Dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia: learning disorder assessments

Some children and adults find reading, writing or maths much harder than expected, even with good teaching and plenty of effort. When these difficulties are serious and ongoing, a specific learning disorder assessment can help explain why.

This article explains the difference between learning difficulties and a specific learning disorder, how dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia are assessed in Australia, and what kinds of support can make a real difference at school, university and work.

Learning difficulty or specific learning disorder?

育兒網絡 explains the difference:

• 學習困難 are problems with reading, writing or maths. They can have many causes, such as missed schooling, illness, hearing problems or stress. They often improve with the right teaching.
• Specific learning disorders are serious, ongoing and diagnosed problems with reading, writing or maths. They are neurodevelopmental, which means they relate to how the brain develops. They are lifelong, although skills can improve a lot with support.

A person with a specific learning disorder can be bright, curious and capable in many areas. The difficulty is specific to certain academic skills.

The three main types

Dyslexia (reading)

Healthdirect describes dyslexia as a specific learning disorder with impairment in reading. It affects reading accuracy and fluency, and often spelling and comprehension. Healthdirect says dyslexia affects about 1 in 10 people.

Signs can include slow or effortful reading, trouble sounding out words, avoiding reading aloud and poor spelling.

Written expression (often called dysgraphia)

People often use the word dysgraphia for writing difficulties. 育兒網絡 explains that there are two related but different things:

• Specific learning disorder in written expression is a serious difficulty with grammar, punctuation, spelling and putting sentences and ideas together in writing.
• Dysgraphia, in its narrower meaning, is a difficulty with the physical act of writing, such as handwriting or typing.

The two can occur together. A person with written expression difficulties may explain ideas well out loud but struggle to get them onto the page.

Dyscalculia (maths)

育兒網絡 describes dyscalculia as a serious difficulty with understanding and working with numbers and quantities. Signs can include trouble learning number facts, understanding place value, solving word problems, telling the time or managing money.

When to consider an assessment

A first step is to talk with your child’s teacher about extra help at school. If difficulties continue, Raising Children Network suggests talking to a GP, paediatrician or psychologist.

An important point is response to intervention. This means checking whether skills improve with targeted, evidence-based teaching. SPELD NSW explains that before a psychologist can diagnose dyslexia, the person should have received at least six months of intervention focused on reading. Healthdirect also describes looking at how a person has responded to teaching over at least six months.

Consider asking about an assessment if:

• difficulties continue despite at least six months of targeted help
• there is a big gap between how capable someone seems and their reading, writing or maths
• a child is becoming anxious, avoiding school or losing confidence
• a teenager or adult needs formal evidence for adjustments at school, university, TAFE or work

Adults can be assessed too. Many adults were never assessed as children and still find reading, writing or numbers hard. Some have built clever workarounds, such as avoiding written tasks or relying on others to check their work. An assessment can explain the pattern and open the door to adjustments.

What happens in a specific learning disorder assessment

Specific learning disorders are usually diagnosed by a psychologist. Healthdirect notes that an educational psychologist often diagnoses dyslexia. Neuropsychologists also assess learning, particularly when there are questions about attention, memory or other thinking skills.

An assessment usually includes:

• A detailed history. Development, health, hearing and vision, family history, schooling and any past help.
• School information. Reports, work samples and details of any intervention programs and progress.
• Standardised academic tests. Tests of reading, spelling, written expression and maths, compared with others of the same age or year level.
• Cognitive testing. Measures of reasoning, language, memory and processing speed. This helps show strengths and explain the pattern of difficulties.
• Checking other explanations. The clinician considers whether hearing or vision problems, an intellectual disability, language disorder, ADHD, anxiety or missed schooling better explain the difficulties, or are also present.

Getting ready

Before the assessment, gather school reports, recent work samples, and details of any tutoring or intervention programs, including how long they ran and what changed. Bring glasses or hearing aids if they are used. A good night’s sleep and a snack help, because testing can be tiring. For children, it helps to explain that the tests are puzzles and activities, and nobody passes or fails.

You should receive feedback and a written report. The report should explain the findings in plain language and give practical recommendations for home, school or work.

Support after a diagnosis

A diagnosis helps the person, their family and their teachers understand what support is needed.

Teaching and intervention

Healthdirect notes that effective support for dyslexia involves structured synthetic phonics, taught explicitly and step by step. Raising Children Network also describes small-group programs, one-on-one tutoring with trained teachers, and support from specialists.

At home

Families can help by reading together for enjoyment, encouraging the use of helpful technology, and praising effort as well as results. Protecting confidence matters. Many children with learning disorders start to believe they are not smart, so it helps to talk openly about their strengths as well as their challenges.

Adjustments and technology

Common adjustments include:

• extra time for tests and assignments
• audiobooks and text-to-speech software
• speech-to-text software for writing
• calculators and visual aids for maths
• graphic organisers or mind maps to plan writing

Your rights in education

該 Disability Standards for Education 2005 were made under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. They set out the obligations of education providers so that students with disability can access and take part in education on the same basis as other students. They apply to early learning, schools, vocational education and universities. Talk with your school, TAFE or university disability service about what support is available.

Invictus Health 能提供哪些協助

Our psychologists and neuropsychologists assess learning in children, teenagers and adults. For children, a paediatric neuropsychology assessment can look at learning alongside attention, memory and other thinking skills. Our IQ, memory and giftedness assessments can also help explain a learning profile.

If attention is part of the question, see our ADHD 評估. Fees are listed on our 費用與退款 頁面。.

This article is general information only. Please speak with a qualified health professional about your own situation.