What is Dyslexia Assessment? How It Helps 

Many research studies have shown that reading disorder impacts roundabout 1in every 5 children and students that have average or above-average intelligence. The literacy problem among adults is also common and it impacts 1 in 4 intelligent people that couldn’t achieve the functional literacy level. Today, we’ll discuss what is dyslexia assessment; and how it helps.

Studies have shown that if the direct instruction method is applied properly from kindergarten to third grade. It is a very useful technique for badly impaired students to catch up with their literacy skills of literacy level and bridge the gap for the poor reader. Dyslexia assessment is the first step in recognizing the students in the early stages in order to make sure that they should get effective instructions and guidance.

Recognizing Dyslexia 

Some of the main dyslexia problems are as follows;

• Poor spelling, reading fluency, and problems with decoding words
• Language-based difficulties and phonological weaknesses happen because of the literacy problems relevant to dyslexia
• Spelling issues, suffering writing skills, and impaired understanding
• Vocabulary and language problems make it difficult for you to understand, and it becomes critical when the academic demand amplifies
• Poor reading would result in the form of weak background knowledge and vocabulary

The problem with dyslexia is language-based, it isn’t visual and has got no relevance to intelligence and cognitive skill. The main cause of the dyslexic condition is phonological processing, it refers to analyzing the spoken language or speech and recognizing the speech sounds (phonemes), syllables, parts of words, and words.

Fluent speech happens rapidly, the pronunciation of the spoken words is quick, and it may result in the form of overlapping. Some people face the difficulty with automatic naming rapidly due to their learning difficulty to read. Speech sounds and phonemes vary among individuals and geographic differences.

Clinical Evaluation

When students and children keep on experiencing learning problems despite the guidance and instructions of high-quality experts and professionals, you would require a clinical evaluation in order to determine the dyslexic condition.

The dyslexia assessment comprises of testing the individual by a team of qualified professionals and experts that have the qualification and clinical training experience for evaluation. Like the expertise in Neuropsychology, psychology, school psychology, speech-language pathology, and others. If they have identified the dyslexic condition or SLD, then it doesn’t need the assessment of a medical doctor.

Educational testing could verify the existence of dyslexic and SLD conditions and offer you the required documentation. It makes whether the person is eligible for special accommodation and instruction throughout the educational career from school, college, and university.

The clinical evaluation documents the progress of students, and you can measure the progress in the form of percentile ranks and standard evaluation, and not in the form of increasing age, scores, and grades.  

Assessment Areas 

Some of the main assessment areas in the educational evaluation of dyslexic conditions are as follows;

• Writing: paragraph and sentence level
• Spelling Reading Fluency Orally: accurate reading capability of the person, the pace of storytelling, support comprehension, and support, sentence, paragraph, and single words
• Decoding: the capability to employ symbol sound association to recognize words both nonsense words and real words
• Phonics Skill: understanding the relationship between sound and letter, both individually and in combination with other letters
• Receptive Vocabulary: Comprehension of heard words
• Automatic Naming: Speed of naming the letters, objects, digits, and colors
• Language-Based Memory/Phonological: the capability to remember words, syllables, and sounds
• Awareness of Phonology: awareness of a person to access the sound structure
• Math Assessment: comprising of measures like math fluency, math reasoning, reading out loud math problems, and mathematical calculations

Expectations 

The dyslexia assessment comprises gathering information relevant to;

• Early educational history
• Language development and speech
• Development of the child
• Family history
• Birth history

In the clinical diagnosis, the doctor or therapist would review follow;

• Early interventions like language or speech therapy
• School record comprising of past diagnosis and assessment

After the clinical evaluation of the gathered information and data, a written report presents the summary of history and information. In the clinical assessment of dyslexia and SLD for a person, the therapist would employ a series of tests to make sure validity and reliability.

If the child or the student is diagnosed with dyslexia or SLD, the written report would recommend the specially designed instructions and remediation as mandated by federal law. The report would also specify the required accommodation like taking tests read to the child or offering additional time for evaluation.

Conclusion: What is Dyslexia Assessment? How It Helps 

After an in-depth study of what is dyslexia assessment; we’ve realized that diagnosis of the dyslexic condition requires a lot of effort and various elements to consider.