FAQs
How can an assessment help my child?
It can help your child understand why they are experiencing difficulties, enable them to recognise their strengths and learn how to use them.
It will help your child understand their individual style of learning or working and what the most effective way for them to learn is.
It can help identify other factors that may be affecting your child's learning and signpost to appropriate professionals for further support.
It will provide specific recommendations for support with learning at school and at home.
It will suggest whether any Reasonable Adjustments will need to be made for your child to fully access the curriculum and exams.
What should I tell my child about the assessment?
Tell your child they are going to see someone who is interested in how people learn. The assessment will help to work out why some learning is difficult and what might help to make things easier.
What happens during an assessment?
At the start of the assessment, there is usually an informal chat with the young person to gather a little more background information. A Full Diagnostic Assessment will usually take up to 3 hours to complete. The young person will be offered short breaks as needed to ensure they stay comfortable and focused. Please ensure that they bring any glasses or coloured overlays that they usually use, if appropriate.
During a dyslexia assessment, I will carry out a series of standardised tests to explore areas such as:
reading, writing and spelling
handwriting and fine motor skills
cognitive skills, including phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory
general underlying ability, including verbal and visual skills.
What happens after the assessment:
Following the assessments, I will produce a written report. This will explain all of your child’s test scores and provide recommendations for support. This will be emailed to you within three weeks of your child’s assessment. Within the report, I will identify the strengths and challenges of the learning profile and provide tailored recommendations to enable school and parents to support your child. The diagnostic outcome will confirm whether or not a diagnosis of Dyslexia has been given.
Once you have had a chance to read through the report, you may then arrange a telephone consultation to answer any questions that you may have.
The diagnostic report will be accepted in support of an application for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA).
Is the diagnostic report accepted for DSA applications?
Yes, the report is accepted in support of an application for Disabled Student Allowance (DSA).
What happens if dyslexia is not diagnosed?
At times, it may not be possible to offer a clear-cut diagnosis of dyslexia. However, a comprehensive report will be given, noting areas of strength and weakness, with detailed recommendations to support your child at home, in school and with a specialist teacher, if available. If necessary, details of other professionals will be given, or an onward referral will be made, such as an occupational therapist, behavioural optometrist, or speech and language therapist.
