DYSLEXIA: ASSESSING Ashley Ryan

Special Education

AND IDENTIFYING Te a c h e r
 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

 What is dyslexia?

 What are common deficit areas in students with dyslexia?

 What assessment tools can be used?

 How to identify students with dyslexia?

 WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?

“Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers

to a cluster of symptoms, which result in people having
dif ficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading.
Students with dyslexia usually experience dif ficulties with other
language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing
words. Dyslexia af fects individuals throughout their lives;
however, its impact can change at dif ferent stages in a person’s
life”
(International Dyslexia Association, 2017)
 WHAT IS DYSLEXIA

https://youtu.be/zafiGBrFkRM
 STATS

1 in 5 students have some form of

dyslexia

80-90% of students identified as having a

learning disability are in fact dyslexic in
grades K-12

(The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, 2017).

 COMMON DEFICIT AREAS

 Word Recognition

 A student’s ability to recognize and read single print words. The

student is unable to use cues, such as the meaning of a word in a
sentence, to determine how to read the word.
 COMMON DEFICIT AREAS

 Decoding

 A student’s ability to read unfamiliar words by applying letter -sound

knowledge, spelling patterns, and chunking words into parts such as
syllables. This area can also be referred to as word attack.
 COMMON DEFICIT AREAS

 Spelling

 A student’s ability to spell words from memory by applying their

knowledge of letter-sound correspondences and other relevant
patterns.
 COMMON DEFICIT AREAS

 Phonological Processing

 Phonology is one small part of overall

language ability. Phonology is the “sound
system” of our language. We must be able to
think about, remember, and correctly
sequence the sounds in words in order to
learn to link letters to sounds for reading
and spelling.
(International Dyslexia Association, 2017)
 COMMON DEFICIT AREAS

 Fluency

 The speed in which a student is able to process visual or auditory

information. This is also referred to as Rapid Automatic Naming.
 POSTER ACTIVIT Y AND DISCUSSION

Materials:
 Directions for Activity
 5 Poster Boards
 5 Markers
 Pens
 Sticky Notes
 ASSESSMENT AREAS

 Decoding vs. Sight Word Recognition

 Phonological Processing
 Awareness
 Memory
 Fluency Tasks
 Spelling
 ASSESSMENT TOOLS ACTIVIT Y

 Materials
 Testing Kits
 Question Worksheet
 Pens
 ASSESSMENT TOOLS DISCUSSION

 Thoughts??

 Concerns??

 Generalizations?

 How can these tools be helpful to you as an evaluator?

 Any other assessments that you think would be beneficial to

discuss?
 IDENTIFYING DYSLEXIA

 Cognitive Evaluation
 Full Scale IQ
 Verbal Comprehension
 Visual Spatial
 Fluid Reasoning
 Working Memory
 Processing Speed
 Academic Achievement
 Speech and Language Evaluation
 BRAINSTORM TIME!!!

 Objectives:
 Come up with 3 deficit areas that you believe most students with
dyslexia have
 What three tests would you give to measure these areas?
 Come up with 3 areas of strength that you believe most students with
dyslexia can have
 What three tests would you give to measure these areas?
 What 3 areas should be ruled out before moving forward with
identifying a student with dyslexia?
 Lingering thoughts?
 CHECKLIST COMPONENTS

 A student with dyslexia MUST have a deficit in at least one of

the following areas:
 Phonological Awareness
 Phonological Memory
 Rapid Automatic Naming
 Other Areas May Also be Af fected:
 Decoding
 Fluency
 Spelling
 Letter/Sound Knowledge
 CHECKLIST COMPONENTS

 Areas of strength:
 Listening Comprehension
 Mathematics
 General Intelligence
 Oral Language
 CHECKLIST COMPONENTS

 Areas to be ruled out/considered:

 Language Impairment
 Attention
 Executive Functioning
 Visual Impairment
 WRAP UP

 What is dyslexia?

 What are common deficit areas in students with dyslexia?

 What assessment tools can be used?

 How to identify students with dyslexia?

 WRAP UP

 Survey Link

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6BM89QB

Thank you!!!
 REFERENCES

International Dyslexia Association. (2017). About dyslexia.

Retrieved from: https:// dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-at-a-
glance/

The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. (2017). The yale
center for dyslexia and creativity. Retrieved from:
://dyslexia.yale.edu/