A reading disability is not a matter of effort or intelligence, and it does not resolve with more practice. Testing measures reading, writing and mathematics against grade level, then identifies the processing profile underneath the pattern.
Skills first, then the processing that explains them.
Decoding, fluency and comprehension measured separately, because a child can pass one and fail the others.
Spelling, mechanics and composition, where difficulty is routinely mistaken for carelessness.
Calculation and applied problem solving, including where a reading problem is quietly producing a mathematics score.
Phonological processing, working memory and processing speed, which is what explains the pattern rather than describing it.
So a low score reflects a skill and not the language the test was written in.
Written to be used at an eligibility meeting, with recommendations a team can actually implement.
Where more practice has not worked and nobody has explained why.
A private evaluation that examines the skills a screener did not.
Where a child’s difficulty has been attributed to language for years without being tested.
Usually a gap: reading, spelling or writing that sits well below what the child manages everywhere else. Slow or effortful decoding, guessing at words from the first letter, and spelling that changes from one line to the next are common. Effort is rarely the issue.
Quoted at the free consultation, once it is clear what the evaluation needs to cover.
It can, and that is one of the most common reasons a reading difficulty gets missed or misread. Testing is available in Spanish so the score reflects the skill rather than the language the test was written in.
It is written to be used at an eligibility meeting, with findings and recommendations stated in the terms a school team works in. Attendance at the meeting is available when it would help.
Bring the school’s reports to the consultation. They often narrow the question considerably.
