A Dyslexia Test Can Help Diagnose Sufferers

It takes more than one dyslexia test for doctors to diagnose a patient with the learning disability. Dyslexia is known to impede a person’s ability to develop normal reading skills. Sufferers read slowly and inaccurately because they can’t translate the sounds within words in the right order, and they also can’t remember spoken or written words well. This learning disability is thought to be genetic but its cause is unknown.

When a person goes for a dyslexia test, doctors generally look at the person’s medical history, family history and comments made by teachers and loved ones. A dyslexia test the doctor may perform is a personality test. Another dyslexia test involves language and problem-solving skills, as well as an IQ test. Doctors will give you or your child every possible dyslexia test before diagnosing a learning disability. They do all these tests because they don’t want to diagnose a person with a learning disability when the person actually has another condition.

A dyslexia test helps diagnose the disorder when:

Doctors notice the patient has a serious problem with reading
It is proven that the patient doesn’t have a hearing or visual disorder
It is proven that the patient isn’t mentally handicapped

It is proven that the patient doesn’t just lack basic education

The dyslexia test your doctor administers will cover a person’s cognitive development as well as their academic skills. A dyslexia test can also involve medical, educational, social history and behavioral aspects. Some of the most recognized dyslexia tests available today include:

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—this dyslexia test is an intelligence exam. It focuses on the verbal rather than reading or spelling.
The Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised—this dyslexia test measures the person’s ability to think.
The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children—measures intelligence and reading skills

If you suspect you or your child have dyslexia, contact an expert and have a dyslexia test taken. The sooner you know, the sooner you can begin exploring ways to defeat the disability.