Am I Dyslexic?

It can present as difficulties in Visual processing

Sees text as moving, jumping or blurry, Reverses letters, Skips words or lines & Loses place.

It can affect different skills used in Reading

Finds reading difficult, Misreads words, Lacks fluency & doesn’t always process or understand what was read.

And in Writing

Poor spelling, Poor punctuation and grammar & difficulties with structuring text.

Sometimes it presents as poor short term working Memory

Difficulties with remembering sequences & poor working memory.

It can present as difficulties with Auditory Processing

Difficulty in hearing the individual sounds which make up words (phonemes), with breaking words up into their separate sounds and difficulty with putting sounds together to make words.

it can also present with other difficulties not usually associated with literacy but with Neurodevelopment

Slow processing speed, word finding difficulties and poor organisational skills are often seen.

Primary Age Children
Children of primary school age generally begin their journey of learning to read, spell and write. Synthetic Phonics programmes are generally used to teach the acquisition of skills to allow progress to be made in these areas. Teaching and learning should be largely multi-sensory as studies have shown that this is the best way for most children to learn. A phonics screener is administered at the end of Year 1 which assess to what extent these skills have been successfully acquired. Children who ‘fail’ may have intervention and are re-screened at the end of Year 2 If difficulties are evident, schools may need to consider different methods and strategies for teaching and learning early literacy skills so that children can make progress in readiness for Key Stage 2. A further, more in-depth screening tool or assessment may be useful at this point, to pinpoint the exact areas of difficulty. From Year 4 onwards, a full diagnostic dyslexia assessment may be considered if problems persist despite intervention.

Primary-ChecklistDownload

Secondary Age Children/Young People
Secondary aged children are expected to have acquired literacy skills to the extent that they are no longer ‘learning’ how to read, spell and write but are developing and improving these skills to become more competent, confident masters of English, and to be able to use these skills across the curriculum. Children and young people who continue to struggle with basic literacy skills may begin to fall behind, struggle to recall information and, even with intervention and technology, may not be able to demonstrate their knowledge on paper. If traits of dyslexia are evident and progress is limited or very slow, a dyslexia screener will assist in determining areas of weakness. A full diagnostic assessment may also be considered. With the pressure of formal examinations, it becomes more important to establish strengths and difficulties and to determine whether there may be a requirement for exam access arrangements.

Secondary-ChecklistDownload

Students in Higher Education
The demands of study in higher education can sometimes present new or different difficulties for students with weak literacy skills. Whilst technology can help to address some issues, students can struggle with planning and structure of work, organisation, adhering to deadlines, examinations, revision, processing large quantities of information, focus and concentration, identification of what is relevant and pertinent, coherence and metacognition. An assessment administered at this stage can look at all of these issues and provide recommendations to ensure progress can be made at this level.

Adult-Checklist-1Download

Adults in the Workplace
Adults with dyslexia, whether diagnosed or not, may experience difficulties in the workplace, particularly with tasks requiring advanced literacy skills, high levels of planning and organisation, working at speed and/or needing to multi-task, and tasks relying on a good working memory. Some adults manage extremely well and develop efficient strategies and methods to overcome barriers. Others can struggle and find workplace demands challenging. Some adults struggle with passing workplace assessments and qualifications, which can lead to frustration and a lack of progress up the career ladder. If this sounds like you, get in touch to find out if an assessment could help.