What is involved in an educational assessment for dyslexia?

What Happens During a Dyslexia Assessment?

By the time your child arrives for their assessment, you've already completed questionnaires, answered background questions, and provided writing samples. So what happens during the actual appointment?

The assessment session is conducted one-on-one with your child and typically lasts between 90 minutes and 2 hours. We strive to create a comfortable, low-stress environment where students can do their best. Parents are welcome to remain in the room, and students may have water, a small snack, or a fidget if it helps them stay comfortable and focused.

While every assessment is tailored to the individual student, the evaluation typically includes the following areas:

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds in spoken words. For example, a student may be asked how many sounds they hear in a word or how a word changes when one sound is replaced with another. Difficulties with phonemic awareness are one of the most common characteristics of dyslexia.

Phonics

We assess your child's understanding of letter-sound relationships, including letter names, letter sounds, vowel patterns, and common syllable types. This helps us determine how well they have developed foundational decoding skills.

Reading Fluency

Students read a grade-level passage aloud so we can evaluate reading accuracy, rate, and expression. Fluent reading allows readers to focus more of their attention on understanding what they read.

Silent Reading and Reading Comprehension

Some students appear to read well but require significantly more time and effort than their peers. To identify these challenges, students may read silently and answer comprehension questions. This can help uncover reading difficulties that are not immediately obvious during oral reading.

Rapid Naming

Rapid naming measures how quickly a student can retrieve and say the names of familiar letters, numbers, colors, or objects. Weaknesses in this area are common in some students with dyslexia and can affect reading fluency.

Spelling

Students are asked to spell words that follow common phonics and spelling patterns. We look beyond whether an answer is correct or incorrect and analyze the types of errors made, which can provide valuable information about underlying reading and spelling skills.

Vocabulary and Oral Language

Some assessments include brief measures of vocabulary and oral language comprehension. These tasks help us understand how well a student understands spoken language and whether language skills may be contributing to their reading difficulties.

Writing

Writing is often an important part of the assessment process. We may review a recent writing sample or ask the student to respond to a writing prompt. This allows us to evaluate spelling, grammar, punctuation, organization, and written expression, as well as handwriting when appropriate.

Additional Testing

Depending on your child's background, educational history, and performance during the assessment, additional measures may be administered. These help us develop a complete understanding of your child's strengths and challenges and guide recommendations for intervention and support.

Every child is unique, and no two assessments are exactly alike. Our goal is to identify the underlying causes of reading and writing difficulties so that families can move forward with confidence and a clear plan for support.