Assessment
A Full Diagnostic Assessment, for a young person up to 16 years old, identifies a profile of strengths and weaknesses and any learning specific learning difficulties/differences (SpLD) experienced. The resulting report will contain a detailed interpretation of test results, including: language and reasoning; phonological and orthographic processing; speed of processing and retrieval; memory and attention and attainments in reading, spelling, writing and maths (if appropriate). It will conclude with a holistic view of assessment findings and provide recommendations for support.
Benefits of having a full assessment
Whether the outcome is a specific learning difference or not, having an assessment will provide the following
- Giving a clear picture of strengths and weaknesses.
- Information for a young person’s education setting to understand their differences, the difficulties being faced and support that can be offered.
- Strategies and techniques that will inform the young person, their parents and education setting on how to support their learning and enable them to become independent learners, able to access learning better, experience success and thrive.
What to expect from the assessment
Before the assessment
You will be sent questionnaires to collect background information on your child, which will inform the assessments carried out.
It is necessary that your child has had a sight test within the last 2 years.
You will be asked to send a questionnaire to your child’s school to collect information regarding their education history and current attainments.
The assessment session
This normally takes place in the assessor’s home, which is in Bishopston, Bristol.
Mostly, after a chat together, parents will leave and come back at the end of the session if their child is happy with this. Otherwise, there is a room next door you can stay in.
I can travel to assess in a child’s home at an extra cost to cover time and travel.
The assessment session is around 2.5 hours, we will take a break or two and so your child is encouraged to bring a drink and snack.
After the assessment
The comprehensive report is normally sent to you within two weeks as a password protected pdf file. If you would like to discuss any aspects of the report, it is then possible to have a 30-minute phone consultation. The report will contain a recommendations section containing details of support for both home and school.
An identification of a Specific Learning Difference/Dyslexia
If a specific learning difference/dyslexia is identified, the following extra support can be requested
- Extra support as outlined in the 2015 SEND Code of Practice: 0-25. This means that your child’s education setting will be required to make reasonable adjustments to support their specific needs.
- Exam access arrangements, including extra time, can be awarded to children with a recognised SpLD.
The new Delphi Definition of Dyslexia
- Dyslexia is a set of processing difficulties that affect the acquisition of reading and spelling.
- In dyslexia, some or all aspects of literacy attainment are weak in relation to age, standard teaching and instruction, and level of other attainments.
- Across languages and age groups, difficulties in reading fluency and spelling are a key marker of dyslexia.
- Dyslexic difficulties exist on a continuum and can be experienced to various degrees of severity.
- The nature and developmental trajectory of dyslexia depends on multiple genetic and environmental influences.
- Dyslexia can affect the acquisition of other skills, such as mathematics, reading comprehension or learning another language.
- The most commonly observed cognitive impairment in dyslexia is a difficulty in phonological processing (i.e. in phonological awareness, phonological processing speed or phonological memory). However, phonological difficulties do not fully explain the variability that is observed.
- Working memory, processing speed and orthographic skills can contribute to the impact of dyslexia.
- Dyslexia frequently co-occurs with one or more other developmental difficulties, including developmental language disorder, dyscalculia, ADHD, and developmental coordination disorder.
Toward a consensus on dyslexia: findings from a Delphi study
Julia M. Carroll, Caroline Holden, Philip Kirby, Paul A. Thompson, Margaret J. Snowling, the Dyslexia Delphi Panel (2025)
[ https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.14123 ]