Dyslexia Assessments & Dyscalculia Screening - In-person or Remote testing
What is dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a specific and persistent difficulty with understanding numbers which can lead to a diverse range of difficulties with mathematics. It will be unexpected in relation to age, level of education and experience and occurs across all ages and abilities.
Mathematical difficulties are best thought of as a continuum, not a distinct category, and they have many causal factors. Dyscalculia falls at one end of the spectrum and will be distinguishable from other maths issues due to the severity of difficulties with number sense, including subitising, symbolic and non-symbolic magnitude comparison, and ordering. It can occur independently, but often co-occurs with other specific learning difficulties, mathematics anxiety and medical conditions. (P Jarrett 2019)
Who can issue a diagnosis of dyscalculia?
A dyscalculia specialist assessor can diagnose by conducting a diagnostic dyscalculia assessment. As the assessment process is much more involved, and the skill set of the dyscalculia assessor are less common, there are few dyscalculia assessors currently working in the UK.
At Kent Dyslexia we have experienced dyslexia assessors who conduct dyscalculia screening assessments. Whilst the screener cannot diagnose dyscalculia, it can provide an explanation for an individual's difficulties in school, university or the workplace. In addition the assessment report will provide a detailed examination of the person's strengths and difficulties. Personalised recommendations for school/university/workplace, specialist teaching and home will be provided.
What assessments are conducted in a dyscalculia screener?
The screening assessments usually take around two hours and includes assessment of:
Underlying ability: Non-Verbal underlying ability.
Information Processing: Working memory; Processing speed.
Academic attainment: Maths assessments both timed and untimed.
In addition, an online screener will be used to assess the students sense of number and quantity.
What is the dyscalculia screener process?
Once you have contacted us to express an interest in a screener, we will pass your details to an assessor who is local to where you live. They will contact you regarding their service. This will usually involve:
- Agreeing a time, date and venue for the screener (see below).
- Completion of Parental; School/Workplace and Dyscalculia and maths learning difficulties questionnaires.
- A face to face dyscalculia assessment (see above for details of what is involved).
- A written report emailed to you within three weeks of the screener.
