Introduction
For you and your child an assessment to explore dyslexia may be an important first step in finding out how they learn best. You can book a call with us for supportive and impartial advice and to answer your questions.
We provide a dyslexia screening and assessment service for parents who want to find out whether their child may have a specific learning difference. After your assessment we offer feedback and advice on next steps.
Screening
There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that early intervention is very important for children. Parents often worry about ‘labelling’ their child, but this can be vital for them to understand about themselves and how they will learn best.
No screenings are 100% reliable but our Child Screening Form may give you a better idea of your child’s strengths and challenges which could be signs of dyslexia. We can then contact you to discuss possible options.
If you are thinking of investigating possible dyslexia, we would always advise you to talk to your child’s teacher or the school SENDCo and show them the results of the screening. It is good to work together to support your child and for the school to be involved from the start.
If you would like to discuss this please contact us by phone on 01442 463950 or email or you may want to Book a call where you can get some information and advice on the possible next steps for you and your child. Read our frequently asked questions for parents.
Assessment
There are many different reasons for wanting an assessment for your child:
- You may wish to explore whether your child has dyslexia to help you to understand why they are having difficulties with aspects of their learning and suggest ways that they can be best supported at home and at school.
- You may be thinking ahead to 6th Form or university next year and need an assessment to apply for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) in the future.
- Your child may be having difficulties with literacy or numeracy, and you would like to find out more and have suggestions of ways you could support them at home.
Assessments can take place:
- Face to face at our centre in Berkhamsted
- Online for Children from Year 9 upwards. You would need to have good connectivity and be in a quiet, private space. A parent, guardian or other appropriate adult would need to be at hand during the assessment.
Talking to your Child
- It is important to talk to your child about the assessment. You can explain that we all learn in different ways and that they will be spending some time with someone working together to see how they learn best. They may be doing reading and writing and also other activities with pictures and shapes. This will help you to support them at home and will also help their teachers to understand more about them and what might help to make things easier for them at school. You can download our leaflet and read it together. We also like this short film clip Seeing Dyslexia Differently. You might like to watch it with your child:
Our Assessments for Children:
Diagnostic Assessment
A full diagnostic assessment is for anyone who has not previously been assessed and wants to know if they have specific learning differences, dyslexia, or for those who would like an updated report on their progress since a previous assessment., perhaps on transition to secondary school.
A detailed assessment report is produced, including a diagnosis of dyslexia where appropriate. The assessment usually takes around three hours, including breaks.
The assessment will be a mixture of short activities that look at language & reasoning skills, cognitive processing (this includes assessments of working memory, phonological awareness, orthographic processing, and other areas as required). It will also include assessments of reading, writing and maths, if appropriate. This will then mean that the assessor can see your child’s profile of strengths and challenges and make personalised recommendations for studying at school or at home. Suggestions for Access Arrangements in examinations will also be included. In the future the report will enable your child to access support at university through the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA).
Literacy/ Numeracy Review
This is a shorter assessment focusing on areas of concern in literacy or numeracy to investigate current levels of performance and strengths and weaknesses in these areas and progress made. It will not be possible for a diagnosis of dyslexia to be made, as only some cognitive testing will be carried out.
The assessment session may last about 1 – 1 ½ hours and could include appropriate testing such as reading skills- word reading, comprehension, oral reading skills, writing skills- spelling, handwriting and written composition or maths skills.
The Literacy or Numeracy Review is appropriate for younger children when parents do not yet wish to undertake a full diagnostic assessment, or for children who have been previously assessed as an update to see what progress has been made or for parents who have concerns about aspects of their child’s literacy or numeracy and would like to know what they can do to help at home.
The Literacy/Numeracy Review would provide recommendations for home and school, including resources and assistive technology that may help to move learning forward.
Booking an Assessment
First complete our Child Screening Form
A member of the team will be in touch and will give you a link to our online booking system so you can choose a date and time that suits you best. If you prefer, they can book the appointment for your child and will be on hand to guide you and answer your questions.
After that we will send you links to some more forms about your child. This information would be shared with the specialist assessor who you’ll be seeing and would be included in the report, with your consent.
- We would also ask for feedback from the school. This could be the SENDCo and/or your child’s teacher.
- It is also very helpful for us to have feedback from your child- there is a form for them to complete too. They may need some help with this.
If you have any questions and would like to discuss these with someone please either call us on 01442 463950 or Book a call