That depends on why you want one. Understand when a diagnosis is useful and what else is available.
If you suspect that your child has dyslexia, it is natural to consider getting a formal evaluation and diagnosis. There are obviously benefits to getting a formal diagnosis. And surprisingly, there are some disadvantages to be aware of.
You might also wonder when to hire specialist tutors for your child. We’ll discuss that at the end of this article.
Spoiler alert: We recommend finding a specialist tutor in parallel with getting an official diagnosis. There’s no need to wait. We’ll explain why at the end of this article.
In this guide, we will cover:
- Dyslexia diagnosis: What it is
- Pros of getting a dyslexia diagnosis
- Cons of getting a dyslexia diagnosis
- Specialist tutoring for your child
Dyslexia Diagnosis: What it is
A dyslexia assessment and diagnosis is generally performed by a psychologist or a special education teacher. It’s based on identifying patterns of strengths and weaknesses in cognitive abilities. In contrast, diagnosis of other neurodiversities are often performed by medical professionals.
For example, an Autism Spectrum diagnosis should be performed by a psychiatrist who specializes in Autism.
Similarly, an ADHD diagnosis should be performed by a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD.
Now, there’s a potential problem with this. It’s very common for someone who is dyslexic to have aspects of other neurodiversities, for example Autism Spectrum, ADHD or dyspraxia. As each neurodiversity has its own specialists who perform official diagnoses, one specialist might only be able to diagnose in their specialty and refer on if they see other potential issues. So it’s important to have someone on your team who has the whole picture of who your child is. We’ll discuss that more in the section on “Specialist Tutoring for Your Child” below.
Pros of Getting a Dyslexia Diagnosis
The advantage of having a diagnosis is that you may be then able to use that diagnosis to force the local authorities or school to provide special accommodations. Those may include funding for extra help or equipment and extra time during exams.
Cons of Getting a dyslexia Diagnosis
You may be surprised to hear that there can also be downsides to getting an official dyslexia diagnosis for your child.
It turns out that there are also potential problems:
- The child becomes the label
- Teachers may lower their expectations
- The child sees this diagnosis as a limiting factor.
The child becomes the label
Many educators think they ‘know’ what dyslexia is, so once a child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, they think they ‘know’ the child. Even if they’re not special educators they may have some guidelines they can follow for working with dyslexic students once they see the diagnosis.
The problem with this is that most neurodiverse people have not one but rather several neurodiversities.
Teachers may lower their expectations
A simple diagnosis of dyslexia may well give their educators tunnel vision, leading them to ignore other challenges that the child may have. Some educators may even make the mistake of thinking that dyslexia defines the child.
Teachers want to do the very best for all the children they teach, but often they do not have the breadth of experience to fully cater to a range of neurodevelopmental differences.
Some teachers and some school systems focus their time and attention where they expect to succeed. Some children, unfortunately, just get left behind.
The child sees this diagnosis as a limiting factor
It is common for dyslexic children to experience negative informal labels too. Labels from teachers and others who just understand. They are often called lazy or nagged to try harder and do better without being given the tools to succeed.
This experience can contribute to low self esteem, lower aspirations and learned helplessness. There’s a strong overlap of depression and anxiety with all of the neurodiversities. Perhaps if we can make their experience better, they can feel better about themselves.
In fact, dyslexia is a mixed bag. Yes, there are some obvious limitations like difficulty reading or learning to read or difficulty processing some kinds of information.
However, dyslexics also have a unique way of thinking that often allows them to see the big picture, and see patterns that others miss.
The world is full of highly successful dyslexics, such as Richard Branson, Steven Spielberg and Magic Johnson.
When you have the full picture, dyslexia is as much a superpower as a limitation. Your child just needs to learn to discover their superpowers hidden beneath their obvious challenges.
None of these downsides mean that you should not get a formal dyslexia diagnosis for your child. However, finding the right support is more important than a formal diagnosis
Specialist Tutoring for Your Child
If you think your child might be dyslexic, you might be considering hiring a specialist tutor to help them thrive in school – and in life.
Which raises two questions:
- Is it important to have an official diagnosis before hiring a specialist tutor?
- Will an official diagnosis affect how the specialist tutor works with your child?
Is it important to have an official diagnosis before hiring a specialist tutor?
As we mentioned before, neurodiversities tend to go together. If your child is dyslexic, it is likely they also have other differences. And even if they’re ‘only’ dyslexic, no two dyslexics are exactly the same.
Sometimes a diagnosis may lead subject tutors who work with students with dyslexia to pigeonhole your child into a box and miss the individual differences.
Will an official diagnosis affect how the specialist tutor supports your child?
A great dyslexia tutor will see your child as a unique individual, regardless of whether they have a diagnosis or not.
They will assess all aspects of your child’s strengths and weaknesses, so they don’t miss any other important differences your child has.
They’ll develop a customised approach to working with your child. And as they continue to work with your child, they’ll continue to adjust their program over time.
So, for the best specialist tutors, a specific diagnosis is only one reference point. They do not need the diagnosis to get to know your child and start working with them.
If you would like to talk with one of our experts to discuss what would be the best approach to tutoring your dyslexic child, book a free consultation today.
