There is no single test to diagnose dyslexia

Sumber https://www.facebook.com/suri.scharles.1/posts/508206563293274

Dyslexia in Malaysia.

From 2015 to 2016, there has been a sharp increase number of students diagnosed with Dyslexia; 3082 to 8937. In 2018, it was reported there are 11,148 students (data ending June 2018) diagnosed with Dyslexia and attending schools under the Ministry of Education (KPM).

Allow me to explain what is needed to assess and diagnose Dyslexia or any other Specific Learning Disorders.

Assessing and Diagnosing Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) that is not so straightforward and easy to diagnose. There is no single test/tools that can be used to assess and diagnose dyslexia.

A number of factors to be considered:

Child's development,
educational and behavioral issues, and
medical history.
Home life includes Spoken Language at home
Early School Year experience background.
Vision/Visual Processing and Audio Processing Functioning
Neurological tests.
Psychological testing
Speech and Language Development Test
Executive Functioning Tests
Testing reading and other academic skills

- Oral Language
- Word Recognition
- Decoding
- Spelling
- Phonological Processing
- Automaticity/Fluency Skills
- Reading Speed and Comprehension
- Vocabulary Knowledge

No two children with dyslexia will experience the same set or degree of symptoms. Therefore, the task of assessing, relating and interpreting the information collected should be the responsibility of a professional who is thoroughly familiar with the important characteristics of dyslexia at different stages in the development of literacy skills, and he/she should also be knowledgeable of the influence of language development and behavior on literacy learning.

He/She should be an expert diagnostician:

- The nature of the dyslexic learner

* Strengths
* Weaknesses
* Learning Style
* Underlying Issues
* Co-Occurrances
* Language Background

- The Neuro-Biology of reading

*Reading and the Cognitive Functioning of the Brain
*Understanding of reading development
*The Single Word Processing and Beyond Text Comprehension
*Understand both linguistic and non-linguistic processing

Understand the inter-connectivity of the cognitive and emotional networks
- Reading and the Limbic System: Emotion and Memory

My question is, how, where and who are the experts diagnostician assessing and diagnosing these 11,418 students? General Practitioners? Family Doctors? Pediatricians? Occupational Therapists? Speech Therapists? Teachers? Educational Psychologists? Psychiatrists?

Let's think about this:

A
1. Could it be possible there has been a misdiagnosis?
2. If yes, what are the implications of it?
3. How would it affect those children that has been misdiagnosed?
4. Are we willing to admit our mistakes and correct them?
5. Are we willing to reassess those children and "unlable" them?
6. Provide them with the right tools, support and intervention?

B
1. It was a fit diagnosis
2. What are the findings to justify the diagnosis?
3. What is the plan of action?
4. How do you draw out the intervention?
5. Who would be the best key person to draw them out?
6. Who would be the best person to deliver the intervention?
7. How do we provide support to both students and "interventionist"?
8. How do we ensure these children are getting the quality support and right "treatment"?

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