Why are Reading Connections assessments necessary?
The very first thing we do here at Reading Connections when we take on a new student is to conduct a diagnostic assessment with the child. This assessment is essential if we are to create an individual program that is tailored to the specific needs of every child.
Many of our students have undergone assessment through an Educational Psychologist to ascertain whether they may have a Specific Learning Disorder such as dyslexia. While the results of these assessments are complex, detailed and essential for understanding the child’s learning differences, they do not address the specifics needed to create an individual learning program for the child.
During our assessments we get to know the child, their strengths, challenges, their likes and dislikes, and the specific areas of literacy that present as a challenge for them. We get to know them as an individual, creating a safe space in which they can learn without fear. Building trust is essential, as is creating a forum where learning can be fun. For many students who come to us, literacy has become an area in which they feel lost and are often disengaged. We strive to change that by helping them understand that learning can be fun, and they can be successful. This process starts during the assessment.
Our programs are tailored to the individual child and to do that we need to understand what they already know, and what they need to learn. This is where our assessments become invaluable. Not only do they inform our teaching, but they give parents and caregivers all the information they need to know about exactly where their child is with their learning. Having got to know the child, their interests and specific needs, we can then create a program that is relevant, engaging and educational.
As outlined in his book, Dyslexia A Practitioner’s Approach, Gavin Reid outlines the importance of addressing the individual’s needs. He states “..intervention and teaching programmes should be tailored to the needs profile of the individual learner, and this will vary depending on the preferred learning style and cognitive profile of each child”.
Here at Reading Connections a large part of our success is based on the fact that we tailor an individual program for each child after having done a compete diagnostic assessment of their strengths and challenges. Tutors and interventionists who choose not to conduct a diagnostic assessment with each individual child, are making an assumption that a ‘one size fits all’ generalised approach will suffice, regardless of the individual’s specific needs. No single approach works for all children however a tailored programme using complementary evidence-based approaches addressing student needs has proven to be most successful.
Sue Austin