The diagnosis of dyslexia usually begins with an awareness by parents or teachers that a problem in reading exists. A physician is often the first diagnostician to explore the nature of the difficulty. The medical practitioner should investigate the cause of the reading problem by conducting a complete physical examination and obtaining a comprehensive health history.

If indicated, the child should be referred for a neurological examination. If dyslexia is suspected, the physician should refer the child for further evaluation and treatment by a specialist in psychoeducational diagnosis.

Purpose fo the Diagnostic Process

The major purpose of the diagnostic process is to isolate the specific difficulties associated with dyslexia and to suggest appropriate educational intervention. Usually the diagnostician will employ a battery of assessment instruments that explore the relationship of specific reading problems to the intellectual, achievement, perceptual, motoric, linguistic, and adaptive capabilities of the individual. Based on the results, an intervention plan can be implemented by a special educator or remedial reading teacher trained in specialized reading techniques.

You must get an "expert" to test your child and tell you what you already know--that he/she has problems learning to read with conventional methods. No one remedial reading method works for all reading disabled students. Therefore it is important that the teacher have mastery of many different techniques. Experts don't really know how to teach dyslexics but they hope a teacher will use many different approaches until one that works is found.