Dyslexia is a complex disorder, impacting up to 20% of the population in the United States and affecting the reading and communication capabilities of individuals of all ages.
A comprehensive dyslexia evaluation can provide the necessary documentation to give an individual eligibility for accommodations throughout their educational career and even into the workplace. An assessment should examine reading ability while ruling out other possible contributions to reading difficulties.
Detailed Historical Information
Dyslexia is often a genetic condition, so it is essential to understand a student’s family history to uncover potential links. The individual’s experience with previous interventions is critical for an evaluator to see what tests and interventions work effectively.
Additionally, prenatal or childhood trauma is an element to consider since emerging studies indicate dyslexia may be a response to stress.
Phonological Awareness
Individuals with dyslexia struggle with perceiving the sounds in words, which can lead to reading difficulty. Testing in the area of phonological awareness can identify oral language barriers by looking at:
- breaking words into syllables
- counting phonemes
- pronouncing words by blending phonemes
- identifying and creating rhymes
This struggle in phonological awareness is closely linked to the causes of dyslexia in children. Dyslexia often stems from differences in how the brain processes language and sounds.
These neurological differences can affect a child’s ability to discern and manipulate the sounds within words, a key skill in early reading development.
Understanding the causes of dyslexia in children helps in developing targeted interventions such as structured literacy programs that emphasize phonemic awareness, phonics, and other language skills.
Orthographic Mapping
Dyslexia causes problems with learning and remembering the sounds associated with letters. The English language is challenging because letters are often associated with multiple sounds. People with dyslexia can often recognize specific letters but struggle with letter patterns and words. Evaluations should look for the following:
- confusing similar letters and symbols
- difficulty with spelling
- omission of word endings
- slow reading
- switching or reversing letters and numbers
- trouble reading words that are exceptions to common language rules
Automaticity and Processing Speed
Fluidity and speed are issues that typically affect people with dyslexia. A comprehensive evaluation should include a measure of Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and processing speed.
Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)
Also known as automaticity, RAN refers to the ease and fluidity of recalling the names of colors, letters, numbers, objects, and sight words. A key predictor of dyslexia that enables fluent and accurate reading.
Processing Speed
Studies indicate that people with general processing delays also struggle with reading tasks. An evaluation of processing speed includes tasks that measure auditory speed, rate of visual perception, and even motor speed.
Executive Function
An individual’s memory skills impact the ability to recognize letters, spell words, and understand and summarize written material. Executive function includes working memory, an issue for people with dyslexia that impairs an individual’s ability to retain and utilize information while completing a task.
Reading and Language Tasks
A comprehensive dyslexia evaluation, like the Test of Dyslexia (TOD), includes an assessment of various reading processes, including the following:
- word reading: decoding and recognition skills
- reading fluency: combination of accuracy, expressiveness, and reading speed
- reading comprehension: understanding of the material through reading and listening assessments
- oral language: pre-reading skills, including grammar, vocabulary, phonological awareness, and communication skills
- spelling and writing
Find an Assessment
It is crucial to seek a formal dyslexia evaluation for individuals of any age who exhibit reading or language difficulties. Learn more at WPS about how to help kids in school using dyslexia assessment tools.
