Dyslexia Assessment Services...
- I offer full dyslexia assessments for children aged 8-16. If a diagnosis is given this document will be valid for life and will help to provide access to additional support in further education settings such as access to DSA at university (extra time in exams etc).
- I am a registered supplier to Cheshire West and Cheshire East schools and can be booked by schools or directly by families (See Cheshire Livewell website).
- Private assessments can be arranged in school (if the school is able to host), or in my home setting in Chester. I hold a full DSB enhanced check available on the live update service.
The assessment:
Many parents and teachers get in touch when they suspect that a child’s learning challenges may be related to dyslexia. A thorough assessment provides a detailed overview of the child’s strengths and areas of difficulty, along with practical recommendations to support their ongoing learning and development.
A full diagnostic assessment for school-aged children typically takes around 3–4 hours, with breaks included as needed to ensure the child is comfortable and able to perform at their best.
Before the assessment I will send you and your child's school some electronic questionnaires. These can be completed online and will need to be returned in good time before the assessment date. It's important to ensure that vision has been checked, with an update on vision testing if this is due. You will be issued with a "visual difficulties" questionnaire to ensure that any further investigation of possible visual difficulties is carried out before the assessment date.
The assessment covers reading, spelling, writing, phonological processing, memory, processing speed, and both verbal and non-verbal cognitive abilities.
A key part of the assessment is the Tests of Dyslexia (TOD), the most up-to-date tool used by specialist dyslexia assessors. The TOD provides a detailed profile of a child’s strengths and difficulties, including reading and comprehension, spelling, writing, phonological awareness, working memory, rapid naming, processing speed, and verbal reasoning. Additional tests, such as the CTOP2 and DASH2, are also included to give a full picture of the child’s learning profile. The results allow assessors to provide clear, practical recommendations to support learning and future development.
Following the assessment there will be some initial feedback of findings and a full written report will follow about two - four weeks later.
Occasionally the assessment profile can be unclear and there may not be sufficient information to make an identification of a specific learning difficulty. In this case, a full report is still supplied and recommendations will be made to support identified areas of difficulty.
Please contact me for a discussion of your requirements and any further information you may require.
