You should contact your nearest
Dyslexia Action Centre who will be able to take care of all the arrangements for you.
Dyslexia is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act. This means that your employer may be obliged to recognise your difficulties and make reasonable adjustments based on your individual needs. In some cases this might mean that your employer may be willing to pay for an assessment and provide continuing support but you should discuss this further with your employer and/or HR personnel. You could also approach your union representative for advice and support.
Dyslexia Action may be able to provide
assessment and support in the workplace.
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 protects disabled peoples rights in the areas of:
- access to goods, facilities and services, including larger private clubs and land-based transport services
- buying or renting land or property, including making it easier for disabled people to rent property and for tenants to make disability-related adaptations
- functions of public bodies, for example issuing of licenses
For more detailed information on the DDA
click here.
Firstly you will be asked to complete a questionnaire which can be downloaded and printed from here. This will provide some background information about yourself / your child. If you are the parent of a child being assessed you may also need to ask your child’s school to complete a questionnaire.
The assessment lasts up to 2 hours during which time the psychologist or specialist teacher will conduct a series of different tests that give the assessor a full picture of strengths and weaknesses specific to the individual and their chronological age.
These include tests, for example, for: spelling and reading, verbal reasoning (understanding), comprehension, memory, processing speed, phonological awareness (sound knowledge), maths, writing speed and more.
The assessor should be able to offer you a conclusive evaluation of their key findings at the end of the assessment but a full report will be completed that will detail all results and outcomes.
You should receive a full written report within 3 weeks following the assessment. If your assessment has been paid for by your employer both you and your employer will receive reports. No confidential information of a personal nature will be included in the report that is sent to your employer.
It is important that you have the opportunity to discuss the findings of the assessment with either the assessor or a professional who can offer you further advice and guidance. Included in the cost of your assessment is a half hour post assessment consultation with the Centre Principal or Senior Teacher.
If the assessment indicates that the subject would benefit from specialist support the assessor will advise on what in their professional opinion will best address the needs of the individual. Dyslexia Action offers support services for individual of all ages and as such you can either discuss this at your consultation appointment or contact your
local Centre to find out more.
It is important to be aware that while you may suspect dyslexia there are a large number of reasons why someone might have difficulties with literacy and/or present some of the other difficulties associated with dyslexia.
Tuition sessions with our specialist dyslexia teachers can be arranged in small groups or alone. Teaching is designed for the individual and aims to boost skills levels as well as building confidence and self-esteem.
Our Tuition is not solely for children and young people, many adults can benefit from our specialist teaching and support. In some cases your employer may pay for this provision.
You can discuss your requirements, based on the results of the assessment, with the centre principal or senior teacher.
If you have concerns about the costs of tuition then ask the centre staff about our bursary fund which, depending on your circumstances, can help with payments. The bursary is a limited fund and is awarded on the basis of individual need.
A significant number of people we assess are found not to be dyslexic and therefore the individual/parent should be aware that they/their child may not be dyslexic.
All of the pyschologists that work for Dyslexia Action are consultants and they are not direct employees of Dyslexia Action. This means that the assessor is independent and the outcome of the assessment and any further recommendations will be based on the assessor's individual professional opinion. They will provide a detailed profile of strengths and weaknesses and provide advice on ways to cope with your difficulties no matter what the cause.
There is no government funding available for any of our services, and in most cases, payment is down to the individual, or parents in case of children.
Employers will sometimes refer and pay for their staff. In the case of children, it is rare for schools to provide funding. Universities and Colleges can sometimes help in the case of students in FE/HE. Occasionally you may get an assessment funded by your GP.
Dyslexia Action offers funding, in certain cases, from our bursary; however this is limited and is on the basis of individual need. Ask your centre principal for details.
Local Trusts and other bursaries such as Round Table, Rotarians or Bupa are also worth contacting.
Some regulatory bodies require updated assessment information, for example eligibility for Disabled Students’ Allowance. Also, review assessments are useful to make judgements on rate of improvement and response to support programmes.
In particular, young children’s development can change relatively rapidly and therefore their current strengths and weaknesses need to be appraised to ensure that support being given is relevant.
Speak to your
local Dyslexia Action Centre and ask, based on your individual circumstance, how we can help you.