Dyslexia Awareness Week 2016 - How do you identify dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a developmental disability which means you are born with this disability. Despite this, a diagnosis of dyslexia is often not reached until the child is at school and is seen to struggle in comparison with their peers, explaining why it is frequently referred to as a hidden disability.

Dyslexia Action found the most common age of diagnosis of dyslexia is between six and seven years old as this is when most children with moderate to severe dyslexia will stand out compared to an average reading ability. However, children often slip through the net and go undiagnosed for many years, especially if the child learns strategies to hide their disability or if dyslexia is one of several complex special educational needs the child has already been diagnosed with.

What are the most common signs of dyslexia?

The Rose Report outlined the most common symptoms of dyslexia in children aged around six or seven. The report found children with dyslexia:

1. Struggle with phonetics and reading aloud;
2. Have poor spelling and handwriting;
3. Poor concentration;
4. Poor organisation, struggles to understand and carry out more than three successive instructions;
5. Poor short - term memory or ability to quickly recall names or facts;
6. Confusion over distinguishing left from right; and
7. Are excessively tired after school.

Children will show signs of dyslexia on a scale, so you may find each symptom are more or less pronounced in each individual. An assessment is critical in ensuring that the child receives focused and specific support within the school. SEN Magazine [2016, Issue 84] reported that early years support is essential in ensuring a child with dyslexia is not left behind academically. If a child with dyslexia is not sufficiently supported it could take up to 67.5 hours of one-to-one support for them to catch up with junior school peers.

Diagnosing dyslexia

Identification of dyslexia involves standardised tests in three keys areas: key literacy and numeracy skills such as spelling, reading and phonetics; key language, memory and processing skills; more general language and cognitive skills.

It is possible to take a short test that will flag up the probability of dyslexia. Although this is not a full diagnosis it can indicate the probability of the child having low, medium or severe symptoms of dyslexia. If the results come back as positive you should proceed and have a full diagnostic test. These tests can be conducted online or sometimes in schools, they are much cheaper than the full diagnostic tests but do not go into as much detail. If a child has a range of complex special educational needs this test may struggle to pick up on dyslexia with consistency, so a full diagnostic test that goes to the root of the difficulties may be more appropriate. This test moves away from the “wait to fail” attitude and allows teachers or parents to intervene earlier in the child’s education and provide support as a matter of urgency.

A full diagnostic assessment must be undertaken by a chartered education or occupation psychologist. The psychologist will write up a report that identifies and diagnoses the root of the difficulties and will include broad recommendations for support. A full assessment can take up to three hours and due to professional involvement can be expensive. Unfortunately these assessments cannot be undertaken by a GP or under the NHS as dyslexia is not considered a medical issue. If you are planning to apply for an EHCP a full diagnostic assessment is strongly recommended.

Dyslexia Action discovered that when surveyed 75% of teachers were not satisfied that their initial teacher training provided them with the skills to identify or teach children with dyslexia. Despite a new government framework being introduced to increase the training and support to teachers in regards to SEN, it remains essential to understand how to identify dyslexia and what support needs to be put in place for SEN children in school.