays, fairly different colours too.

The open dyslexic font was a game changer and allowed them to study and read for pleasure.

I was assessed at 22 in uni. My indicators were fairly non typical and I was assessed as dyslexic but later found out that basically everyone 'passed' the test that year until they changed the assessor.

I have since wondered if I really have it or if it could have been mistaken for an another neuroduvergence.

My main symptoms.

Terrible short term memory (average 4 things at a time rather then 7)

Despite reading hours a day from the age of 7 my reading speed was average. Writing speed and spelling average or just below.

Narrative comprehension just below average.

On the other end of the scale my vocab was top 1 percentile. My iq was top 5 percentile. My detail focus (can't remember what it was called) was top 1percentile.

There is lots of suspected ASD in the older generations of the family and i always wondered if that was a better fit but obviously that has a social component which wasn't tested. Is there any insight you could give.

Can I ask you a few quick questions!
Can a diagnosis be wrong, or grown out of? I was assessed in some way at 16 and told I was dyslexic, I had extra time in exams and some sort of intervention sessions. I’m now a teacher myself and don’t really believe I have it - although I do have some difficulties (distinguishing left and right and telling time on an analog clock for example)

How does dyslexia affect learning of extra languages, I live in wales where many children go to Welsh school and learn everything through a language they don’t learn at home. I’ve not sent my son to Welsh school as I was concerned he may follow in my steps and then have more barriers to learning.

finally is it financially worthwhile training and becoming an assessor? As a teacher and possibly dyslexic myself I am fascinated by the idea - but can’t see how to make training viable!

@Bigcoffeemug People with dyslexia can struggle with pronouncing words. They may know the word but may not remember how it sounds or the sequence of sounds in it.
Does he have any other symptoms of dyslexia than poor reading and spelling? How are his organisation skills? Is he untidy and chaotic, does he lose things a lot? Can he remember instructions? Can he remember and pass on a message? Does he seem to be “quick-minded” or is there sometimes a bit of a lapse between you asking a question and him answering it?
The family history is certainly relevant, and so is the neurodiversity. Often ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia co-occur and they certainly run in families.

@Yawnyyawny thank you that's really helpful. I hadn't heard of Irlen until this thread so will speak to the optometrist.

She is also a really really poor speller and her phonological awareness isn't great.

Her progress in reading has really increased since using the overlays so I do think they help.

Thank you for this thread

My 10 year old is like this. He has just been diagnosed with dysgraphia, as well as autism and adhd.

Just thought I'd mention as the dysgraphia wasn't something I'd heard of.

@tpmumtobe hi, for exam access arrangements a form called Form 8 needs to be completed. The school SENCO will fill in part one BEFORE an assessor completes part two - it must be done in that order.
Your son needs two below average standard scores (84 or less) OR one below average standard score and one low average score (85-89).
These scores must relate to either:

1. speed of reading and cognitive processing.
2. Speed of writing and cognitive processing
3. Two areas of cognitive processing.

If his reading and writing speed are fine then he’d have to have the two cognitive, so short term working memory(visual or verbal), phonological processing speed, phonological awareness, phonological memory, visual processing speed or visual/motor processing. There may be separate ones for maths too which I don’t know about. Google JCQ exam access arrangements and see if they’re on there. Does that answer your question?

@blacc hi, it’s hard to say really. Do school feel that her reading and writing are okay? If so what are the things which make you feel she could be dyslexic?

Thank you for the thread.

A 8 year old bright boy, loves and is very good at maths but makes mistakes when dealing with questions describing a situation and asking to work out something. He misunderstands what is going on in the question and when he reads it out loud, he almost always skips articles, endings, sometimes can read "as much as" instead of "twice as much as", can add small words, for example "he takes over" instead of "he takes". Writing and spelling are fine. Should he be assessed?

Thank you again.

@BertieBotts Pronunciation can be a problem for individuals with dyslexia. They know what they want to say but can’t remember how the word should sound or the correct order of sounds.
keep an eye on your son as he gets started with phonics, dyslexia does run in families, so if his dad is diagnosed, it’s worth being extra vigilant.

@stripeymonster sounds like she has phonological awareness difficulty, slow processing (rapid naming?) and weak working memory (digit span) which are the three biggies for dyslexia. I’d say get in touch with an assessor (make sure they have an APC) and have a talk through your DD’s difficulties.

OP a question more on policy? I’m dyslexic and have children with dyslexia. My LA effectively has a policy that they won’t recognise a diagnosis unless it’s from an educational psychologist and then only if the childs scores are well below average.

My children and I are all very bright, but have all been diagnosed because of the huge disparity between iq and things like working memory. My spelling is probably better than average, it’s poor given how bright I am. I spent most of my childhood being told off for rushing and not checking my work.It definitely impacted my confidence.

Apparently how dyslexia is diagnosed and thresholds is a hugely contentious issue.

What are your thoughts on this?

@DrMadelineMaxwell I don’t know of many local authorities willing to pay for dyslexia assessments. Mainly I guess, because of the cost. It’s really expensive to train as an assessor and you need a level 7 qualification. The tests are then really expensive to buy, as are the test papers used for each assessment, insurance, CPD, professional memberships etc plus the fact that a full diagnostic assessment with report takes about a couple of days, add on pre-assessment and feedback meetings and it’s a costly do.
There is a new test out now which hopefully will make it easier for schools to screen children and for dyslexia. It then suggests interventions to be used. I suppose if the schools have that and can put in the right support there may not be such a need for an official diagnosis until much older.
I feel like I’m waffling, has that remotely answered your question?

@Cheerfulcharlie all dyslexia reports which comply with SASC guidelines should clearly state whether or not the individual is dyslexic. If not, it should clearly state that there is insufficient evidence for a diagnosis.

Either way, it would be worth asking about/pushing for access arrangements to be considered as he may be doing “okay” but to be “okay” an individual with dyslexia may be working incredibly hard to compensate for memory/processing/phonological awareness difficulties and with some adjustments may achieve brilliantly. They need to make sure that he is reaching his potential, not just that he’s doing ok.

@SpinningTops so it sounds like there is possibly some issue with working memory (the reversing digits) and maybe phonological awareness (if her little sibling was much faster). If you ask her to read some random letters or numbers as fast as she can and that seems slow (slower than her sibling) then that would indicate potentially slow processing.
The reluctance to read and poor spelling are maybe because of these issues.
Could be worth speaking with an assessor and going through their background chat. A decent assessor will advise you honestly about the appropriateness of an assessment and won’t want to take your money if it doesn’t sound right.
Make sure you go for an assessor with an APC.

@Worldgonecrazy I have honestly never heard of a link between left handed females and dyslexia!

Exam access arrangements could be things like 25% extra time, a reading pen, a human reader, a scribe, a small quiet room, supervised rest breaks, that kind of thing.
School would need to be thinking about this from around year 9 and need to put any arrangements in place in class so they can become your DD’s normal way of working.

@Dizzydials I think there is a massive lack of knowledge about dyslexia in schools. Not necessarily the school’s fault, just a lack of training. Considering there are potentially 3 children in each class of 30 who are dyslexic it’d be really worth investing in.
As with anything, I’d say you can’t beat 1:1 tuition. It’s literally tailor made for your child, goes at their pace and can skip over things which are not a struggle and spend more time on things which are. It’s worth getting a tutor who specialises in dyslexia or who uses multisensory approaches and follows some kind of progressive programme.

The LA Educational Psychologist told us that it is 'old fashioned' to diagnose dyslexia, the current thinking is to diagnose 'specific learning difficulties in the area of ....'. What are your thoughts on that?
Given that DD has been assessed by a (different) EP as having difficulties in processing speed, working memory and verbal comprehension, does this mean she does have dyslexia?

@sockarefootwear The spelling issues would be typical of dyslexia but they would need to be caused by memory difficulties (which often cause word finding difficulties as you describe), difficulty with phonics, which could explain his slowness to pick up reading, and processing speed - you haven’t given any indication of this, is he a slow steady type? Could he read a list of letters or numbers as fast as others in the family?
Hard to say with only that information really. Is he disorganised? Does he struggle with finding his way about? Does he forget important dates and appointments? Is he generally messy and chaotic?

@DesparatePragmatist those things would not ring alarm bells for me dyslexia-wise. How is he with motivating himself to get started with things? Can he get through his homework without you being on his back?
I’m only asking because he sounds a bit like my DD. She always needed someone to do things with as a youngster and didn’t like extra curricula type activities. She now (at 17) makes plans and lists of things to do, but can’t make herself do them. She could lie face down on a sofa and do nothing for a ridiculous amount of time. Turns out she has inattentive type adhd!

Hi OP, thanks for the AMA. Had dd tested at 7 and mild dyslexia came up. She had support in Primary with help for spellings which worked well. Now in secondary (indie) and the SEN has said she would do better to "learn in class" having never met her but looked at her (2018) assessment. Is that normal? She still misses words out and has poor spelling but is excelling at everything else (gets tripped up on maths q's when they switch from written numbers to actual numbers in a question, which is something we've noticed and will always be the only one on the paper she gets wrong). Would you push for more support?