Dyslexia Assessments

Full Diagnostic Assessment

Cost: £550 in total
(Less if no diagnosis is made)

I carry out full diagnostic assessments for Dyslexia for individuals from the age of 6 years old up to adults. Everyone has their unique background history, which needs to be documented and each person has different strengths and weaknesses which need to be assessed as fully as possible using a variety of recognised assessment tests. There are statutory requirements regarding the tests used to make a diagnosis of dyslexia which I always use, and I may use additional tests at times if this becomes advisable to explore the idea that there may be other specific learning difficulties that need further assessment via a referral to the individual’s GP. This may be related to ‘Developmental Co-ordination Disorder’ (DCD) which can also be referred to as Dyspraxia, or ‘Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or ‘Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder’ ADHD. The difference in the price of the assessment referred to above, considers the fact that each case is individual. If I carry out an assessment and the profile of the test results does not suggest that Dyslexia is present, we can discuss what level of report is required and how detailed it needs to be, and the price again will reflect this and generally be lower than the prices quoted. In this situation I often provide just an overview which will include, a table of the test results, a graph, and a summary.
One important factor is that if there is a diagnosis of Dyslexia, it will support the individual’s application for a ‘Disability Support Allowance’ often referred to as ‘DSA’ in higher education, whatever the age the individual was when they received the diagnosis. The diagnostic reports I write are written in the format that a DSA report demands.
In relation to school aged students the reports are useful in highlighting the stage a child is at in terms of their literacy skills, which can then guide specific support at school or outside school. They can also be used to support applications for Educational Health Care Plans or to support appeals in relation to this. They may also highlight the need for the student’s school to carry out an ‘Access Arrangement Assessment’ for Public Examinations, if, for example the assessment highlights below average reading and or writing speed or below average working memory skill.

Sarah Cowell, Dyslexia Assessment and Tuition

Maths

I always assess maths using a Standardised maths test, unless specifically asked not to and I also assess the individual’s working memory which is relevant to carrying out mental arithmetic and recalling integral steps in calculations and recalling the times tables. (See my blog.) Difficulties related to the aspects of mathematical processing described above can accompany dyslexia. if this proves to be true, it is useful to know this, and it can be very reassuring for the student involved to understand why they for example, carry out maths tasks slowly and need more time to assimilate how to tackle a problem than their peers.

If a student has real difficulty perceiving the order of numbers, and concepts such as higher and lower numbers, this may indicate that they have a separate learning
difficulty, Dyscalculia. This will then require a diagnostic assessment from a specialist assessor of Dyscalculia.

I am very happy to discuss whether an assessment is a good idea or not, please either email me anytime at: info@sarahcowell.co.uk or call: 01451 833844, between 10am-5pm, weekdays, or between 11-1pm on Saturday mornings. Do leave a message and it will be picked up that day or the following day.

Brief professional biography

After originally intending to go into publishing, I actually spent the first twenty years of my working life being a fashion designer ending up in London. It was very hard work and enormous fun, but I moved to Gloucestershire in the 1990s after constantly sketching dresses and fabric designs triggered constant extreme pain in my left am and shoulder. And after a bit of time out getting better and concentrating on bringing up my daughter I found a new passion, Dyslexia. I initially achieved a Dip SpLD (at post graduate level) from the Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre in London in 2001 and this led to me studying for an SpLD APC, which is an assessment practicing certificate which was awarded to me by patoss in 2006. My interest in Dyslexia was initiated by family members on both sides finding spelling and aspects of reading difficult, in striking contrast to other aspects of their development. And being an inquisitive person and never being happier than when researching subjects, off I went. And here I am today all these years later, still enjoying working with all the interesting and different people that I am lucky enough to meet as a result of my chosen career. (Aspects of the differing work I have done are outlined in the ‘recent work’ section of this site.) And I seem to have found my way back into publishing by writing my books so it all came together in the end…

Sarah Cowell, Dyslexia Assessment and Tuition

Affiliations and Qualifications

  • SASC – Listed assessor and associate member of SASC since 2006. SASC is the ‘SpLD Assessment Standards Committee’ which was set up by the DfES in 2005 to oversee Standards of Assessments of Specific Learning Disabilities in an educational setting.
  • Patoss – Listed assessor and tutor at ‘Patoss’ which is the acronym for the ‘professional association of teachers of students with specific learning disabilities.’
  • SpLD APC – Holder of an ‘SpLD APC’ award since 2006 which is an ‘Assessment Practising Certificate’ for assessing Specific Learning Difficulties in an educational setting.
  • Dip SpLD – Holder of a ‘Dip SpLD’ awarded by The Hornsby International Dyslexia Centre in 2001 which enables me to tutor people of all ages struggling with Dyslexia.
  • Dyspraxia Foundation – Professional Member of the Dyspraxia Foundation. ‘Dyspraxia’ may be described as ‘DCD’ which is the short form of ‘Developmental Co-ordination Disorder’.
  • Associate Member of the APA – Associate member of APA, American Psychological Association.

Reviews

DSA assessment, mother’s comments:
“Thank you very much for the report. I really appreciate the thoroughness and the level of detail confirming _____ strengths, but also the challenges she has with literacy activities. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a level of detail provided in a report.”

Diagnostic Assessment, mother’s comments:
“Wow, what a fantastic report!”

Diagnostic Assessment, mother’s comments:
“The paediatrician was very impressed with your report.”

Sarah Cowell, Dyslexia Assessment and Tuition

Get in Touch

If you’re looking for dyslexia assessment, tuition or more, I would love to hear from you. Please drop me a message and I will get back to you as soon as possible.