How to Diagnose Dyslexia in Adults
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Are you an adult who suspects you might have dyslexia? If so, this blog post could help you.
What are the three different types of dyslexia?
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Healthline’s How does dyslexia affect adults? mentions the three main different types of dyslexia:
- Dysnemkinesia, which affects motor skills.
- Dysphonesia, which affects auditory or listening skills.
- Dyseidesia, which affects visual skills.
Symptoms of dyslexia in adults
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These may include issues with the following:
- Reading.
- Solving maths problems (this is also present in dyscalculia).
- Memorisation.
- Time Management.
How to diagnose dyslexia in adults
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Since dyslexia is not a medical or physical condition, GPs cannot diagnose it, but they may refer adults who suspect they have it to psychiatrists. A psychiatrist may carry out the following tests to determine if an adult has dyslexia:
- Vision test
- Hearing test
- Reading test
- Psychological test
- Questionnaires about their lifestyle or work life
Dyslexia quizzes
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Adults can take quizzes on the following websites to see if they have dyslexia; however, the quizzes are only indicators of symptoms and should not be used as formal diagnoses:
When an adult takes any of the quizzes, they may wish to share their results with their GP and psychiatrist.
What are dyslexia checklists and screenings?
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The British Dyslexia Association offers a wide range of assessments for adults, but they recommend that adults do a dyslexia checklist and/or a screener beforehand.
Adults can download a dyslexia checklist from here. It cannot tell them if they have dyslexia or not, but “it is a tool used to help whether there is a likelihood of dyslexia, and whether further investigation should take place”: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/how-is-dyslexia-diagnosed/dyslexia-checklists
A list of dyslexia screening tools can be found here: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/shop/assured
Screening tools that are suitable for adults to use include the ClaroRead software and Dyslexia Workplace Plus.
A list of assessments and explanations can be found here: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/services/assessments
The assessments include Diagnostic Assessments; a Workplace Needs Assessment; and similarities and differences between assessments and screening.
Am I dyslexic? webinar
There is a webinar on the Exceptional Individuals YouTube channel that adults can watch to determine if they have dyslexia. Again, this should not be used as a diagnostic tool.
Key points of the webinar include the following:
- A spiky profile This consists of peaks and troughs that represent a person’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, a person with dyslexia may have creativity as a strength but maths as a weakness.
- Missing out words and losing one’s place when reading.
- Getting similar words mixed up, e.g. knife and fork.
- Identifying an object.
- Planning to meet a friend (You arrange to meet them at 12pm. What time will you typically get there?).
- Remembering your left from your right.
- How far from New York will it be when the two trains meet?
- How many times did you need to read a question to understand what it was asking?
- Writing down a spoken number.
- Filling in a missing word or more than one missing word in a sentence.
- Resolving the problem with sleeping through a phone alarm.
- Reading a paragraph aloud.
- Sounding out and reading words.
- Writing the alphabet in order.
- Calculating a sum.
Adults who watch the webinar and complete the tasks throughout may also wish to share and discuss their results with their GP and psychiatrist.
Blog Author
April Slocombe
