What should an evaluation include?

The expert evaluator will conduct a comprehensive assessment to determine whether the person's learning problems may be related to other disorders. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), affective disorders (anxiety, depression), central auditory processing dysfunction, pervasive developmental disorders, and physical or sensory impairments are among the other causes of learning problems that a competent evaluator will consider in making the diagnosis of dyslexia.

The following elements should be included in an assessment for dyslexia:

1. a developmental, medical, behavioral, academic and family history,
2. a measure of general intellectual functioning
   
3. information on cognitive processing (language, memory, auditory processing, visual processing, visual motor integration, reasoning abilities, and executive functioning),
   
4. tests of specific oral language skills related to reading and writing success to include tests of phonological processing,
   
5. educational tests to determine level of functioning in basic skill areas of reading, spelling, written language, and math -- testing in reading/writing should include the following measures:
   • single word decoding of both real and nonsense words,
   • oral and silent reading in context (evaluate rate, fluency, comprehension and accuracy),
   • reading comprehension,
   • dictated spelling test,
   • written expression: sentence writing as well as story or essay writing,
   • handwriting,
6. a classroom observation, and a review of the language arts curriculum for the school-aged child to assess remediation programs which have been tried.