How do you identify someone with dyslexia? To the outsider it might seem that a problem with reading, writing and spelling would be best detected by testing those skills. However dyslexia is a complex problem confounded by many different variables such as the age of the child and their intellectual level. Fortunately Myomancy has some answers:

Not surprisingly a reading test is an integral part of a dyslexia diagnosis. In the early days of dyslexia it was believed that reading difficulties were related to intelligence. So an IQ test would be administered followed by a reading test. If the individual’s reading level was significantly below that expect for their intelligence, then the person was dyslexic. Our current understanding is that intelligence has very little to do with reading ability. Educationally sub-normal people can learn the mechanic of reading just as well as people with normal levels of IQ.

Memory tests are often used in dyslexia diagnosis. This often takes the form of a Reverse Auditory Digit Span. In this the tester will read out between a string of digits, such as Four Six Two, and testee has to repeat the digits backwards, e.g. Two Six Four. An average adult should be able to cope with five or six digits before making mistakes where as a dyslexic might only manage two digits.

Read more about Dyslexia Tests and visits Myomancy’s Dyslexia section.