4. Do you have trouble telling left from right?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
5. Is map reading or finding your way to a strange place confusing?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
6. Do you re-read paragraphs to understand them?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)7. Do you get confused when given several instructions at once?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
8. Do you make mistakes when taking down telephone messages?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
9. Do you find it difficult to find the right word to say?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
10. How often do you think of creative solutions to problems?
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Rarely (1)□ Occasionally (2)
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Often (3)□ Most of the time (4)
11. How easy do you find it to sound out words such as el-e-phant?
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Easy (3)□ Challenging (6)
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Difficult (9)□ Very difficult (12)
12. When writing, do you find it difficult to organise thoughts on paper?
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Easy (2)□ Challenging (3)
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Difficult (4)□ Very difficult (8)
13. Did you learn your multiplication tables easily?
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Easy (2)□ Challenging (3)
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Difficult (4)14. How easy do you find it to recite the alphabet?
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Easy (1)□ Challenging (2)
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Difficult (3)□ Very difficult (4)
15. How hard do you find it to read aloud?
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Easy (1)□ Challenging (2)
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Difficult (3)□ Very difficult (4)
Results:A score of less that 45: this is consistent with results of somebody who is not dyslexic
A score 45-60: this shows signs consistent with mild dyslexia.
A score greater than 60: this is consistent with moderate or severe dyslexia Note that most of the items in the checklist can provide indications of where problems may lie, even though they do not appear to be literacy related questions. However, one needs to be cautious, since each question may be affected by several cognitive processes. As an example “How easy do you find it to sound out words such as el-e-phant?” suggests that the individual may have phonological manipulation difficulties, “Do you confuse visually similar words such as cat and cot?” suggests orthographic confusion, and “Do you confuse the names of objects, for example table for chair?” suggests semantic confusion. Similarly, short term memory problems may account for certain responses to “Do you get confused when given several instructions at once?” and “Do you make mistakes when taking down telephone messages?”. Some questions are more complex, and it may be difficult to distinguish
between components. For example, is a difficulty with map reading to do decoding of orthographic (or ideographic) information or visual/spatial
awareness. These comment should not be seen to suggest that the checklist should be used for assessment, but that there is a logical link between the definition of dyslexia and the response to questions in the checklist. Note also that many experienced assessors are more concerned as to how the
The Role of IQ
For historic reasons which need not be discussed here, the IQ has gained an illogical status in the assessment of the dyslexic individual. Although there may have been some rationale for the use of the IQ test in the early days (early 1970s) to distinguish dyslexia from more general difficulties, three decades of research have shown it to be irrelevant in both in the
categorisation of dyslexia and in the understanding of strengths and weaknesses of those with literacy difficulties. However, simple logic can succinctly explain why the IQ is not required in the assessment of the dyslexic individual (Siegel and Smythe, 2004):
Logic statement 1
1. The IQ-reading discrepancy hypothesis assumes a difference between IQ and reading achievement that is unexpected.
2. The fact that it is unexpected is based purely on the IQ level, and suggests that the IQ should predict reading ability.
3. But the fact that the reading ability does not always equal the IQ, since there is a discrepancy, demonstrates that IQ cannot predict reading ability, and thereby invalidates the assumption made in (2).
4. Therefore the discrepancy hypothesis is invalid. Logic statement 2
1. The only tests that can determine dyslexia are those that confirm the diagnosis with respect to the definition
2. The definition states dyslexia is defined by fluency and accuracy of reading.
3. An IQ test does not measure fluency and accuracy of reading
4. Therefore, a measure of IQ is not required to determine if an individual is dyslexic.
Another counter argument to the inclusion of IQ in a test for those at university is that if they have already demonstrated sufficient skills to enter the university, then surely the fact that they have been accepted is demonstration enough of their intellectual ability. Put differently, those who suggest it is important to measure IQ are saying that the entrance qualifications are insufficient to demonstrate intelligence.
Social and emotional issues
Social and emotional issues are not areas which can be easily measured. There are a number of checklists but given the variability of the dyslexic individual, they are rarely as important as a sound basis in counselling which allow an understanding of the real cause of the social and emotional problems. Every practitioner and assessor should have a clear understanding of the issues, and the extent to which many dyslexics will be unaware of the problems and reluctant to talk about them. Empathy, developed through experience of working with other dyslexics, is crucial to understanding of how
best to provide support. However, never forget that there may be a time when a specialist should be called in to help with some of the more serious issues. Dyslexia affects many areas, and while practicalities (and finance) often mean that the assessor is a one-person multidisciplinary team, there may be a need to refer the individual for specialist assessment for emotional and other issues, as well as comorbid problems such as dyspraxia, ADHD and Asperger’s. When referring an individual to another specialist, it is important that case notes accompany the individual. In the same way the dyslexia specialist should not be expect to have a full understanding of psychotherapy, so the psychotherapist should not be expected to have a full understanding of dyslexia. Without the case notes, they may assign difficulties to inappropriate sources.
Assessment protocol
It may be argued that if the definition on which you base decisions is symptom based, then all you need is the attainment components. However, if the
definition states causal components, then you must demonstrate that the causes of the individuals difficulties are those specified in the definition. The following may be considered a starting point for the development of a protocol for identification of the difficulties of the dyslexic individual, and may be used to develop a support program with respect to the literacy related difficulties. It should not be seen as an exhaustive list, and other areas such as emotional and behavioural issues (e.g. the response to pressure in examinations) should not be ignored. As noted above, both fluency and accuracy should be measured in many of these tests.
Note that some tests offers information to understand the difficulties, but does not necessarily provide additional information to assist in the development of the individual education plan. However, they may help explain some of the other issues. An example would be the digit span test to help understand the auditory memory components. Knowing the individual has short term memory problems may help the assessor focus on development of strategies to assist the memory components of learning. Some assessors may wish to include tests which show cognitive strengths (e.g. block design). These are not required for the assessment of dyslexia, or the development of the individual education plan. However, any good assessment will include additional items which may provide information on the student’s strengths which may be used where appropriate to support their weaknesses.
As discussed earlier, accuracy as well as fluency needs to be clearly
demonstrated. As well as an overall score, an analysis of errors should form part of a comprehensive assessment. (For example: Is the spelling
phonologically correct but showing evidence of visual memory problems - education spelled as educashun?) These analyses frequently provide additional information which may feed the recommendations.
Attainment – Reading – single word
Single word reading takes the word from the context. Therefore it may be deduced if the individual is reading the word or guessing from the context. Attainment – Reading - non-words
Non-words are constructed from letters strings that are legitimate in the given orthography, but are novel, and therefore will not have been seen before. Unless the individual understands the orthographic-phonological rules, the will not know how to decode the words since they will have no visual record to use as an alternative strategy. Every individual should be able to use analogy and phonological skills to read the word. However, it may be important to not only look at accuracy but also fluency (or speed), particularly in a transparent language. It may also be important to confirm a full knowledge of letter-sound correspondence.
Attainment – Reading continuous text
With the adult it is frequently important to look at the reading of continuous prose. Internal rehearsal can mask the fluency problems with single word reading. However, it is more difficult to mask the issues in a continuous prose. Attainment – “Non-word” reading passage
Some tests have been developed which intersperse non-words into
continuous prose. This combines the difficulties of both fluency and accuracy. Attainment – Spelling words
Words need to be chosen with respect to frequency and linguistic complexity. A test for adults should include not only common words, but also challenging words that reflect the diversity of the orthography. To avoid any ambiguity, the nature of the task is usually say the word, then a sentence containing a word, and finally the word again.
Attainment – Spelling non-words
By using non-words, the dyslexic is challenged in their ability to encode the spoken language into a written format. Frequently, strategies are learnt that provide a link between the phonological representation and the orthographic form for common and regular words. However, to spell non-words, where no direct link can have been formed, the only way to spell the non-word is through the use of letter-sound correspondence and analogy at all levels including the phoneme, rhymes and consonant clusters. These words may also be given in sentences, with the children told that they may not know all of the words.
Attainment – Reading comprehension
Many dyslexic individuals put so much effort into the decoding of the written word that they have no resources left to retain or decode the meaning from what they have just read. This may be understood from this task, of which
there are a number of variants. In principle, the individual reads a passage and then answers questions, sometimes with the passage removed from sightand sometimes with it present. Although there is a significant memory component, strategies can be developed which allow the individual to recall longer passages. An example would be to visualise what is going on as the individual is reading. Often these tests are timed; so that the individual may not finish the test in the allotted time. Some dyslexics read slowly but they answer the questions correctly that they have time to answer. However, this is not enough for a good score.
Auditory - Digit span
This is one of the most frequently used test around the world for identification of the dyslexic individual. However, it is important to acknowledge the
differences in different languages, and that the seven digits often quoted for English is not true for other languages. For example, in Chinese, the norm is nine digits. The reason for this is that Chinese numbers (syllables) are shorter. Also in Chinese all numbers are monosyllabic. However, in English “seven” is bi-syllabic. In Filipino all number words are bi-syllabic except “dalawa” (two). In Hungarian, four number words are monosyllabic and five are bi-syllabic. Thus it is important to consider norms for the particular language. Note that this test can also be very useful when assessing multilingual individuals as it helps confirmation. However, this is only possible when a speaker of that language is available, or when a computerised sound presentation version can be used, with a written response. An oral response may also be possible if it is recorded for later analysis.
Auditory - Sound discrimination
This task may be considered a hearing test, but with a specific language context. Items need to be chosen with care to ensure that they are
representative of the language, and provide sufficient difficulty to test the skills of the individual. The phoneme differentiation should be set at the beginning, end and medial positions. Specific phonemes should be considered when the multilingual individual is being tested. For example, the Gujarati speaker has problems with v/f differentiation, e.g. van/fan. Therefore this should be
included where this language group is being considered. Similarly Japanese have problems with l/r (e.g. lap/rap) and Spaniards have problems with p/b ( pin/bin). However, their ability to differentiate may be affected by where in the word the phoneme comes.
Visual processing - Copying tasks
This task is usually reserved for children, but may be included with adults to eliminate other problems, and to help the assessment where motor skills may be an issue. It usually includes a series of shapes of increasing complexity that are to be copied.
Visual processing - Shape from memory
The task involves showing the individual a shape for a short duration, and then asking them to reproduce it. Less complex tasks may need only a five second exposure, while more time (for example, one minute) may be offered for more complex shapes. It is often informative to not only see the result, but also to find out how it was achieved.
Working memory - Reverse digit span
This task is simple to construct as it involves only the auditory presentation of numbers. The task become complex as the individual must repeat them in reverse order.
Working memory - Counting backwards
This task, to count backwards from 100 in 3’s, is simple to perform, but there are no norms. However, given the apparent simplicity of the task, it is
reasonable to assume that much of the loading will be on working memory – that is the ability to do the calculation and retrieve the words before saying them.
Working memory – Spoonerisms
The high level of both phonological manipulation and working memory make this a good quick task for identifying those at risk. The task involves reversing the first phonemes of two words. (E.g. RED HAT becomes HEAD RAT) However, few norms exist for this task. Although the complex nature of the task can make it difficult to interpret, as well as there being a possible strong cultural bias in the task, it may be used by some as a quick indicator.
Rapid naming - Rapid naming – picture
Pictures provide semantic representation. Although a number of versions of this task exist, including where there are four items repeated many times, and twenty items repeated twice, it is often not the overall time taken that is
important. Many dyslexics demonstrate fluency difficulties – that is, they do not say the words in a regular rhythm even thought they clearly know the names. Because fluency can be more important than timing, this can be used for evaluation of the bilingual individual using their first language.
Rapid naming - Rapid naming – number
This test is different from the picture naming task because it is based on an orthographic representation, and therefore taps the access to the orthographic lexicon. Responses to this task may be different from the picture naming task. Other versions do exist, including rapid naming of colours, letters and Chinese characters. Each will give a different response, but usually just one
orthographic based task is required. This task is particularly useful when working with multilingual individuals, since they can perform it in their
preferred language. Fluency is arguably the important issue, rather than the time taken.
Lexical – Phonological – Alliteration
Although more important with children, this task should not be ignored especially for those who learned to read late in life. There are variations on this, including the identification/deletion of the first phoneme which may be followed by a vowel, or may be part of a digraph.
Lexical – Phonological - Rhyme
There is much debate about the importance of the rhyme unit in learning to read in transparent languages. It should be assumed that in non-transparent languages such as English, the rhyme unit is important from the start.
However, in transparent language, the large unit such as rhymes become important when it is not longer possible to become a more fluent reader based only on rapid phoneme-grapheme reading.
Lexical – Phonological - Phoneme segmentation
There are a series of segmentation and manipulation tasks such as initial and final phoneme deletion which may be used to identify the ability of the
individual to manipulate the language at a level usually seen as necessary to develop competency in literacy skills.
Lexical – Orthographic - Orthographic choice
Literacy tasks that provide choices can be helpful in understanding the sophistication of the orthographic lexicon. An example of this task is Olson’s Orthographic Choices, which has two forms: a) where two words are used of which only one is spelled correctly, but they sound the same (e.g.
munk/monk) and b) there two words are written, but only one sounds like a real word when spoken (e.g. birf/berd). This task is not possible in a
transparent language.
Lexical – Orthographic - Letter and phoneme identification
It is easy to make assumptions about individuals, but it is important to check all aspects. Letter identification may be missed as an individual may be reading words as wholes. Although the deficit may become apparent in a non- word reading task, this task allows confirmation of where the problems may arise.
Lexical – Semantic - Vocabulary test
Sometime it may be necessary to demonstrate that the vocabulary is as good as expected: for example, with the multilingual individual. The test may be given in several forms. These include: a) providing the definition of a word, and b) choosing a picture from a set which best illustrates the spoken word. Lexical – Semantic - Verbal fluency
Lexical – Semantic - Semantic fluency
An example of this task would be to name as many animals as possible. It