Better Late Than Never, But Early Diagnosis is Best
While everyone struggles with learning sometimes, dyslexia is a disability that a person is born with and must cope with throughout their lives. A learning disability like dyslexia is not something that comes-and-goes, nor does it develop suddenly – it is a constant battle.
The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) claims “its never too late to seek help” if wondering whether you have a disability (Dyslexia in Adults). One in ten people is diagnosed with dyslexia, making it the most common learning disability throughout the world. It is estimated that dyslexia impacts up to one in five people, but that many dyslexics do not know of their disability (Dyslexia in Adults). When diagnosing learning disabilities, the common consensus fits with NCLD’s theory that disabilities are better diagnosed late as opposed to never. However it is monumentally better to diagnose a disability such as dyslexia as early as possible.
When diagnosed at a young age a child will learn to adapt with their disability. They can learn to ask for help from teachers and parents, to ask for extra time on assignments, or spend time practicing reading and writing to improve their skills. Without an official diagnosis, people with dyslexia tend to believe they are simply less intelligent than their peers and are highly discouraged (Parker-Hope, T. 2010, February 19).
The high school dropout rate for students with learning disabilities is 36%. For students without disabilities, the rate is only 14% (Dyslexia in Adults). Dyslexics are of normal intelligence, but because they require more time to complete standard assignments and have difficulty reading and writing, they fall behind as academic requirements increase and become more difficult.
20% of dyslexics believe their work would improve if they would simply try harder (WeAreTeachers). Regardless of how much effort a dyslexic puts forth, however, a dyslexic’s brain works differently than anyone else. A dyslexic who does not realize they have a disability could be left behind and constantly feeling inferior to their peers. This causes stress, low self esteem, and can lead to bullying and difficulty making friends.
Dyslexic students may need more help than their peers would for the same assignment.
When observing the detrimental effects that having a late diagnosis (or not having a diagnosis at all) can have on a dyslexic, the ‘better late than never’ theory of diagnosis falls short. The longer it takes for dyslexia to be diagnosed, the more time the dyslexic will spend struggling through school or work and not realizing why they cannot perform to the level of their peers. Learning disabilities are varied, plentiful, and somewhat difficult to diagnose. Many times teachers or even parents hope their child will “grow out” of their symptoms, which causes many disabilities such as dyslexia to go unrecognized. Early detection of dyslexia is vital for success.
The earliest dyslexia can be accurately diagnosed is when a child is around 7 or 8 years of age (Parker-Hope, T. 2010, February 19). At this point they will be learning to read and write, and will have started to develop strategies of adaptation to compensate for their difficulties. If a concerned parent seeks a professional to evaluate their struggling student, however, the cost of assessment can reach up to $5,000 (Parker-Hope, T. 2010, February 19). This is an incredible financial burden, but not one that the parents of a child must bear entirely themselves. According to federal law (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), both public and private school districts are required to assess a child if the parent so requests.
If testing for learning disabilities is an accommodation schools are required to make, why do they not evaluate every student? Considering the overwhelming numbers of people affected by learning disabilities, testing every student would be highly beneficial and allow dyslexic students to be more successful.
The best possible solution would be to evaluate every student for learning disabilities around the third grade. Students in the third grade are around 8 years old, an ideal age for diagnosis. Most schools test a student’s reading abilities around this age but the results do not indicate whether a child has a reading or learning disability. To understand whether a student’s skills are where they should be, a simple test evaluating basic reading, writing, and comprehension skills should be conducted. Half of the evaluation would be entering answers and reading from a computer, the other half would be on a Scantron paper answer sheet. Totaling 40 questions, the students would be asked to read and summarize passages, spell words, match sets of words that are similar. Other forms of questions would include testing the child’s memory, writing/typing skills, and overall comprehension of information. This test would be separate from the standard language comprehension test that students are subject to otherwise, because it would specifically target whether a student has a disability.
Children whose results fall significantly below a normal level could receive further assessment to determine whether a disability was the cause of this insufficiency. In this way, schools will not be required to give every student (even those who show no sign of academic struggle) the complete assessment. To ensure accuracy and observe improvement, students who did fall below a normal intelligence level should be evaluated a year or two after the initial assessment. Students who score low and go on to receive an official diagnosis would then have a way of explaining their struggles and know how to succeed despite the disability by getting help from teachers in school and possibly tutoring outside of school as well.
Dyslexia is a difference, but it is not a deficiency in a person’s ability or intellect. Early diagnosis is helpful in teaching a dyslexic child that they are not inferior to their peers, but many students remain undiagnosed throughout high school and college. It is likely that many dyslexics are never officially diagnosed. By emphasizing the importance of testing as well as spreading knowledge about this overwhelmingly common disability, students with all types of learning disabilities can be helped to succeed.
Sources:
1. Dyslexia in Adults | Reading Difficulties. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/common-dyslexia-symptoms-and-warning-signs-in-adults
2. Parker-Hope, T. (2010, February 19). Testing a Child for Learning Disabilities. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/testing-a-child-for-learning-disabilities/
3. WeAreTeachers: Infographic: Understanding Dyslexia (And Your Students Who Have It). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2014/08/02/understanding-dyslexia-infographic
Redefine Dyslexia 