Diagnosis
How Dyslexia Is Diagnosed In Australia
In Australia, dyslexia is diagnosed through a formal assessment, usually by a psychologist. It comes after at least six months of targeted help with reading, and after hearing and vision have been ruled out as the cause. A checklist cannot diagnose dyslexia, but a parent can start most of the steps: the six below run from the first concern to a formal diagnosis.
The Pathway
How To Get A Dyslexia Diagnosis For A Child: Six Steps
Most of the pathway can start before anyone mentions a diagnosis. Each step leaves a record the next one uses.
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Check hearing and vision
A GP or audiologist can test hearing and an optometrist can check eyesight. A diagnosis of dyslexia cannot be made until both have been ruled out as the cause.
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Talk to the classroom teacher
Ask what the school's own reading checks show, what extra help your child has had and for how long. Ask for it in writing: it becomes part of any later assessment.
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Start targeted help and keep a record
A diagnosis needs at least six months of help aimed at the reading weakness. Help can begin the day a concern is noticed and does not wait on a diagnosis.
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Use a screener to decide whether to go further
A screener or checklist shows whether a closer look is worthwhile. It cannot diagnose dyslexia.
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Have reading, spelling and language assessed
An individual assessment shows which skills are holding reading back and by how much. A speech pathologist or a psychologist can do this step.
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See a psychologist for the formal diagnosis
A psychologist tests learning and achievement, weighs the history and the response to help, and decides whether the criteria for a specific learning disorder are met.
What Counts As Six Months Of Targeted Help?
Six months of targeted help means teaching aimed at the exact skill that is weak, not more of the same classroom reading. AUSPELD is the national body for the SPELD organisations. Its guidance on identifying dyslexia early sets it at a minimum of six months of a structured phonics program, taught in a small group or one to one. How the child responds to that help is part of the evidence for a diagnosis.
A family can start this now, through the school or privately. Write down four things as you go, because a psychologist will ask for them:
- what the program or approach was, and who taught it
- how often, and for how many weeks
- the date it started
- any reading or spelling results from before and after
AUSPELD’s rule of thumb is to screen and intervene first, and assess and diagnose second. The free dyslexia screener on this site is one way to do the first part.
Who Does Each Step?
A GP, an audiologist and an optometrist rule out other causes and the school teaches and keeps records. A speech pathologist or a psychologist assesses reading, spelling and language, and a psychologist usually gives the formal diagnosis. A family that needs the formal diagnosis now can go straight to a psychologist, whose assessment also tests reading and spelling. The page on who can diagnose dyslexia in Australia sets out what each one’s report is for and what each costs.
What To Take To A Psychologist
Take everything the earlier steps produced:
- hearing and vision results
- school reports and the school’s reading check results
- the record of targeted help, with dates
- any earlier assessment report, such as a speech pathologist’s
- family history of reading or spelling difficulty
The psychologist decides which earlier results they use and what further testing they do. A family who needs a formal diagnosis will need the psychologist’s own assessment, at that provider’s fee.
What Age Can A Child Be Assessed For Dyslexia?
A child can be assessed for the skills behind reading at any age, but dyslexia itself is rarely diagnosed with confidence before the middle of Year 1. The diagnosis depends on how a child responds to reading teaching, so the answer changes by stage.
- Before school. A child aged about four to six can be screened for risk: speech sounds, rhyme, letter names and oral language. Screening at this age finds children who need early help. It does not identify dyslexia. The signs of dyslexia before school have a page of their own.
- The first years of school. Once reading is being taught, a child who keeps struggling can be given targeted help straight away. AUSPELD says dyslexia is unlikely to be diagnosed with confidence until mid to late Year 1, once the six months of help have been given. Children can be diagnosed well before they turn eight, and one SPELD organisation assesses children from the age of six.
- Later primary school. From Year 2 the gap between a child and the class can become easier to see, and an assessment can show how far behind each skill is.
- High school. There is no upper age. A teenager who has coped by memorising words or avoiding reading can be assessed at any point, and the signs in teenagers often show once the reading load rises.
Dr Lauren Crumlish’s dyslexia assessments are for school-aged children and teenagers up to 18.
On A Report
Specific Learning Disorder: The Term A Report Uses
“Specific learning disorder” is the formal name a psychologist’s report gives to a lasting difficulty with reading, writing or maths. A report on a child with dyslexia will often say “specific learning disorder with impairment in reading”.
Dyslexia is an alternative term for the same pattern: inaccurate or slow word reading, poor decoding and poor spelling.
What The Dyslexia Diagnostic Criteria Say, In Plain Words
All four must be met for a diagnosis of specific learning disorder:
- The difficulty has lasted at least six months despite targeted help.
- The child’s skills are well below what is expected for their age, shown on standardised tests, and get in the way of school or daily life.
- The difficulty began during the school years.
- Nothing else explains it better: not hearing or vision, intellectual disability, a neurological condition, still learning the language the child is taught in, or a lack of teaching.
The American Psychiatric Association publishes these criteria in the DSM-5, the manual psychologists use, and the list above puts its summary in plain words.
What Mild, Moderate And Severe Mean On A Report
The severity word on a specific learning disorder report describes how much support the child is likely to need. It is not a score.
- Mild: some difficulty in one or two areas. The child may manage well with the right support and adjustments.
- Moderate: marked difficulty. The child is likely to need some specialised teaching, with adjustments at school and at home.
- Severe: difficulty across several areas. The child is likely to need intensive, specialised teaching through most of the school years.
A specific learning disorder can also be “with impairment in written expression” or “with impairment in mathematics”. Those labels, like the reading one, are given by a psychologist.
Where Dr Lauren’s Assessment Fits
Dr Lauren Crumlish is a speech pathologist. She assesses reading, spelling and the language skills underneath, which is step five, and she does not diagnose dyslexia or any specific learning disorder. Her assessment tells a family which skills are holding reading back and what to work on. To go further, read about the dyslexia assessment itself, the fees and Medicare rebates that apply, how it works on the day and how to read the report when it comes.
Who does the assessment
Dr Lauren Crumlish (PhD), Certified Practising Speech Pathologist
Dr Lauren Crumlish assesses reading, spelling and the language skills underneath, online, for school-aged children and teenagers across Australia. She holds a PhD from The University of Queensland and does every assessment herself.
$890 or $1,290, online, with Dr Lauren Crumlish
About Dr Lauren
Questions
Dyslexia Diagnosis Questions
How is dyslexia diagnosed in Australia?
Dyslexia is diagnosed in Australia through a formal assessment, usually by a psychologist with training in learning assessment. The psychologist uses standardised tests of learning and achievement, the child's history and school records, and evidence that reading has stayed behind after at least six months of targeted help.
How do I get my child tested for dyslexia?
Start with a hearing and vision check and a talk with the classroom teacher, and ask for targeted reading help to begin. If reading is still behind, arrange an individual assessment of reading, spelling and language, then see a psychologist if a formal diagnosis is needed.
What age can dyslexia be diagnosed?
Dyslexia is unlikely to be diagnosed with confidence before mid to late Year 1, according to AUSPELD, because a diagnosis needs at least six months of targeted reading help first. Children can be diagnosed well before they turn eight, and there is no upper age.
Can a 7 year old be tested for dyslexia?
Yes. A seven year old has usually had enough reading teaching for an assessment to be meaningful. A diagnosis is possible at seven if targeted help has been given for at least six months and the other criteria are met.
Is a screener or an online test enough for a diagnosis?
No. A screener or checklist shows whether a child is at risk and whether an assessment is worth arranging. AUSPELD states that dyslexia cannot be identified through a screening process or a checklist alone.
Does my child need a diagnosis before getting help?
No. Reading help should start as soon as a concern is noticed, and the response to that help is part of what a later diagnosis rests on. Ask the school what it requires before it puts adjustments in place.
Where can I get my child tested for dyslexia?
Psychologists in private practice assess for a formal diagnosis, and some SPELD organisations offer assessments too. Dr Lauren Crumlish assesses reading, spelling and the language skills underneath, online, for school-aged children and teenagers anywhere in Australia. She does not assess adults.
Dyslexia Assessment With Dr Lauren
Apply Now
Dr Lauren works with a small number of families and has limited availability. Our team will review your application. A place cannot be guaranteed, and not every application receives an individual reply.
Apply Now- Online, Australia Wide
- Reading, Spelling And Language
- Children And Teenagers Up To 18
- $890 Or $1,290