SCREENING CHECKLIST FOR DYSLEXIA

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 8 SCREENING CHECKLIST FOR DYSLEXIA By Dyslexia Victoria Online You have just been told your child or student may be dyslexic. You are an adult who has been having reading and spelling problems your whole life and have been wondering if you are dyslexic. How can you know for sure? How can you help? Where do you start? The word dyslexia is derived from the Greek word, dys (meaning poor or inadequate) and the word lexis (meaning words or language)and it is used as a general term to cover many different learning problems. If you or your student has been diagnosed as "dyslexic", it does not have to mean that you have a learning disability but rather a right-brained learning style that can be managed and used very effectively. Start with the following Dyslexia Check List to discover which of the learning problems you, your child or your student have. You and your student should work together to check off the learning problems. Any section that you mark with 50% or more points indicates dyslexic learning weaknesses in that area. Also we have some guides for assessing at the end of the checklist. If you have any questions about the checklist or need further support please us at thi.sales@dyslexiavictoria.ca.

2 Page 2 of 8 STUDENTS UNDER TWELVE Spelling 1. Had or still has difficulty naming the letters of the alphabet in sequence. 2. Has difficulty learning to count in sequence to twenty or higher. 3. Mixes up letter order in words: "pasghetti" with "spaghetti"; "ciminon" with "cinnamon". 4. Misspells words. 5. Reverses letters "b" for "d" or "p" for"q", even whole words. 6. Reverses the last letter of a word with the first letter. 7. Cannot spell simple words correctly. 8. Fails to recognize the same word twice or later on the same page. 9. Spells a word several different ways. 10. Cannot do a spelling test correctly if the words in the original list are dictated in a mixed order. Reading 1. Confuses verb tenses may mix up: see, saw, seeing. 2. Reads slowly and below grade level. 3. Continues having many reading problems as they move through the grades. 4. Does not seem to understand what he or she has read. 5. Has difficulty hearing and repeating words of another language.

3 Page 3 of 8 6. Has problems understanding and spelling abstract words, especially those about time and place. 7. Mispronounces or misreads many words. 8. Decodes words too slowly while reading and loses comprehension. 9. Has an inadequate reading vocabulary. 10. Fears having to read aloud in class. 11. Has difficulty remembering content just read in a story. 12. Has difficulty remembering information just read in a list. 13. Requires more time to read or answer questions than other students. 14. Has difficulty tracking a printed line across the page. 15. Remedial reading classes and phonics based programs are not improving the student s reading and spelling skills significantly. 16. Remedial reading classes and phonics based programs may have improved the student s reading ability somewhat but their spelling skills and comprehension of what they have read has not improved significantly. Mathematical Concepts 1. Does not understand the concept of time. 2. May not be able to tell time correctly up to ten to twelve years of age. 3. Cannot do simple mathematical word problems without referring to pictures, concrete objects or counting on their fingers. 4. Does not understand simple fractions such as half a cup of sugar or three quarters of an orange. 5. Cannot understand money unless taught by holding the coins and bills in their hands and actually buying something.

4 Page 4 of 8 6. Does not understand flat, two dimensional drawings as opposed to three dimensional views of actual objects. 7. Cannot understand measurements: linear, weights, quantity or volume. 8. Does not understand or has difficulty with long division. 9. Is not able to memorize the multiplication tables. 10. Does not understand fractions, percentages or decimals. General Problems 1. Has difficulty following spoken or written instructions. 2. Does not know what is expected of them when given oral instructions that are not complete. 4. Cannot copy notes from the board accurately but their eyesight is within a normal range. 5. Has difficulty copying geometric designs. 6. Cannot explain details in a picture of a scene or a story, or predict what may happen next. When asked questions like Describe the picture or describe the story? they don t know that means. They require more specific questions like Where is the picture or story taking place? What people are in the picture or story? What are they doing?. 7. Can remember more information when hearing it read aloud or discussed than when they read it silently to themselves.

5 Page 5 of 8 8. Can do a learning task better if they can see it and handle the parts first. 9. Can answer questions orally, but poorly in writing. 10. Freezes up when asked to give hand-written answers in sentences, paragraphs or essays. 11. Has difficulty with spelling, punctuation, grammar and writing. 12. Cannot focus on a few ideas at a time, so cannot stay on task when doing and assignment, writing a paragraph or story or following directions or a list. 13. Has difficulty memorizing poems AGES TEN TO ADULT General Problems 1. Is a poor speller. 2. Has difficulty understanding the abstract concepts of time, money, measurements, fractions, percentages and other mathematical concepts. 3. Has problems following verbal and written directions. 4. Has difficulty making notes, copying notes or taking them down from the black board. 5. Lacks logical sequence of thoughts when discussing or writing essays.

6 Page 6 of 8 6. Does not stay on task well and gives up easily. 7. Has difficulty picking out the main points in a paragraph or essay. 8. Tends to go off on tangents when discussing or writing about a topic. 9. Cannot focus or present thoughts in a logical order such as when trying to write a paragraph. 10. Must be given full, exact instructions that explain the entire concept of an assignment. 11. Tends to have messy or illegible hand printing or writing. 12. Prefers to print, is not comfortable handwriting. 13. Mixes capitals with lower case letters. 14. Uses both printing and cursive script in the same word or sentence. 15. Thinks and communicates best when moving about or handling objects. Spelling 1. Confuses shapes of letters. 2. Experiences letter and word reversals.

7 Page 7 of 8 3. Changes the spelling of words with each use. 4. Spells phonetically as they hear the words pronounced. 5. Omits or adds consonants and vowels to words. 6. Spells orally but not be able to pick out the written word in context. Reading 1. Reads slowly, lacks comprehension of what was read. 2. Lacks a sufficient vocabulary of memorized written words. 3. May be unable to read because words actually appear to be "falling off the page" or they see the letters as a jumble of black markings on white paper. 4. Understands what is read to them orally more easily than what they read for themselves. 5. Has difficulty with spelling so guesses at the meaning of words in context, causing a misunderstanding of the content. 6. Memorizes the overall appearance and sound of the words, but cannot see the individual letters within the words, which causes them to mix up letters or losing the meanings of the words.

8 Page 8 of 8 We recommend our books for helping students and adults having problems with: -Spelling - TEACHING THE DYSLEXIC STUDENT: SPELLING AND LANGUAGE ARTS -Reading or Mathematical Concepts -DYSLEXIA OR BEING RIGHT-BRAINED -General manual for many issues of Dyslexia - HOW THE RIGHT BRAIN LEARNS (Book Three) Some other thoughts: Recognize the learning problems by the number of them spread across the spectrum of problems in the Check List or realize that only one or two problem areas stand out and require assistance. This learning difference described in the box leads to learning problems with hand printing, spelling, reading, sentence construction (grammar, spelling and punctuation), composition (paragraphs and essays) and arithmetic and mathematics as well as general problems in following written or oral instructions, focusing on the task at hand, and having the correct procedures for writing paragraphs and essays. REMEMBER: Some right-brained students can do mathematics very well, yet are unable to read at grade level; others may read quite well, but do poorly in spelling and so on. Several of these learning difficulties are eliminated with age, brain maturity and the degree of learning and skills they attain.