TEST FOR DYSLEXIA

You have just been told your child or student may be dyslexic. You are an adult who has been having reading and spelling problems your whole life and have been wondering if you are dyslexic. How can you know for sure? How can you help? Where do you start?

The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek word, dys (meaning poor or inadequate) and the word lexis (meaning words or language)and it is used as a general term to cover many different learning problems. If you or your student has been diagnosed as "dyslexic", it does not have to mean that you have a learning disability but rather a right-brained learning style that can be managed and used very effectively.

Start with the following Dyslexia Check List to discover which of the learning problems you, your child or your student have. You and your student should work together to check off the learning problems.

Any section that you mark with 50% or more points indicates dyslexic learning weaknesses in that area. Also we have some guides for assessing at the end of the checklist.

For a downloadable pdf file of this list please click here.

If you have any questions about the checklist or need further support please email us at thi.sales@dyslexiavictoria.ca.

STUDENTS UNDER TWELVE

Spelling

_____1. Cannot name the letters of the alphabet in sequence

_____2. Cannot count in sequence to twenty or higher

_____3. Mixes up letter order in words: "pasghetti" with "spaghetti"; "ciminon" with "cinnamon"

_____4. Misspells words

_____5. Reverses letters "b" for "d" or "p" for"q", even whole words

_____6. Reverses the last letter of a word with the first letter

_____7. Cannot spell simple words correctly

_____8. Fails to recognize the same word twice or later on the same page

_____9. Spells a word several different ways

_____10. Cannot do a spelling test correctly if the words in the original list are dictated in a mixed order


Reading

_____1. Confuses verb tenses may mix up: see, saw, seeing.

_____2. Reads slowly and below grade level

_____3. Continues having many reading problems as they move through the grades.

_____4. Does not seem to understand what he or she has read.

_____5. Has difficulty hearing and repeating words of another language

_____6. Has problems understanding and spelling abstract words, especially those about time and place

_____7. Mispronounces or misreads many words

_____8. Decodes words too slowly while reading and loses comprehension

_____9. Has an inadequate reading vocabulary

_____10. Fears having to read aloud in class

_____11. Has difficulty remembering content just read in a story

_____12. Has difficulty remembering information just read in a list

_____13. Requires more time to read or answer questions than other students

_____14. Has difficulty tracking a printed line across the page



Mathematical Concepts

_____1. Does not understand the concept of time

_____2. May not be able to tell time correctly up to ten to twelve years of age

_____3. Cannot do simple mathematical word problems without referring to pictures, concrete objects or                    counting on their fingers

_____4. Does not understand simple fractions such as half a cup of sugar or three quarters of an orange

_____5. Cannot understand money unless taught by holding the coins and bills in their hands and actually                   buying something

_____6. Does not understand flat, two dimensional drawings as opposed to three dimensional views of                    actual objects

_____7. Cannot understand measurements: linear, weights, quantity or volume

_____8. Does not understand or has difficulty with long division

_____9. Is not able to memorize the multiplication tables

_____10. Does not understand fractions, percentages or decimals.


General Problems

_____1. Has difficulty following spoken or written instructions


_____2. Does not know what is expected of them when given oral instructions that are not complete                   


_____5. Cannot copy notes from the board accurately


_____6. Has difficulty copying geometric designs


_____7. Cannot explain "cause and effect" in a picture of a scene or a story, or predict what may happen next


_____8. Can remember more information when hearing it read aloud or discussed than when they read it                   silently to themselves


_____9. Can do a learning task better if they can see it and handle the parts first


_____10. Can answer questions orally, but poorly in writing


_____11. Freezes up when asked to give hand-written answers in sentences, paragraphs or essays


_____12. Has difficulty with spelling, punctuation, grammar and writing.


_____13. Cannot focus on a few ideas at a time, so cannot stay on task.


_____14. Has difficulty memorizing poems


AGES TEN TO ADULT

General Problems

_____1. Is a poor speller.


_____2. Is unable to use the abstract concepts of time, money, measurements, fractions, percentages                    and other mathematical concepts.


_____3. Has problems following verbal and written directions.


_____4. Has difficulty making notes, copying notes or taking them down from the black board


_____5. Lacks logical sequence of thoughts when discussing or writing essays


_____6. Does not stay on task well and gives up easily.


_____7. Has difficulty picking out the main points in a paragraph or essay.


_____8. Tends to go off on tangents when discussing or writing about a topic.


_____9. Cannot focus or present thoughts in a logical order such as when trying to write a paragraph.


_____10. Must be given full, exact instructions that explain the entire concept of an assignment.


_____11. Tends to have hand printing that is disjointed.


_____12. Mixes capitals with lower case letters.


_____13. Uses both printing and cursive script in the same word or sentence.


_____14. Thinks and communicates best when moving about or handling objects.


Spelling

_____1. Confuses shapes of letters with other letters.


_____2. Experiences letter and word reversals both writing them or reading them ("dall" instead of ball, "qack" instead "pack").


_____3. Changes the spelling of words with each use.


_____4. Spells phonetically as they hear the words pronounced.


_____5. Omits or adds consonants and vowels to words.


_____6. Spells orally but not be able to pick out the written word in context or a spelling list.


Reading

_____1. Reads slowly, lacks comprehension of what was read.


_____2. Lacks a sufficient vocabulary of memorized written words.


_____3. May be unable to read because words actually appear to be "falling off the page" or they see the letters as a jumble of black markings on white paper.


_____4. Understands what is read to them orally more easily than what they read for themselves


_____5. Has difficulty with spelling so guesses at the meaning of words in context, causing a misunderstanding of the content


_____6 . Memorizes the overall appearance and sound of the words, but cannot see the individual letters within the words, which causes them to mix up letters or losing the meanings of the words


We recommend our books for helping students and adults having problems with:

SPELLING - "Teaching the Dyslexia Student: Spelling and Language Arts"

IMPROVE YOUR DYSLEXIC STUDENT’S SPELLING PROBLEMS WITH EASY TO USE PRACTICE TECHNIQUES!

This is one of our parent’s and teacher’s favorite books! It is a simple introduction to helping the dyslexic student improve their spelling and language arts skills. IMPROVE YOUR DYSLEXIC STUDENT’S SPELLING PROBLEMS WITH EASY TO USE PRACTICE TECHNIQUES!

READING OR MATHEMATICAL SKILLS - "Dyslexia or Being Right-brained"

WITH THIS BOOK YOU WILL UNDERSTAND HOW YOUR STUDENT PROCESSES INFORMATION AND WHAT THEY NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THEIR CLASSROOM.




It will explain why right-brained students process information differently than their left-brained peers.

We have also included for parents and teachers a variety of simple-to-read instructions and exercises on how to teach dyslexics.

GENERAL MANUAL FOR MANY DYSLEXIA ISSUES AND TEACHING SOLUTIONS - "How the Right Brain Learns"

This manual describes the methods for teaching the dyslexic: the skills of printing, spelling reading, composition, arithmetic and mathematics,etc. It also provides guidance for working with ADD/ADHD students and describes how to handle abstracts like sentence structure and math as well as how to work with ADD/ADHD students. It is available for purchase in hard-copy and electronic (E-Book/PDF) format.










Some other thoughts:

Recognize the learning problems by the number of them spread across the spectrum of problems in the Check List or realize that only one or two problem areas stand out and require assistance.

This learning difference described in the box leads to learning problems with hand printing, spelling, reading, sentence construction (grammar, spelling and punctuation), composition (paragraphs and essays) and arithmetic and mathematics as well as general problems in following written or oral instructions, focusing on the task at hand, and having the correct procedures for writing paragraphs and essays.

REMEMBER: Some right-brained students can do mathematics very well, yet are unable to read at grade level; others may read quite well, but do poorly in spelling and so on. Several of these learning difficulties are eliminated with age, brain maturity and the degree of learning and skills they attain.