Who can diagnose dyslexia?

Although not a curable condition, diagnosing dyslexia early on can help dyslexics have a much better life. Still, who can diagnose this condition? Let’s find out.

Dyslexia is an impairment that prevents people from decoding words. According to the International Dyslexia Association, this condition affects the self-esteem of around 15% of the world’s population. This reading difficulty also causes issues with spelling, rhyming, and writing. Dyslexia is fairly often confused with being a learning disability, but that’s not true. Unlike people with disabilities, dyslexics don’t have a lower IQ by definition.

Unfortunately, dyslexia isn’t curable. We can only manage it to at least somewhat overcome reading problems and make life easier for those impacted by it. To do so, it’s key to diagnose it early through dyslexia testing and satisfy dyslexic child needs with special education. So, the question is, who can provide an accurate diagnosis of dyslexia? A safe bet is to take an online test and then take the results to a specialist for further assessment.

How to get tested for learning disabilities?

Learning disabilities consist of various conditions. However, according to the Department of Education, three of them are the most prevalent. These are dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. As mentioned, dyslexia is a reading disability and it affects reading skills. On the other hand, dysgraphia and dyscalculia are something else, although they are often confused with dyslexia.

Dysgraphia means that a person has an issue with writing down words and passing their thoughts onto a piece of paper. On the flip side, dyscalculia means that a person can’t quite comprehend numbers and basic calculations. Nevertheless, any of these can cause functional problems for young children, and it’s best to diagnose them sooner for early intervention.

Testing for learning disabilities involves the assessment of different areas. The first is intelligence testing to evaluate cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well as problem-solving skills. Furthermore, there is achievement, visual-motor function, and language testing. All these combined can provide a clearer picture of whether someone has a learning disability.

Nowadays, it’s possible to test yourself or someone you care for at home using your computer. The thing is, there are numerous tests, both free and premium, online that require only a few minutes of your time. Of course, the eligibility of some of them is a bit dodgy. However, most of them state that they are just indicators and that their results should be checked by a professional.

Who can provide an assessment and diagnose Dyslexia

In short, diagnosing a reading disorder such as dyslexia is the job of psychologists. Of course, in some cases, it can be done with the help of a neuropsychologist, reading specialist, speech-language pathologist, and other professionals. Nevertheless, it must be done in person by a qualified and licensed person, not an online test for someone to be considered dyslexic.

A good thing about being dyslexic in the United States is that a person is entitled to request assessments in their school. To do so, parents of a suspected dyslexic child can write a letter to the elementary school to request a visit to the school psychologist. If the psychologist determines a specific learning disability, the child’s school will provide special education services or Individualized Educational Program (IEP).

How public schools and special educators can help their students with dyslexia and other language learning disorders

It’s no secret that private schools have better conditions for students than public ones. Nevertheless, even public schools can help their students with learning disabilities bridge the gap and be successful learners like the rest of their class. In the following, we’ll list some of the best ways of supporting children with dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning disorders.

• Supportive classroom culture: The first thing to do is to encourage all students to get to know each other and to understand which difficulties trouble each of them, especially children with learning disorders.
• Upping classroom activities: To make lessons more enjoyable for everyone, including those with dyslexia, it’s a smart idea to introduce flashcards, story videos, puppets, and even real objects in the classroom. This will make learning more fun and potent.
• Assistive technology: One of the best ways to increase reading comprehension for dyslexic students is to introduce them to assistive tech. A piece of such technology is Speechify text-to-speech app. It can transcribe all written material into speech, which will help students better understand what they are supposed to learn.

Speechify was created to help those with Dyslexia—here is our founder’s story

One of the most popular providers of assistive technology is definitely Speechify. This is among the best-rated text to speech apps across all platforms. The reasons why this is so are many. In essence, it is one of the most advanced TTS apps as it fully utilizes artificial intelligence, machine learning, and optical character recognition. By doing so, it can transcribe pretty much any text into speech in a matter of moments and with the best results.

Speechify works in over 15 languages and has more than 30 natural-sounding AI narrators that will make you forget that you’re listening to an app. Of course, all this wouldn’t be so impressive if it weren’t for Speechify’s OCR word recognition component. It can transcribe photos of handwritten notes as well as printed text, making it a perfect fit to accompany the language skills of dyslexic students of all grades—from elementary to high school to universities.

Nevertheless, improving reading fluency with Speechify wouldn’t be so good if it weren’t for the peculiar story of its founder, Cliff Weitzman. Cliff is dyslexic, just like millions of people across the globe. However, he never gave up on his dream to find a solution and enjoy written content like the rest. He, therefore, made it his life’s goal to provide the world with the best text-to-speech app that will provide remediation for young students and others with phonological processing.

FAQs

How do I get my child tested for dyslexia?

If your child is showing signs of dyslexia, you can always take an online test together and then show the results to a medical professional.

Can a developmental pediatrician diagnose dyslexia?

Yes, developmental pediatricians have an essential role when it comes to diagnosing learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.

Can an ophthalmologist diagnose dyslexia?

Ophthalmologists can determine signs of dyslexia, such as binocular vision problems and focusing difficulties.

What are the signs of dyslexia?

Some of the most common symptoms of dyslexia include:

• Late talking
• Slow at learning new words
• Trouble with forming words and confusing phonics of words that sound the same
• Problems with spelling and naming letters, numbers, and colors
• Problems with learning nursery rhymes