Screening for Dyslexia - Centre canadien de la dyslexie

Screening for Dyslexia 

Preliminary tests

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The Diagnosis of Dyslexia

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Dyslexia and Visuospatial Disorders

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Dyslexia Tests

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Writing Composition Test

Preliminary Tests 

Family history

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Medical history

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Academic history

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The Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT).

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The Photosensitivity Test

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The Jordan Left-Right Reversal Test

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The Swassing-Barbe Modality Index Symptom Checklist

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The Raven’s Progressive Matrices intelligence test is better adapted to people with dyslexia.

The Diagnosis of Dyslexia 

The are generally three methods for diagnosing dyslexia:

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Diagnosis by exclusion Indirect diagnosis Direct diagnosis

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Diagnosis by exclusion

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Method that diagnoses the presence of dyslexia by excluding of all other factors that may be alternate causes of the reading problems, such as, sensory and perceptual dysfunction, lack of education, lower than average intelligence, serious emotional problems, sociocultural problems and attentional deficits. Once all these factors are excluded, dyslexia is the only remaining explanation.

The Diagnosis of Dyslexia (cont’d) 

Indirect Diagnosis

Indirect diagnosis, brought forward by Lindgren in 1978, consists of diagnosing dyslexia based on making the link between certain mild neurological signs (for example, digital agnosia) and reading failures. This method never came to prominence due to many dyslexic people’s showing no “mild neurological signs”.

The Diagnosis of Dyslexia (cont’d) 

Direct Diagnosis

The most current method of diagnosis is direct diagnosis, which consists of the examination of the characteristics of the learner in reading and spelling with the aim of detecting a specific type of dyslexia (Boder, 1973, 1982, et Griffin et Walton, 1981, 1985, 1987). The assumption underlying this method is that dyslexia is not a homogeneous disorder, but that there are different types of dyslexia characterized by different reading problems (Hynd et Hynd, 1984).

Dyslexia: Strengths and Weaknesses 

Differences between dyslexia and visuospatial disorders Dyslexia

Strengths

Weaknesses

tactile perception visual perception mathematics science problem-solving* visual memory social competence* semantics

auditory perception sequential memory mechanical arithmetic decoding & spelling auditory memory verbal memory phonology verbal repetition

Visuospatial Disorders: Strengths and Weaknesses 

Differences between dyslexia and visuospatial disorders Visuospatial disorders

Weaknesses

Strengths

tactile perception visual perception mathematics science problem-solving* visual memory social competence* semantics

auditory perception sequential memory mechanical arithmetic decoding & spelling auditory memory verbal memory phonology verbal repetition

Dyslexia Tests 

The Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT) differentiates between the dyslexic student and the person who is behind on their reading, writing or spelling for reasons other than those which characterise dyslexia, and which are defined and evaluated by this test.

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The Dyslexia Screening Test for Kindergarten (DSTK) is specifically designed for children in kindergarten classes, who have not yet learned to decode or encode most words.

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The Dyslexia Screening Test (DST) is a screener designed to identify students at risk for Dyslexia.

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The Bangor Dyslexia Test (from the UK) detects people with dyslexia characteristics.

Writing Composition Test 

A writing composition test highlights any spelling difficulties or nemkinesia.

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This test can help confirm the presence of dyslexia.

DDT  Test

example

Phonetic Equivalences   

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blanc dix pomme six fée gâteau tapis nous chant éléphant secret chalet repos herbe ciseaux

blan, blen dis, dice, disse pom, pome sis, sice, sisse fé (fai) gato, gâto (gatau, gateau) tapi nou chan, cham, chen, chem éléfan, éléfen, éléfam, éléfem secrè, (secrai) chalè, (chalai) repo, (repau, repeau) èrb, èrbe, (airbe) siso, sizo, cizo, (siseau, sisau, sizau, sizeau, cizeau, cizau)