Should dyslexia provision in schools be based upon screening results or upon individual diagnostic assessments? What is the difference?
Over the years, in my conversations with parents these terms have been a source of confusion. If a child is screened for dyslexia and the result is positive, then does the child need to have a diagnostic assessment?
Are they not the same thing?
No! Read on to find out more about what dyslexia screening is versus that of a diagnostic assessment.
Understanding what ‘Screening’ for dyslexia means.
Dyslexia is often described as a ‘spectrum’ of cognitive ability whereby no two people with dyslexia will have the same mix of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, it would make sense to assess a child’s specific needs on a personal basis. Screening doesn’t take this approach.
There are many types of screening software available that look for indications of dyslexia for a child. These are often used in schools because they are easy and quick to administer. By their nature, screening software look to broadly assess dyslexia within the child or adult who is being screened.
Whilst I am not a dyslexia expert, I have come to think of screening results as an indication of probability and not a defining result. Whilst screening for dyslexia is an initial useful indicator, they are sometimes at risk of providing false positives or not indicating dyslexia at all.
For example, one school that I know screens all their year 7 students entering into secondary education thus giving the SENCO an indication as to which student could need intervention that is specific to the needs of the individual student.
A positive result for dyslexia from a screen gives parents and teachers an indication that further support could be needed for a child, but they will not have enough information yet to be able to provide the most appropriate support.
Note that if a school is putting an intervention in place based upon the results of a screen then whilst this is positive in that the school is showing willing in helping a child with their dyslexia, there is a risk that the intervention being put in place not optimum for the child’s needs because the child’s needs have not been fully diagnosed. That child needs a diagnostic assessment.
Understanding what a diagnostic assessment is.
The British Dyslexia Association states that a diagnostic assessment is the only way that dyslexia can be formally identified. It provides a clearer picture of a child or adult’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses. The resultant information from the diagnostic assessment will shape the type of support that a child or adult will need within whatever context that they need that support i.e. education, workplace etc.
A diagnostic assessment usually takes about three hours, usually within a quiet and distraction free room with an assessor. Given current Corona Virus restrictions, it is possible that this could be delivered online by the assessors.
The assessor will usually start the assessment with an informal chat about the challenges that the child or adult is currently experiencing (background information) and then look to carry out a series of tests that assess underlying ability in the areas of:
· Reading, writing and spelling,
· Handwriting and fine motor skills,
· Phonological awareness,
· Speed of processing and memory,
· Speech and language,
· Auditory processing.
Should I get a diagnostic assessment for my child?
This is very much a decision for you as a parent. A private assessment is not cheap (around £600) and it is possible that your school could deliver one for free (I emphasize the word ‘possible’). Technically you can request your Local Authority (UK) to do an Education Health and Care assessment with a qualified Educational Psychologist and they would do it for free.
For me, it was probably the best use of spending £600 on my daughter! It gave me the confidence to talk with the school about what my daughter needed in terms of support. I was fortunate, the school accepted the report and they followed the recommendations and my daughter thrived. Some schools and Local Authorities won’t accept independent diagnostic assessment reports from qualified assessors and they are wrong to not do so).
Without the diagnostic assessment in place, I believe that we as parents would have been confused as to what support our daughter needed and our school would not have acted upon our concerns about her struggles. The school felt that our daughter’s needs were not as problematic compared to the ‘more significant’ needs other students and they felt that they had to prioritise their resources according to need. Without a diagnosis there was no perceived significant need requiring support!
I believe that a diagnostic assessment, at the very least, reduces confusion about what a child needs in terms of support. Without it, we, as parents, would have been spending time and money trying to help our daughter outside of school hours with lots of enthusiasm but no knowledge of what exactly we were dealing with. The diagnostic assessment report became the basis of focused support that resulted from working in partnership with our school.
The video below from Succeed With Dyslexia shows an interview with Siobhan O’Neil, a mother of three children, one of whom is dyslexic, from Ireland. Siobhan runs the Mams.ie parenting website and she spent years requesting an assessment for her daughter. She talks about how difficult it was not having one and the difference it made getting an assessment in place.
The video provides some great information about home schooling that is quite relevant to many parents at the moment!
Succeed With Dyslexia have published an ever increasing library of webinars that will be useful for all supporters of dyslexic learners. Click the button below to access their webinars.