Assessing Dyslexia at Six Year of Age

Summary

This research sets out a proposed protocol for the identification of dyslexia. The protocol is based on diagnostic and response to intervention models. The proposal involves using structured interviews and standardized tests for the assessment of reading and writing performance and determinant factors.

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of dyslexia at early ages in different countries and regions. This increase has serious consequences within school and family settings, due to the poor academic performance that characterizes people with dyslexia and the socio-emotional problems they sometimes display. One of the most frequent problems in the identification of the dyslexia is the lack of a common diagnostic protocol that encompasses specific criteria for the assessment of any child. The Learning Disabilities and Development Disorders research group at the University of Malaga has developed a protocol for the early detection of dyslexia. The protocol is based on the diagnostic and response to intervention models. Consequently, it takes into account diagnostic criteria agreed upon by some associations and committees of experts, as well as certain specific cognitive and language determinants that characterize people who present with dyslexia following adequate instruction, according to recent research. The action protocol is developed over several stages, and we propose the use of structured interviews with parents and teachers alongside standardized tests for the evaluation of intelligence, reading and writing, as well as the risk factors that determine the appearance of the problem. This action protocol provides a model for the detection of dyslexia, which seeks to distinguish it from other comorbid problems and identify its characteristics and determinants, in order to offer effective intervention and/or prevention from an early age.

Introduction

The DSM-5 establishes specific learning difficulties as a diagnostic category within neuro-developmental disorders. Dyslexia has been considered one of the most common specific learning difficulties. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and fluent word recognition, along with spelling and orthographical accuracy. It also entails difficulties in reading comprehension¹. These manifestations appear after the start of compulsory schooling, from the age of six onwards.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of dyslexia at early ages. Some authors state that between 5% and 17.5% of schoo....

Protocol

This present study has been developed in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, which establishes ethical principles for the development of research with humans. In addition, it follows the guidelines and was approved by the University of Malaga’s Experimentation Ethics Committee (CEUMA).

NOTE: The protocol presented below should be carried out by psychologists within the school setting, beginning in the first year of Primary Education (6 years of age), and with the collaboration of teachers (Figure 6).

Results

This next section sets out a series of representative results obtained by one student diagnosed with dyslexia, following the proposed action protocol.

Table 1 shows the scores obtained by Year 1 Primary students in phonological awareness, knowledge of the alphabet, vocabulary, and reading fluency and comprehension, after ordinary reading and writing instruction. The results indicate that most of the students achieve similar direct scores in the assessment, close to the average.......

Discussion

In this study, we presented a proposed dyslexia detection protocol to be applied from Year 1 in Primary Education within the school setting. This action protocol considers the strengths of the diagnostic model^8,13,32 and the response to intervention model^{21,22,33,34,35}

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
PROLEC-R. Batería de Evaluación de los Procesos Lectores	TEA ediciones		This Instrument assess of reading performance
The dyslexia Screening Test-Junior	Pearson Assessment		Screening tests for dyslexia (writing, comprehension reading, phonological awareness, knowledge of the alphabet, vocabulary)
The Wescher Intelligence Scale for Children- 5 edition	Pearson Assessment		This instrument assess the intelligence