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Question: I am an English teacher in secondary school and I'm concerned that we are not picking up conditions such as dyslexia for a significant number of pupils. Is there evidence that provides means for reliably identifying such conditions, possibly screening a whole year group as they enter secondary school?
Comments
ajfreebie1 commented on :
The only way to diagnose dyslexia is through a 121 assessment by someone qualified to do it. I use Lucid Exact to screen for exam access arrangements. It’s good but I would never use just one test. The Lucid Rapid is popular but pricey for large groups though you can try bartering. We use Literacy Assessment on line (www.literacyassessment.co.uk) which gives us reading and spelling scores (standardised and age related). It also provides further testing, if required, on phonological awareness. We then provide intervention where necessary and monitor its success termly. If the pupil fails to make significant progress we would look further at the causes, which may be dyslexia.
You should ensure you are aware of the definition of dyslexia. You will find this definition on the British Dyslexia Association website:
The description of dyslexia adopted in the report is as follows:
‘Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.
Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed.
Dyslexia occurs across the range of intellectual abilities.
It is best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and there are no clear cut-off points.
Co-occurring difficulties may be seen in aspects of language, motor co-ordination, mental calculation, concentration and personal organisation, but these are not, by themselves, markers of dyslexia.
A good indication of the severity and persistence of dyslexic difficulties can be gained by examining how the individual responds or has responded to well founded intervention.’
All of the tests previously mentioned may be good starting points but they are all expensive and it depends on how much money your school has available for such tests. Perhaps you could produce a tick list document containing the characteristic features of dyslexia and ask teachers in your department to complete it for those pupils they are concerned about. You could then discuss them and the way forward. Otherwise, I think Literacy Assessment online is one of the cheaper ones to use.