Teachers play an essential role in identifying whether a child has any reading disorders or not. Dyslexia is the more renowned term that psychologists make use of. However, schools use terms such as reading difficulty or learning disability in reading. 

To be eligible for special needs services, the child must pass the standard evaluation that shows whether or not the child has dyslexia. Identifying early signs of learning disabilities and evaluating them is essential. 

What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is one of the most renowned learning disabilities in reading, but what does it mean? Essentially, dyslexia refers to the inability to decode and understand printed words and letters. This condition does not come from a lack of intelligence or unclear instructions. Instead, it is the inability to be able to understand written information. 

With inclusivity getting a lot of focus as of late, many schools accommodate students with dyslexia as much as possible. Doing so helps the children learn in environments that help them develop better over time.  

Who Is Eligible For Special Services Due To Dyslexia?

According to IDEA, there are two categories that the child must fall into to take advantage of the special education services. These include:

1. Having a disability that comes under the many disability categories of IDEA
2. Having an apparent education need 

Both of these conditions need to be met for a student to be deemed as having special needs. This means that if a dyslexic child is making progress in school without facing many difficulties, they might not be able to take advantage of special education services. 

However, someone with an apparent need will be eligible for this. The disability should impact their education to a certain extent for the services to be made available. 

Assessment Of Reading Skills

One way to figure out whether the child has issues with reading is to assess their reading skills. Verifying whether they can understand the letter sounds, decode words, read, spell, and comprehend are some of the more prominent assessment methods. This will help verify whether the child will be able to get through the basics in their school and achieve average grades. 

Assessment Of Cognitive Processes

Another essential method to figure out whether the child has dyslexia is through measuring their cognitive processes. Assessing their phonological awareness and memory, orthographic awareness, processing speed, rapid naming, and working memory helps with their overall cognitive assessment.

Concluding Thoughts

It is essential to understand that not every student with a learning disability is given special needs services. Only those who lack in their education because of their disability are offered methods to improve their learning. Assisted learning helps ensure that the child gets better grades in school and improves their reading skills over time.