The short answer is no. We do not test for Dyslexia. That is something that can be diagnosed by psychologists in, or outside of your school system. The long answer is that vision problems could masquerade as Dyslexia because many vision problems can (and often do) impact reading, writing, spelling and math abilities.
Optometrists cannot diagnose dyslexia but we can provide help with poor binocular control and visual stress experienced by some patients with dyslexia and other learning difficulties.
This can be carried out by an educational psychologist or an appropriately qualified specialist dyslexia teacher.
In short, diagnosing a reading disorder such as dyslexia is the job of psychologists. Of course, in some cases, it can be done with the help of a neuropsychologist, reading specialist, speech-language pathologist, and other professionals.
An educational specialist, such as a learning specialist or reading specialist, can also conduct a comprehensive evaluation for dyslexia. They typically focus on educational and academic assessments, including reading, writing, and math skills.
An educational psychologist usually diagnoses dyslexia. The psychologist will: take a history, covering medical, developmental, education and family aspects. investigate your child's learning strengths and weaknesses.
In most cases, testing for dyslexia is done by a licensed educational psychologist. Neurologists and other medical professionals may also be qualified to provide a formal diagnosis. It is important to keep in mind that dyslexia is not a disease or an identifiable physical condition.
The 4 types of dyslexia include phonological dyslexia, surface dyslexia, rapid naming deficit, and double deficit dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disorder where the person often has difficulty reading and interpreting what they read.
Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words. Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word. Difficulty spelling.
A formal assessment for dyslexia is carried out either by a specialist dyslexia teacher or by a chartered educational or occupational psychologist. A specialist dyslexia teacher will have a Post Graduate Diploma in Specific Learning Difficulties and an assessment Practising Certificate.
If you suspect that your child may be dyslexic then you should discuss your concerns with your child's teacher, or the school's Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo). A teacher should consult the school's SENCo to discuss the next steps and appropriate support.
Our optometrists cannot diagnose dyslexia – dyslexia can only be formally diagnosed through a diagnostic assessment carried out by a certified assessor such as a specialist teacher with an assessment practising certificate (APC) or a registered psychologist.
Convergence Insufficiency is a vision problem where one or both eyes become occasionally misaligned, often made worse by visual stress or when the person is tired or ill. A child with this condition is able to keep their eyes aligned, provided they have enough energy.
Studies have shown that children with dyslexia often also have binocular vision problems (also called convergence problems). This means that their eyes don't work together very well. For example, when they're reading each eye may be looking at a different letter.
People with dyslexia tend to have poor working memory, speed of processing and rapid retrieval of information from long term memory. These weaknesses will also affect maths learning. 60% of learners with dyslexia have maths learning difficulties.
A child with an affected parent has a risk of 40–60% of developing dyslexia. This risk is increased when other family members are also affected.
Males are diagnosed with dyslexia more frequently than females, even in epidemiological samples. This may be explained by greater variance in males' reading performance.
Left untreated, dyslexia may lead to low self-esteem, behavior problems, anxiety, aggression, and withdrawal from friends, parents and teachers. Problems as adults. The inability to read and comprehend can prevent children from reaching their potential as they grow up.
People often confuse dyslexia and autism for one another or conflate them for their similarities. But they are two completely different disorders that affect the brains of people in different ways. While dyslexia is a learning difficulty, autism is a developmental disorder.
The list of disabilities covered by the NDIS is long, but dyslexia isn't on the list. However, you may already qualify for the NDIS and receive funding for a condition that meets the NDIS criteria, such as Autism.
Dyslexia is recognised in Australian under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and under the Human Rights Commission.