Dyslexia Australia offers three services:Assessments by an independentSpecialist teacher with a Masters Degree in Psychology (registered Psychologist) for ages 7 to adult, Seminars and a Dyslexia Intervention Program.
Dyslexia Australia is committed to offering reasonable assessments fees - see below for details.
Characteristics of Dyslexics
The following list are some of the characteristic traits and behaviours that a dyslexic child will exhibit. The symptoms can vary from day to day, minute to minute. The most consistent things about these traits is the inconsistency – one day the symptom is present the next it is not.
Look at the following list and see how you shape up! You may be surprised. Contact Dyslexia Australia if you recognize 12 or more symptoms - On-line form - click here. This assessment is not intended to be a conclusive diagnosis of dyslexia, but a first-step to assist a parent or teacher to resources or Specialist help of their choice. Dyslexia Australia offers assessments, including screening for dyslexia, by an independent, qualified and registered psychologist.
Generally
Family history of learning problems
Isn't behind enough to be helped in the school setting
Test well orally, but not in written tests
Not reading at age level but appears bright/intelligent
Displays behaviours to cover problem (class clown, disruptive, teacher's pet, quiet)
Labeled as lazy, dumb, careless, immature, or "not trying hard enough"
Easily frustrated and emotional about school, reading or testing.
Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
Difficulty maintaining attention; loses track of time, seems "hyper"
Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.
Has difficulty with math
Poor short term or working memory
Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.
Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often
Excellent memory for experiences
Visual learner. Thinks primarily in pictures not in sound
Difficulty putting thoughts into words verbally or in writing
Mispronounces or transposes words
Confused by verbal explanations
Clumsy
Feels dumb
Reading
Initially had trouble or still has trouble with sight words (eg was, what, is, the)
Difficulty catching on to phonics or sounding out words
Lacks awareness of the sounds in words, rhymes or sequences of syllables (eg what is the last sound in the words "what", "action", "fun")
Tends to confuse words that look alike (eg was/saw, for/from, who, how, house/home)
Reads and rereads with little comprehension
Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words
Uses the pictures or context of the story for cues
Difficulty decoding unfamiliar words
Tends to lose his/her place when reading (tracking problem)
Mis-reads or omits small words (for, of, with an, it) and word endings (-ing, -ed, -ly, -s)
Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure and emotional distress, or poor health
Can do math but has difficulty with word problems
Confuses words with similar spelling (slat/salt, slime/smile)
Vision and Spelling
Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading
Confused by letters, numbers, and/or words
Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying
Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exam doesn't reveal a problem or diagnosed with tracking problem
The following related categories which can be addressed through Dyslexia Australia:
Developmental Letter position dyslexia/disorder
The cardinal symptom of letter position dyslexia is the migration of letters within the word (reading slime as ‘smile’; pirates as ‘parties’). These migration errors occur in reading aloud as well as in tasks of silent reading.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder(CAPD)/Auditory Processing
This term is being increasingly used to describe individuals who have problems with listening, either in distinguishing sounds in their language or in comprehending the words they hear.
People with CAPD may have trouble understanding what they hear, acting on it quickly, remembering it for a short or long time, and formulating a verbal response
An example of the disorder:
A child that is told “Do not step in the puddle” may hear “Step in the puddle".
This is due to the dyslexic not hearing the words “Do” and “not”.. Unfortunately, this results in the child being misunderstood and labeled with a behavioural problem such as “oppositional defiance disorder”.
Perceptual/Visual Difficulties
Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.
Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
Dysgraphia
This is a difficulty in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor handwriting.
People with dysgraphia may display the following signs:
May exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor writing skills.
Random (or non-existent) punctuation.
Generally illegible writing, despite appropriate time and attention given the task.
Inconsistencies: mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case.
Irregular sizes, shapes or slant of letters.
Unfinished words or letters, omitted words.
Inconsistent position on page with respect to lines and margins and inconsistent spaces between words and letters.
Cramped or unusual grip, especially holding the writing instrument very close to the paper, or holding thumb over two fingers and writing from the wrist.
Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing.
Slow or laboured copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible.
Dyspraxia
A dyspraxic person has balance and co-ordination problems. They will show several of the symptoms below:
Shows up as "clumsiness" caused by motor difficulties caused by perceptual problems, especially visual-motor and kinesthetic-motor difficulties.
Prone to accidents, may fall a lot, bump into furniture.
Poor hand-eye, foot-eye coordination.
Slow and poor at dressing, unable to tie shoelaces, do up buttons etc.
Speech and language difficulties.
Difficulty in holding a pen properly.
Poor writing and drawing abilities.
Reading and spelling difficulties.
Walk awkwardly.
Confused about which hand to use.
Difficulties throwing or catching a ball.
Poor short term memory, they often forget tasks learned the previous day.
Reading and writing difficulties.
Cannot hold a pen or pencil properly.
Cannot hop, skip or ride a bike.
Cannot answer simple questions even though they know the answers.
Speech problems, slow to learn to speak or speech may be incoherent.
Dyscalculia
Dyscalculia is when there are problems with maths - counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
The following are some of the common characteristics of people with dyscalculia:
When writing, reading and recalling numbers, these are some of the common mistakes made:
Number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals.
Inability to grasp and remember math concepts, rules, formulas, and sequence.
Gets lost or disoriented easily. May have a poor sense of direction, lose things often, and seem absent minded.
Difficulty remembering dance step sequences, rules for playing sports.
Difficulty with the abstract concepts of time and direction.
Difficulty with time management, schedules, and sequences of past or future events.
Unable to keep track of time. May be chronically late.
Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
People with ADD/ADHD display problems with hyperactivity, hypoactivity, inability to focus, difficulty staying on task, and inappropriate social behaviours.
The most common features include:
Hyperactivity (excessive activity and physical restlessness)
Distractibility (poor sustained attention to tasks)
Impulsivity (impaired impulse control and delay of gratification)