Free pre-identification tool

Child dyslexia screening for parents

A free, five minute pre-identification tool for parents and carers, aligned to British Dyslexia Association indicators and Patoss and SASC assessment guidance.

Step 1 of 3

26 short statements

Answer with one child in mind, thinking about how they usually manage literacy tasks at home and at school.

This is a free pre-identification tool. It is not a diagnostic instrument, it does not confirm or rule out a diagnosis, and it is not a substitute for a full assessment. The items are aligned to the British Dyslexia Association indicators of dyslexia for children and young people and the domains Patoss and SASC expect a full diagnostic assessment to cover.

0 of 26 answeredNever to Very often

Reading

My child reads more slowly or hesitantly than expected for their age.

My child guesses words from the first letter or from the picture.

My child loses their place or skips lines when reading.

My child avoids reading, or becomes distressed when asked to read.

My child understands a story far better when it is read to them.

Phonological awareness and spelling

My child finds blending sounds into words difficult.

My child struggles to hear rhyme or to break words into syllables.

My child spells the same word differently on the same page.

My child mixes up similar looking letters or numbers.

My child found learning the alphabet, days of the week or nursery rhymes difficult.

Written expression and handwriting

My child's written work is much weaker than their spoken ideas.

My child writes very little compared with peers.

Handwriting is slow, effortful or hard to read.

My child finds copying from the board difficult.

Memory, processing and sequencing

My child struggles to remember instructions with several steps.

My child finds it hard to recall days, months or times tables.

My child needs longer than peers to process what has been said.

My child forgets newly learned words quickly.

My child mixes up left and right, or the order of events.

Early history and impact

My child was late to start talking, or their early speech was unclear.

Someone in the family has similar literacy difficulties.

School has raised concerns about reading, writing or spelling.

My child has had extra literacy support without the expected progress.

My child tires quickly during literacy based tasks.

My child says they feel less able than their classmates.

These difficulties have persisted for more than a year.

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Please answer every statement so the summary reflects the full picture.

What this screener is based on

Our screeners are free pre-identification tools. They are designed to help you decide whether to explore a full assessment. They are not diagnostic instruments, they do not confirm a diagnosis and they cannot exclude one.

British Dyslexia Association indicators of dyslexia — Item content is aligned to the BDA's published indicators for children, young people and adults.
Patoss and SASC guidance — The domains reflect the areas that Patoss and the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee expect a full diagnostic assessment to explore: reading, spelling, written expression, phonological processing, working memory and processing speed.
Rose Review (2009) definition of dyslexia — The working definition of dyslexia used throughout our service follows the Rose Review.

Items are adapted rather than reproduced, so the published cut-off scores of the instruments above do not apply to this tool. All trademarks and copyright remain with their owners.