The Necessity Of Dyslexia Screening Tests
Brief Background of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is believed to be a neurological defect that causes difficulty reading, writing and spelling. Many dyslexics have problems with associating sounds with letters, which makes it that much more difficult for them to learn how to read. Many people are diagnosed at young age, but sometimes adults are diagnosed much later in life. This diagnosis is better late than never, but best if found in young children. Catching dyslexia between the ages of three and five will help ensure that the child has the attention that they need throughout elementary, middle, and high school.
Common Characteristics of Dyslexia
Many characteristics of dyslexia are overlooked because people believe that they are simply poor readers due to intelligence levels. Intelligence levels have nothing to do with dyslexia. In fact, most people experiencing dyslexia are quite intelligent, and often are more intelligent than the average person. Characteristics of dyslexia include difficulties learning letters and their sounds, problems organizing written and spoken language, and challenges with memorizing number facts and spelling. Other common characteristics include problems persisting with and comprehending longer reading assignments, difficulty learning a foreign language, and issues completing math operations correctly. Young children experiencing dyslexia may have problems learning how to talk, difficulty acquiring vocabulary or using age appropriate grammar.
It is important to note that not all children experiencing these challenges are dyslexic. Many young children have problems talking, and older children have challenges with reading and math. It is not until a comprehensive dyslexia screening test is completed that you will be able to determine if you and/or your child are dyslexic.
Dyslexia Screening Tests For Adults
There are many types of dyslexia screening tests. Some are for children, while others are for adults. The Lucid Adult Dyslexia Screening test, also known as the LADS is designed to help adults recognize whether or not they are dyslexic based on the assessment of phonological processing, working memory and lexical access. Phonological processing is an auditory processing skill and involved detecting differences in speech sounds. Working memory is related to the active monitoring or manipulation of information or behaviors. The assessment of these three core cognitive skills can measure whether or not a person has dyslexia because they are typically weak in dyslexics despite educational experience.
Dyslexia Screening Tests for Children
Other screening tests are designed to be more of a question and answer evaluation. Screening tests are used on large groups of children to narrow down the group. This helps give the children with the highest likeliness for being dyslexia the most attention. Questions such as “Do you have difficulties spelling?” or “Do you have problems learning math?” are examples of dyslexia screening tests for children.
