I found out I had dyslexia by having a dyslexia assessment done, it was with a lovely lady she broke everything down, the session lasted up to 3 hours, I had to to do some test which involved reading, writing, solving puzzles and numbers.
The process was all very quick as I already knew I was, the signs were very clear to me, my memory and grammar was terrible, I would miss out words and sentences when writing, when reading words would disappear (especially on white paper) I found it challenging to stretch out my paragraphs when needing to write long pieces of text, my spelling was poor however I could recognise and read long words that I could not spell (how funny is that lol) I was great with taking in information but when it came to writing it down my brain would just freeze, I just couldn't do it..... even though I had these signs (which didn't show itself every day) not all signs showed when having my assessment done, I was able to articulate my 30 years of dealing with my signs of dyslexia to the assessor and was intrigued with the whole assessment process.
Being assessed was the best thing that could of happen, it changed my life and others also, I wanted to make a difference and help others who were going through something similar to me, after all I wasn't just a dyslexic I also knew first hand inside a mind of one also, knowing we are not stupid academically it's just our gifted brain works differently to others. I decided to become a dyslexic practitioner myself.
A Dyslexia Practitioner, Tutor, Trainer and Coach
Being qualified meant I could help other people like myself and keep the cost down for people that couldn't afford it financially, if you didn't know an assessment could be as much as £800 for a full assessment.
It can take up to 3 hours to have an assessment done then the assessor writes up their findings in a report to clarify if that person has dyslexia, then the person is left with an assessment and no follow up support. As being dyslexic myself I found the older you got the more you could hide the signs, also the signs does not always shows itself daily.
So this made me think is 3 hours of assessing enough? can we really identify if a person is dyslexic in only 3 hours? and if a person was having a good day academically did this mean they were not dyslexic?
The children, young people and adults I assess, there are times (especially with adults) were they can see and explain there experiences very clearly however this is not always the case.
Having a report done is a great support for young people in schools, they can receive support in class and get support in exams and for adults you can get support at work or even a paid support worker if you are self-employed, so I am not stating to get rid of assessments of course not, I am saying is 3 hours enough to determined if a person has dyslexia?
I feel there should be a assessment then follow up sessions (if needed depending on the person) this way a clear understanding of the signs can be shown and strategies can be put in place, if you are a dyslexic reading this you would know it is very complex with each person showing different signs and needs.
So I ask you this question does dyslexia assessment work and does it need to be updated?
Regards
Zoe Joseph-Pennant
Founder of Dyslexia for the Wise
Please note from a dyslexic sender
