Parents are often relieved when their child who has trouble reading is finally diagnosed with dyslexia. At last, the problem has a name and expert diagnosis to go along with it. A dyslexic child can receive specialized instruction and gain extra access to staff support and resources. And the diagnosis offers an instant response to those who assume the child is stupid or lazy.
For these parents, their child’s dyslexia diagnosis is similar to a diagnosis of a bad knee. You visit your doctor to have your troublesome limb checked out, wondering whether the cause of your discomfort is an infection, a ligament injury, arthritis, or possibly a tumor of some kind. The doctor runs a series of tests, diagnoses the problem, and then recommends a course of treatment that has been found by detailed research to be effective.
But things aren’t quite so simple. The reality is that, as helpful as some parents may find it, the present system of dyslexia diagnosis is scientifically flawed, wasteful of resources, and inequitable in its social effects. The prohibitive cost of testing and other barriers means that most struggling children will never gain access to the relevant resources. In order to reform the current system, we must first dispel the myth that underpins it.
“The present system of dyslexia diagnosis is scientifically flawed.”
“When it comes to dyslexia diagnosis, this expectation is misplaced.”
Dyslexia is sometimes understood as synonymous with reading disability—a severe difficulty with reading and spelling that persists despite appropriate instruction—and sometimes as a condition only experienced by some struggling readers, identified on the basis of cognitive tests. Parents tend to prefer the latter definition, which is why they sometimes pay thousands of dollars for a detailed psychological assessment involving multiple tests.