Dyslexia in children how can I get my daughter tested?

Question

Dyslexia in children how can I get my daughter tested?

Answer 1

I would recommend a neuropediatric psychologist who specialized in learning disabilities. You will need a battery of tests, for a good assessment 20 hours of testing is not uncommon, usually in intervals of 5 to 6 hours. Your health insurance will likely cover the cost of this testing. It is very important to have her tested if you suspect a difficulty.

I can tell you that with my daughter, her inability to read sight words ( a,at,of,it, and, the, them, then, than, I, we, etc....) was our first clue. She could read them on flash cards and memorize them in lists, but when it came to written text and she came to a sight word, she would hesitate and, at times, just stare at it. She also refused to read. She would cry, hide, mumble when forced to, always a struggle. This is a child that was read to from infancy and could quote verbatim complete books at 3 and tell you if you skipped or missed a word!  It was not lack of reading being introduced. We identified her in the 2nd grade. There was also a family history.

On the bright side, she is very intelligent, artistic, musically gifted and I consider dyslexia to be her greatest gift! Good luck.

Answer 2

Dyslexia is a medical term. School personal are not legally allowed to give a medical diagnosis. School staff can only determine that there is a learning disability.

If your child has not been evaluated for special education, you can go the road of having her evaluated for special education services. If there is a consideration that dyslexia, then depending on the state you are in there are specific expectations that are followed for Specific learning disabilities. the federal law is very clear on specific learning disability.

Professionals who possess expertise in several

disciplines are best qualified to make a diagnosis of

dyslexia. The testing may be done by a single

individual or by a team of specialists. A knowledge

and background in psychology, reading, language

and education is necessary. The tester must have

knowledge of how individuals learn to read and why

some people have trouble learning to read, and must

also understand how to measure appropriate reading

interventions is necessary to make recommendations.

There is no one single test which can be used to test

for dyslexia. A battery of tests must be administered.

Tests should be chosen on the basis of their

measurement properties and their potential to address

referral issues. Various tests may be used but the

components of a good assessment should remain

constant. Tests which measure expressive oral

language, expressive written language, receptive oral

language, receptive written language, intellectual

functioning, cognitive processing, and educational

achievement must be administered.

Answer 3

Start with this on-line assessment:

http://www.davisdyslexia.com/isit.html

If you are wanting a diagnosis in order to get school services you should be aware of the fact that not all school systems recognize dyslexia.  This is because they don't know what to do for a dyslexic child.

If they do recognize dyslexia, the solution is usually intensive phonics.

If a child has been instructed in phonics and is not reading by the end of second grade, then this is not the method that will work for them.

At the site I'm sending you to, you will learn about a program that will give your daughter success in learning.

Answer 4

The correct person to see is a school child psychologist , who specialize in testing and assessing children, who may have some learning difficulties etc. A family doctor is not trained to recognize or diagnose learning difficulties, they will usually refer you on to a child psychologist or a pediatrician.

Is your daughter at school yet? If so and the school has raised some concerns with you, then they should be able to organize for your daughter to be tested by a school psychologist, who will do a number of tests, including visual, gross and fine motor skills, language, memory skills etc, they will also observe the child's interaction between others, their social skills and abilities.

Once this information is collected, the psychologist will  then make recommendations according to the results.

If your daughter is not in school yet, then you will most likely have to pay for her to be assessed, you may need to have a referral from a pediatrician.

Both my daughter and I are Dyslexic, my daughter was diagnosed by a school psychologist, and a dyslexic specialist, I was diagnosed as being dyslexic at the same time, which explained my very poor schooling etc.

I have added a few links for you to check out, the top link under dyslexia is my favourite web site, I like the fact that you can adjust the background colour, to suit me.

Edit:

I am not sure why I have been given a thumbs down, possibly because I stated that I am a Youth & Disability support worker with Dyslexia.

I had to advocate and support my daughter when she was in school, and I ended up advocating and supporting other students too, and after many people telling me that I was good at supporting and caring for those with disabilities, I thought that I may as well gain a qualification in a field I have an interest.

It has not been easy to gain my qualifications, but it was done with a lot of hard work, and shear determination.

My daughter is also a qualified Disability support worker.

Dyslexic people are not dumb or stupid, and if given support they can do anything.

Answer 5

Why has the person who gave you a list of web site been given a thumbs down?

I think the information given by them is spot on. The best person to have your child tested with dyslexia is a school child psychologist. But I must say your child should properly be at school, so the specialist can assess them in all area's, very few pre-school students can read or write.

Answer 6

Schools do not diagnose dyslexia. They do not do testing to diagnose this. They ONLY do testing to see if a child qualifies for special education services.

Answer 7

If your child is in public school and you make a specific request, particularly a written request, they have to do the testing for you.

Answer 8

I don't know how old is your son/or Daughter , but it is better to test them when they are a little older . I'll say 5 to 6 years old.

Young children tent to read and write from right to left and bottom to top. Give it a chance!!!

Answer 9

Hi Erica, are you in the UK? If you are, here is a link http://www.dyslexia-test.co.uk/

There are many test centres and they also do them at schools.  Any education institute should have a dyslexia departement.

Good luck

Answer 10

I would check with you family doctor they should be able to send you the right way.

Answer 11

Why are you thinking dyslexia?  What "symptoms" are you seeing?  And, like the other answerer said, how old is your daughter?