How do you know if you or your child has dyslexia?

Question

*Diagnosis

*Instructional Practices

*Strategies for managing dyslexia

*related issues like dyscalculia, dysgraphia and adhd

Answer 1

As a Diverse Learners teacher, a piece of advice I can give you is to ask the team at your school to asses your child. Every public school should offer a psychologist with the ability to asses your student´s reading needs. You can also ask the student´s teacher or tutor to do informal assessments on their decoding abilities. It is important to ask for the data as well as explanations of what the data means. Teachers and staff at your child´s school should be on your team and work to help you identify what is happening with the student´s learning. That way you can all move forward with data analysis that defines a research based plan.

If the school is not supportive, I would suggest getting the student assessed by an outside psychologist or specialist and send the documentation to the school. You can request a meeting reviewing the data and what changes you think are important for your child´s success. Wishing you the best on this journey.

Answer 2

Dyslexia is identified when an individual struggles with reading, despite average intelligence. It is a neurodevelopmental disorder. To clarify, a person with lower functioning intellectual abilities, might have similar problems, but dyslexia is in correlation of an average iq (90-110)

In public education, it is often labeled as a specific learning disability. Your school may have several tiers of intervention to complete before formal testing is arranged. An educational psychologist will use a variety of assessments. You can also ask your child's school to perform this evaluation, but that may take some time. Additionally, you can reach out to a psychologist in your community for an assessment. Please understand that seeking out a local psychologist will be your financial responsibility. If your child is found to have dyslexia, the school will hold an eligibility for special education services meeting with you and develop an IEP (individualized educational plan).

One strategy that has been proven effective is the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction. This multisensory approach to phonemic awareness, decoding and encoding of words has a specific sequence of lessons. Teachers with this training have completed some type of intensive course work provided by reputable organizations.

Any instruction on phonemic awareness, decoding and encoding of words and sentences is an effective measure for individuals with dyslexia or other reading problems. Keep in mind that the major requirement of reading interventions for dyslexia are consistency and frequency.

You might also find that other disorders exist along with dyslexia, including ADHD, dyscalculia, dysgraphia.