​Dyslexia Assessments


​

​We believe that literacy is a basic human right and that everyone has the right to access the support they need to learn to read and write successfully.  We have priced our Dyslexia assessments accordingly.

​Good news!
​Expensive testing by an Educational Psychologist is no longer required to identify Dyslexia.  Why?  Because identification of cognitive processing deficits and an ability - achievement gap is no longer a criterion for a Dyslexia diagnosis.  

It is clear from the research evidence base that all children who are struggling with reading and writing - whether they have Dyslexia or not - benefit from Structured Literacy intervention (also called 'the Code,' 'The Science of Reading,' Multi-sensory Structured Language (MSL),' or  'The Orton-Gillingham Approach').  

​It is also clear from the research that if literacy skills are not caught up before the end of Year 3, struggling readers and writers will be playing catch-up for the rest of their school years and their academic achievement will be impacted.  

Therefore, assessment for intervention is more important than assessment for diagnosis, because what makes a difference for struggling readers and writers is starting structured literacy intervention as early as possible, NOT a Dyslexia diagnosis.  

At at July 2020, the cost of Dyslexia assessments is fixed at $250 including GST.
Assessment for Dyslexia Prevention & Intervention
Ages 4 to 24
No more wondering what's wrong and wishing you knew how to make it better so your child can read and write like other children can:  Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Prevention & Intervention gets to the bottom of reading and spelling / writing problems and uncovers the reason why a child is having these problems.  It comes with a formal assessment report that identifies clear starting points for intervention​​ so you can put the right intervention right where it matters and begin improving your child's reading, writing and spelling skills straight away.  
Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Prevention & Intervention includes a free bonus!
​Children ages 4 to 16 receive a complimentary comprehensive communication screening using an internationally respected, gold-standard screening to determine the wider oral language context in which the child's literacy acquisition difficulties exist.  (This is because literacy skills are part of oral language skills.)
Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Prevention & Intervention is evidence-based.  
​This means that we actually and only evaluate the specific skills that research has found to be critical for literacy learning including phonological processing, orthographic processing and working memory.  This means you will not have to put your child through or have to pay for unnecessary, irrelevant testing.  
Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Prevention & Intervention delivers an independent, objective assessment report you can give to your child's school.  
The report will identify 'what is so' in terms of the child's functional reading and spelling skills and clarify the specific reasons why a child is having difficulty with learning to read and spell.  Common feedback we get from families is that our assessment report was powerful in getting the school to recognise the nature and extent of their child's reading and spelling difficulties and was instrumental in enabling them to secure extra help from the school for the child as well as a referral to the Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) for further support.

Assessment for Dyslexia Diagnosis
Ages 4 to 50
The term Dyslexia is not used by the DSM-5; instead it uses the term Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) - in the areas of reading, writing, or mathematics).  For a diagnosis of SLD in reading or writing (commonly referred to as Dyslexia), DSM-5 criteria require that a person's reading and writing skills must be significantly different from their peers and must not be due to Intellectual Disability.  

​Therefore, Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Diagnosis consists of an individual (academic) achievement test to confirm whether or not their reading and written expression skills are within age expectation or whether they are significantly different from peers and may meet the criterion for a DSM-5 Dyslexia diagnosis .  Additionally, for ages 6 and over this assessment includes an internationally respected, gold-standard screening of non-verbal intelligence / cognitive ability / learning potential to rule out the presence of intellectual difficulties that would preclude a Dyslexia diagnosis.  

Disclaimer:
Please note that Speechie's Assessment for Dyslexia Diagnosis does not identify the reason why someone may be struggling with reading and writing; it only identifies whether their reading and writing skills fall within expectation or whether they are significantly different from same-age peers. Please keep in mind that a diagnosis of Dyslexia is best / most appropriately made by an interdisciplinary team to ensure that all diagnostic considerations are addressed.  Please also be aware that Dyslexia diagnosis can be a bit of a can of worms… despite the existence of very clear diagnostic criteria (see the link below), from our experience it seems that different assessors tend to use different diagnostic criteria, and you could easily end up paying a whole lot of money for an assessment by an assessor who uses invalid or outdated diagnostic criteria that is different from the current DSM-5 criteria... and end up with a misdiagnosis.  The persisting prevailing thinking is that Dyslexia involves unexpected underachievement in learning to read and write; whereas the DSM-5 does not currently list this as a diagnostic criterion.

Cautionary advice regarding Dyslexia diagnosis for secondary and tertiary students:
​If you are wanting a Dyslexia diagnosis for the purpose of accessing funding for assistive technology or for funding for additional support or Special Assessment Conditions (SAC) for NZCEA exams at secondary or tertiary education level, we recommended that you inquire with the relevant institution / funding agency to confirm whether or not they require assessment and diagnosis by a Level C Assessor.  Here's why:

In the past, the criteria for a Dyslexia diagnosis included requirements for a deficit in cognitive processing skills and an ability - achievement gap.  These criteria were found to be invalid and were thrown out in 2006.  Unfortunately, funding agencies tend to still require that a Dyslexia diagnosis must be made by an Educational Psychologist or other NZCER Level C Assessor based on these outdated and invalid criteria.  (We have raised this inequity issue with the Learning Disability Association of New Zealand / LDANZ.)

To sum up: Speechie has NZCER Level B Assessor status, NOT Level C.   While administration of an individual achievement test is within the ethics and scope of our practice, the fact currently remains that a Dyslexia diagnosis made by us may not be accepted for the reasons presented here.  ​
Sources:
Cruickshank, W. M. (1977). Least-restrictive placement: Administrative wishful thinking. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 10, 193-194