Dyslexia Testing

Why is it important to diagnose dyslexia?

Receiving an official dyslexia diagnosis can be a pivotal moment for a student’s career. Diagnosis often allows students with dyslexia access to additional resources in the form of school accommodations, points to effective intervention for children, and can explain why somebody is struggling, which can be a huge relief.

Dyslexia On Demand does at-cost dyslexia diagnosis for students. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to receive these through the school system, even though federal law should allow for this process to be simple. At a minimum, a dyslexia diagnosis through a 3rd party may help to trigger the school to pursue their own testing. Our testing is not a replacement to the comprehensive testing received through a Full Individual Evaluation (FIE), but utilizes many of the same batteries, and is enough to begin to receive accommodations and interventions.

A dyslexia diagnosis is a committee decision:

Dyslexia is determined by a committee of knowledgeable people, not by one person alone so we will have to have three total professionals signing off on it.

Our assessment process and basis for dyslexia determination is based on the following definitions, using a combination of the following standardized assessments:

As Defined in Texas Education Code 38.003, “Dyslexia” means a disorder of constitutional origin manifested by a difficulty in learning to read, write, or spell, despite conventional instruction, adequate intelligence, and sociocultural opportunity.

The International Association Definition (2002)
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and / or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. The difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can imped the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

Potential Norm-Referenced Testing Utilized:

• The Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests, Third Edition, (WRMT-III)
• The Phonological Awareness Test 2, (PAT 2)
• The Test of Written Spelling, Fifth Edition, (TWS-5)
• The Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing, Second Edition (CTOPP-2)
• The Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Achievement (WJ IV ACH)
• The Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Oral Language (WJ IV OL)
• Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition Revised (KBIT-2)
  Gray Oral Reading Tests-Fifth Edition (GORT-5)

To get started, here is a little bit of an overview of what you need to know:

1. The full cost is $400 for a total of 4 hours of testing and report writing. This is done at our cost.
2. We will need a hearing and vision test prior to assessment dated within a year from testing date. You can get this from the school, typically.
3. Background info is important when determining dyslexia so we’ll need all previous assessment reports and a completed Parent Questionnaire that we send you.
4. The minimum age at which we can complete a diagnosis is 7 years old or mid-first grade when we can prove ample academic instruction has already occurred.

If you’re interested in having your child tested for dyslexia, please fill out the form below.