Dyslexia Testing

Dyslexia Testing

Dyslexia Test at Equilibria

When a child is suspected of struggling with dyslexia (often noticed when the child/teen is exhibiting difficulty with reading, writing, memory, and/or speech development) it is often recommended that the child/teen undergo a comprehensive psychoeducational evaluation to rule out any other learning or emotional issues that may be contributing to the problems and to understand the scope of the dyslexia if it exists.

Child Psychologists Conducting Dyslexia Test

DR. GAIL REICHMAN-MANCINI, PSY.D

Dr. Mancini completed her doctorate in clinical psychology from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where her research included a specialty in the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder. She has been conducting comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations as well as overall treatment of children since 1987. In addition to providing school psychology, Dr. Mancini contributed to the standardization of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales-III and the Wechsler Memory Scales-III.

KAREN TARATUSKI, PSY.D.

Following Dr. Taratuski’s undergraduate work, she began her career as a Music Therapist, which led to her returning to graduate school to pursue her doctorate in clinical psychology. Dr. Taratuksi has always focused primarily on children, adolescent, and families. She spent many years working in public school as both a school psychologist as well as a special services administrator and she wholeheartedly values the importance of testing in order to get a better understanding of the child’s needs.

The Benefits of a Dyslexia Test

Psychological testing in order to clarify whether or not a child/adolescent is dyslexic can be extremely meaningful especially if the diagnosis is detected early on.

Many children struggle with processing, but do not have an understanding of why or how they can potentially be successful academically. If Dyslexia is diagnosed, a treatment plan can be developed and implemented to ensure success both in the classroom as well as home.

The Dyslexia Testing Process

Although all evaluations are tailored to meet our client’s needs, there are some standard processes involved during a psychoeducational evaluation. Some of the steps include:

SCHEDULING A DYSLEXIA TEST IN PHILADELPHIA OR FORT WASHINGTON

When calling to schedule an appointment for a comprehensive psychological evaluation related to dyslexia for your child or teen, we will be asking you questions to discern the purpose of the testing. At times, we may have the psychologist speak directly with you to gather more information and ensure that you are comfortable with the child psychologist conducting the dyslexia test.

COMPREHENSIVE AND STRUCTURED CLINICAL INTERVIEW AT EQUILIBRIA KIDS

A comprehensive clinical interview is conducted in either our Philadelphia or Fort Washington office. Incredibly valuable information is gathered during these clinical interviews:

• Personal and childhood history
• Family history and current functioning
• Medical history and current functioning
• Developmental history
• Mental health history and current functioning
• Educational and work history and current functioning
• Relationship/social history and current functioning
• Substance use history and current functioning
• Legal history and current functioning
• Recent experiences that are impacting current functioning
• Other pertinent information related to psychological testing

When the dyslexia test is for a child, interviews are conducted not only with the child but with the child’s caregivers and sometimes with other individuals important to the child’s current functioning (e.g., teachers, other caretakers).

Often the psychologist conducting the testing requests the child’s caregivers provide any relevant documents regarding the child’s situation (e.g., school records, medical records). These documents may help the child’s psychologist develop a comprehensive understanding of the issues at hand.

In general, clinical interviews are more open and less structured than formal testing because this part of the evaluation allows for client to convey information and experiences in their own words. The clinical interview usually occurs at the beginning of the psychological assessment or testing.

PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL TESTING AT EQUILIBRIA KIDS

There are a number of different psychological tests that can be administered during the course of an dyslexia test. Psychological tests are designed to assess an aspect of a person’s knowledge, skill, personality, intelligence, learning style, achievement, or a certain behavior. Some tests are norm-referenced and some tests are non-norm referenced.

Norm-referenced psychological tests

Normed-psychological tests provide information for how the person being tested measures compared to other individuals who have taken the test before and are included in the norming sample. This provides, as much as possible, a comparison between test takers.

Non-normed referenced psychological tests

In addition to the standardized, norm-referenced tests, psychologists may choose to administer one or more non-normed referenced tests, which are designed to measure a person’s level of functioning in the areas covered by the test. These tests can provide a wealth of information to the psychologist doing the evaluation.

OBSERVATIONS

Sometimes, especially with young children, a psychologist will request to observe the individual being tested in a natural setting like a classroom. This observation can be incredibly valuable to the psychologist because it allows them to understand the person in different contexts. For example, when evaluating a child, the child’s psychologist may want to see if the child behaves differently at school than at home, or assess how the child behaves around his/her peers, or find out if the child is treated differently than other students in the classroom.

This kind of information can enrich the assessment and help the evaluator get a more well-rounded picture of the person being assessed and allow for very targeted ADHD treatment recommendations.

DYSLEXIA TEST REPORT AND FEEDBACK

Once all the information is gathered, the psychologist creates a comprehensive and integrated assessment of the individual, usually creating a thorough report with recommendations. Some of these recommendations will be home-based recommendations and others will be academic or vocational based. This information is also communicated via a feedback session with the client. With permission from the client (or guardian), feedback may also be given to a school or vocational setting.

A psychoeducational assessment is never focused on a single test score or number. Every person has a range of competencies that can be evaluated through a number of methods. A psychologist is there to evaluate the competencies as well as the limitations of the person, and report on them in an objective but helpful manner