Katrina Cochrane is a Specialist Teacher and Assessor who has been working in the field of dyslexia for over 20 years. She has co-written two books on dyslexia as well as the Level 7 course for Specialist Teachers/Assessors and Level 4 Employers course for the BDA . She set up her company Positive Dyslexia, after leaving the BDA in 2016, and returned to the BDA in 2021 as Director of Education and Professional Studies. Katrina remains a member of the BDA Accreditation Board and is an APC reviewer for specialist assessor renewals. Through her company she carries out assessments for children and adults, trains schools and companies and puts on her annual Conference in Liverpool.
You can catch the first part of her informational blog series on Early Years and Dyslexia right here at SED - Dyslexia & Early Years: Before the Assessment.
A Diagnostic Assessment will involve a series of tests that will give a profile of the individual’s strengths and limitations in a number of key areas of cognitive ability:
The assessment will also involve age-appropriate tests that measure attainment in reading, spelling and writing.
The assessor is trying to find out what discrepancy there is between the child’s potential to learn (underlying ability) and the rest of the tests carried out. Most dyslexic children have average or above average verbal or visual abilities, but show a difference between these and the rest of the tests. It is worth noting that according to the Rose Review (2009) dyslexia can occur at any level of intellectual ability.
Underlying Ability
The child will be given a battery of both verbal and non verbal/visual tasks and many children with Dyslexia show a discrepancy between and within these sub tests. They will be asked questions to check their level of vocabulary and also timed construction tasks to show visual skills. Children with dyspraxia often find these latter tasks difficult as they have weak abilities in spatial awareness.
Memory and processing
A child with dyslexia will often have challenges with short-term and working memory. Their speed of processing verbal or visual information may also be impaired. In a test of repeating increasing digits and letters , the assessor will assess short-term auditory memory. Holding those numbers and letters in their head and manipulating them to repeat them backwards will assess working memory. These skills are important in the classroom where children will have difficulty remembering oral instructions or remembering things like their times tables.
The ability to process information efficiently is often measured by the rapid verbal naming of items presented visually, such as a series of random letters or numbers. Children who find such tasks difficult, may find it hard to work at the same speed as their peers.
Reading
This will assess a variety of skills required for full fluency. At the very least, this means single word reading, non-word reading and reading comprehension will be explored. The assessment might also involve a listening comprehension, an oral reading comprehension or a silent reading comprehension. Reading speed or rate may also be recorded. For the younger child their knowledge of sound-symbol correspondence may be tested.
Observations will be made for example if your child uses their finger to help them track the text, and if they miss out words or letters.
Spelling
This will be in the form of an age-appropriate single-word test but, throughout the assessment, there will be other chances for the assessor to look at spellings, such as in the free-writing task or in any school work that has been provided.
Writing
Free writing (for example, writing about their family or their pets) provides an opportunity for the child being assessed to show their ability to express themselves in written form. For very young children they may just be asked to write the alphabet out, their name and address if they can. For post 16 a more academic extended piece of writing is required. The assessor will observe their pen grip, which hand they use, their ability to put down their ideas on paper, the quality of content in the writing, the level of vocabulary used, as well as fluency of expression.
Many individuals with dyslexic traits have vivid and innovative ideas, but find it difficult to express these in written form. Is there a discrepancy, for instance, between their written and spoken skills? This exercise also provides a chance to examine how the individual executes the writing. Do they, for example, produce letters that are neatly formed, or is the writing messy and difficult to read? Do they use a pen with relative ease and dexterity, or do they hold their pen in an unusual or awkward way?
The free writing will be completed within a time-limit so that speed of handwriting is also assessed, although it is also usual for a separate speed of copying test to accompany the free writing exercise.
Other Areas
In addition to the core tests, the assessor might also explore other areas, such as motor-coordination, or record any evidence of visual difficulties. They may also test mathematical skills.
After the Diagnostic Assessment
You may be offered some verbal feedback immediately after the assessment, but often the assessor needs to go away and think about all the test scores before coming to a conclusion. You should be offered the opportunity to discuss the report when you receive it. The report will be sent to you password protected , to comply with Data Protection Regulations.
You should make an appointment and take the report into the SENCO at your child’s school. It may be best to take out the most important points and summarise them or turn them into bullet points of strengths and limitations so that these can be shared with the relevant staff quickly.
Diagnostic Assessment Reports
The outcome and results will be different for every person and the assessment will produce a unique profile, in the form of a written report, which should be available within two to three weeks of the assessment. The report should be clearly written with accessible language that makes transparent the areas in which the individual has strengths as well as limitations in a holistic and accessible format. It should also contain very clear guidelines and suggestions for structured and well-tested interventions so that teachers, parents and the individual themselves have a very clear understanding of the way forward.
The recommendations should be clearly set out under targeted headings, like the ones suggested below:
What might a further referral be?
This might be to a paediatric occupational therapist (OT) if, for example, dyspraxia is suspected. In addition, there may be referrals made to behavioural optometrists if visual difficulties are present. They may also be referred to the doctor for possible ADHD/ADD or autistic difficulties as these can co-occur with Dyslexia.
Interpreting the Report
Your report may show the tests results using a graph and you will be able to see the ‘spiky profile’ normally associated with a specific learning difficulty. Here there will be peaks and troughs where your child has strengths as well as limitations. The results will be reported in Standard Scores, which are calculated by taking the raw score and transforming it to a common scale. A standard score between 90 and 110 is within the mid-average range.
You may see a discrepancy between some scores and for the dyslexic child this is normal where they have strengths in some areas such as vocabulary, but relative weaknesses in other areas assessed including attainment and attainment. You may also see percentile scores discussed, These compare your child’s score with a hundred children of the same age where the 50th percentile is the mid-point score and is within the average range. This is equivalent to a Standard Score of 100 which is the mid-point of the Standard Score range.
How the Report is Structured
The report you receive will have a detachable summary at the beginning of the report which will give a diagnostic decision about your child. At the back of the report will be a list of recommendations and a summary table of results. You will be encouraged to show the report to your child’s school and these recommendations will hopefully be taken on board.
What Kind of Recommendations Might be Made?
These vary according to the age the individual needs of the child but will generally include some recommendations for a teaching programme that is structured, cumulative and multisensory.
For the child who has difficulty writing quickly and legibly, touch typing is often recommended, so that using a laptop becomes their ‘normal way of working’.Other recommendations might be for Exam Access Arrangements such as additional time or a reader or scribe. These ultimately will be up to the school to decide according to the child’s normal way of working.
Explaining the Diagnosis to Your Child
It is very important that your child is made aware of the whole process and what it actually means. The assessor will ask your child how they feel about their difficulties and the child’s voice is an important part of the assessment report. The results of the testing should be shared with your child as it may help improve their motivation and self-esteem. Results may be inconclusive for a very young child and monitoring and re-assessment may be recommended but hopefully the report may still be a very useful document for both parents and the school.
Dyslexia is not barrier to success and many children with dyslexia have enormous strengths as well as challenges and with the right support will succeed.
You can find out more about these kinds of play in a free video from Positive Dyslexia Ltd., Making It Multi-Sensory. You can also catch up with Katrina Cochrane of Positive Dyslexia in her exclusive interview with Succeed With Dyslexia's Head of Training and Assessment Donna Stevenson, all about the importance of assessment and why it matters so much - available right now on The SWD YouTube Channel.