Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group

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Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group

Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group

Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group

Preschool

Even before exposure to reading material begins in the classroom, children can demonstrate signs and symptoms of dyslexia. The disorder can affect the child’s verbal language skills, which are the precursors to reading abilities. Signs and symptoms to look for in preschool age children include:

  • Mispronunciation of words (e.g., aminal instead of animal)
  • The child is not as talkative as other children and vocabulary is limited
  • Confuses names of objects (e.g., if you ask the child to get his/her socks, he/she will get their shoes)
  • Difficulty with learning the alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes
  • Difficulty learning rhyming words (e.g., cat and hat)

Early to Mid Grade School

As academic material becomes more challenging, the signs and symptoms of dyslexia will become more pronounced, causing the child’s grades to suffer, and even causing the child emotional or self-esteem issues as a result of difficulty with reading. When children begin to learn to read, issues with phonemic awareness (i.e., decoding words into separate sounds) become apparent, along with other signs and symptoms such as:

  • Confusing the sounds of the letters of the alphabet
  • Inability to read small “function words” such as that, an, in
  • Omitting parts of words when reading
  • Confusing words that sound alike
  • Poor spelling
  • Difficulty sounding out words to pronounce the word correctly
  • Avoidance of reading aloud in class due to embarrassment
  • Slow reading
  • Difficulty understanding what he/she reads
  • Difficulty recalling what happens in a story
  • Becoming fatigued from doing reading tasks

High School and Beyond

As the child reaches adolescence and young adulthood, dyslexia becomes evident in the teenagers understanding of more abstract and complex ideas and information. Examples of signs and symptoms include:

  • Mispronunciation of names or tripping over parts of a word
  • Confusing names that sound alike or difficulty remembering names
  • Spoken vocabulary is smaller than listening vocabulary
  • Substituting made up words when reading out loud
  • Trouble promouncing uncommon, unique or strange words
  • Saying “ummm” quite often while speaking due to difficulty finding words
  • Continued difficulty with writing assignments and spelling
  • Slow reading or lack of fluency when reading

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

LET’S GET STARTED

The post Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group appeared first on Pathways Neuropsychology Associates.


Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms by Age Group

Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process

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Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process

Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process

Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process

When an individual is suspected of having dyslexia, they are referred for a Psychoeducational Evaluation (this evaluation is also known as a Psychological, Learning Disability, or a Neuropsychological Evaluation), typically by a teacher or sometimes by the child’s parent who notices that the child is struggling with reading or that the child’s grades are suffering as a result of reading difficulties. Dyslexia must be evaluated by examining the individual’s skills and abilities in language, phonological awareness, reading, writing, and spelling.

The first and crucial step is gathering a comprehensive history

At PNS, Dr. Gordon first meets with the child and the child’s parents (if the examinee is a child) or the adult individual suspected of having dyslexia and ask many questions related to background history, such as ages that the individual reached developmental milestones (e.g., crawling, first words), academic functioning, as well as social, emotional, and behavioral functioning, and family history of learning or mental health problems. Information regarding the individual’s academic history, reading history and history of symptoms is also gathered.

The skills & abilities that are tested

We then conduct a neuropsychological testing evaluations for dyslexia utilizing assessments that are administered to the individual. The person suspected of having dyslexia meets with a qualified professional individually and is administered the assessments that consist of the following tasks:

-Intellectual Functioning
-Word Reading & Word identification
-Reading Fluency
-Reading Comprehension
-Letter sound knowledge + phonological blending=phonic decoding
-Phonological Skills (Manipulations tasks: deletion, substitution, reversal)
-Rapid Naming
-Spelling
-Listening Comprehension
-Auditory Processing & Language Processing
-Vocabulary
-Working Memory
-Sustained Attention
-Mental Processing Speed

There are numerous tests used to diagnose dyslexia and there is no single assessment that can diagnose the disorder on its own.

Combining test results with background information

After all information is gathered, the qualified professional scores the assessments and a psychoeducational report is created that integrates all assessment results and the individual’s background history. The psychoeducational report will have a diagnosis of Specific Learning Disorder With impairment in reading (i.e., dyslexia) if the individual meets criteria.

What is the purpose of giving a diagnosis of dyslexia?

A critical section of the psychoeducational report is the recommendations section. This section includes specific recommendations from the qualified professionals that are individually tailored to the person with dyslexia and are meant to assist the individual in academic settings, as well as the individual’s home life. This is the ultimate purpose of diagnosing dyslexia in the first place: So that the individual can receive assistance and the proper intervention for the disorder so he/she can succeed academically or in any setting where the individual is affected by dyslexia.

The Pathways team of professionals has helped thousands of people with Dyslexia. We are Dedicated to effective and compassionate care for individuals with neurological challenges.

LET’S GET STARTED

The post Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process appeared first on Pathways Neuropsychology Associates.


Source: Pathways Neuropsychology
Dyslexia: The Assessment & Diagnostic Process