28 Oct Is Dyslexia Testing Available At School?
Since the diagnosis of dyslexia requires more than just the evaluation of reading, this is difficult in many school settings. As such, dyslexia evaluations in school are highly dependent on the specific school and the personnel.
Read Next: What does a dyslexia evaluation look like?
Is Dyslexia Testing Available At School?
In public schools, a parent can request a free evaluation from school personnel as part of the individualized education plan (IEP) process, and the evaluation can also include an assessment of the child’s reading abilities.
This evaluation will be used to determine if the child is eligible for special education if they are not making sufficient progress in their learning due to one of the thirteen classifications for special education, one of which is having a “specific learning disability” (SLD). A specific learning disability can be in any of the following areas:
- Oral expression
- Listening comprehension
- Written expression
- Basic reading skills
- Reading fluency skills
- Reading comprehension
- Mathematics calculation
- Mathematics problem solving
For some children, school-based evaluations and special education supports are enough to help them succeed.
What if the school doesn’t diagnose dyslexia?
In some cases, the school-based evaluation does not cover all of the child’s issues and falls short of specifying their learning problem. Although some school professionals are able to conduct more extensive evaluations, they are often unable to do so within the school, which prohibits them from making the diagnosis.
Even if the child is labeled as having a SLD, it is less common for a school to specifically diagnose dyslexia.
Many schools will give a generic table of SLD to describe a child ‘who struggles with reading’, but they will not go further. Such administrations can be reluctant to label a child as “dyslexic” as it may then hold the school responsible for remediating the problem.
Dyslexia Evaluations With Dr. Malkin
Dyslexia testing at school may not be the best fit for everyone, as children who have dyslexia can be mislabeled or overlooked without getting the proper assessment and help they need. This is where an outside neuropsychological evaluation with Dr. Malkin can help. With his comprehensive evaluation, you get a complete understanding of your child’s educational abilities, as well as the best learning style for their specific diagnosis to help them achieve.
More information on the identification of specific learning disabilities under IDEA 2004 law can be found here.
