Diagnosing dyslexia

“ONE of the biggest areas of development has been in diagnostic testing to help identify if a person is dyslexic,” says Helen Goodsall, knowledge and information manager at the British Dyslexia Association. “Once a person has been diagnosed, they can receive the correct help and support. Early intervention and multi-sensory teaching can hugely benefit dyslexics.”

Sadly, however, dyslexia being detected and diagnosed is still a lottery due to a lack of funding – it can cost around £700 to be diagnosed.

“Dyslexia is considered to be an educational issue, not a medical one, so is not covered under the NHS,” says Helen.

“Dyslexia is also not covered in any great detail in teacher training, despite our campaigning. Those children that don’t get picked up or helped become more and more disadvantaged, particularly when they reach secondary school, so early intervention is vital.

“We need a better system for diagnosis that doesn’t cost so much money, so that more people are diagnosed and given the appropriate support,” she continues. “We also need to reiterate how, with simple adjustments, most people can carry on and do really well in life.”

Signs and symptoms of dyslexia tend to vary depending on a person’s age, but common ones include:

Difficulty reading, including reading aloud

Problems with spelling

Mispronouncing names or words, or difficulty retrieving words

Spending an unusually long time completing tasks involving reading or writing

Difficulty summarising a story

Trouble learning another language

Difficulty memorising

Difficulty doing maths or number problems