Cost of dyslexia assessment

[Slippersmum]

I am considering have a private dyslexia assessment undertaken on my Ds. I wondered how much I would expect to pay. Have seen a couple for £300. Is that a figure that sounds about right? Thanks

Who is that with?Am Ed Psych? That sounds quite cheap!

We just paid £550 with an Ed Psyc. All the other quotes we got from Ed Psycs were £700+
We are in London.

I paid just under £400 and it was the best money I have ever spent. It was just the beginning of my fight to get my daughter the help she needed. I am writing a blog about our story, hoping it might help others. It is still a work in progress. Please have a look and share it with anyone you think might be interested. Thank you.
www.familyvine.me

A PATOSS assessor (SpLD) will cost approx. £350-450. This is for a fully diagnostic assessment.
An assessment carried out by an Ed. Psych. will cost you approx. £500-750. An E.P.'s report is generally broader but far more shallow, in the specific areas related to dyslexic difficulties, than would be useful to you in practical terms. However, there are some fabulous E.P.s around - some of whom specialise in dyslexia and who therefore do include detail and recommendations that are of more use. Dr Lindsay Peer is fabulous. She is based in Watford.
When considering whether to go to an E.P. or SpLD (PATOSS) assessor, it is worth considering whether you'd like a broader view (E.P., as they'll have a good overview of the bigger picture and may notice other aspects of difficulty affecting a pupil) or whether you already have a strong hunch that dyslexia is what you're looking at and would like an in-depth analysis of which aspects in particular (dyslexic profile), how to help and the sort of recommendations relative to each aspect.

Either an Ed. Psych or a Specialist teacher with an APC qualification can do a diagnostic report for your child.

As has been stated, it largely depends what you are wanting. If you just want a diagnosis then an Ed Psych is perfectly excellent.

If you want a diagnosis and a more specific profile for your child with specific recommendations for support at home and school then a APC is probably better.

Obviously EPs and APCs do vary and these are broad brushstrokes, so there will be more in depth EPs and more vague APCs!

Anything for 300-450 for an assessment by a specialist teacher with APC is normally good value, depending where you live. The tests they use simply cost a fortune and the time it takes (often 3hours or so for the testing, then 4-7 hours on the report even with a pro-forma) contribute to the cost.

Best thing to do would be try to get in touch with other parents at your child's school to see if they can recommend someone. Quite often communities have very active and caring assessors that will take the time to understand your child in their whole context.

CAN ANYONE PLEASE RECOMMEND SOMEONE WHO CAN TEST MY CHILD FOR DYSLEXIA IN EPSOM

Contact the Helen Arkell centre in Godalmjing

It depends where you live and how thorough you want the report to be. Here in Devon we paid £420.

It's also worth asking what psychometric test the EP will be using. Most will use the WISC other use the BAS. Make sure they are using the most recent version of the test.

Thank you very much and last question what qualifications and test should we be looking for please ?
Really appreciate responses

Dr Marlene Caplin in West Horsley is brilliant. Don’t use HElen Arkell as they will charge you more. Better to go on website and contact the Assessors directly - not all the HA assessors will be educational psychologists so depends if you want just a report about Dyslexia

If your child is likely to go to university when they are older then you need a report from a teacher with an assessment practicing certificate for specific learning difficulties (SpLD APC) or a psychologist who is Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered.
The assessment has to be conducted and the report written in accordance with the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) current guidelines for diagnostic assessment and report writing or with the British Psychological Society current guidelines for
assessment of adults with specific cognitive difficulties (BPS 2017).
If these two conditions are fulfilled, then the report can be used to apply for additional support at university through the Disabled Students' Allowance.
If the two conditions are not met, then you will probably need to pay for a second assessment once your child has applied for university.

Does anyone know a good specialist in East Sussex?

Also, I have been recommeneded some programs to do at home with DS - do any of you know any others? None of these are really appealing to me atm. I'd do anything to help DS

So far we have

-Toe by Toe
-Nessy
-Reading Bears

Anything else? I am conscious that it needs to be very boy friendly and not too babyish.

How about Wordshark? It's a computer spelling programme full of games.

Did u get a chance to get a dyslexia test done

@Matthew35 I ended up using a programme called Easyread which pointed out where his difficulties came from. So he had an eye tracking weakness and difficulty blending. Now we have focused on both of those he is reading SO well! He has gone up a couple of levels in his readers at school. I no longer think he might be dyslexic and his teacher agrees!

I can’t believe how much a test cost not everyone can afford to pay that iv also tried opening your link to follow your experience but for some reason it will not let me

I agree with leading dyslexia researcher (and mother of a dyslexic child), Prof Maggie Snowling, who has said that these assessments are a racket. www.theguardian.com/news/2020/sep/17/battle-over-dyslexia-warwickshire-staffordshire

Diagnostic reports are essential for children and young people that require reasonable adjustments and/or exam access arrangements and would be significantly disadvantaged in the absence of evidence