Products for Dyslexia: Screening, Testing, and Therapy

Decoding-Encoding Screener for Dyslexia (DESD)
Published by Western Psychological Services
The DESD is a screening test that allows you to assess a student's specific reading difficulties in less than 10 minutes. It consists of three sections: Decoding, Encoding, and Letter Writing. The decoding section provides a norm-referenced measure of sight-word recognition (Reading Standard Score). Qualitative indicators in the Encoding section allow you to distinguish deficits in sight-word recognition from phonetic analysis. The test identifies the specific skills that a child brings to bear on the task of reading words. This information makes it easier to detect and describe reading problems and to refer students for appropriate educational therapy. 
The DESD allows identification of children who are at risk for dyslexia, so they can be referred without delay to special services. The early screening and intervention made possible by the DESD vastly improves the effectiveness of educational therapy and helps minimize the secondary emotional problems dyslexia can create. Standardized on a sample of 678 students in grades 1 through 8, The DESD can be administered and scored in 5 to 10 minutes.

Pre-dyslexia Letter Coding Test (PLCT)
This test is normed for children in kindergarten. In the beginning of schooling for a child to succeed in reading, it is critical to be able to know and differentiate the basic sounds of the language and associate them with visual symbols. He or she must be able to recognize letters of the alphabet to name them and pronounce the sound that each letter would make in a word as well as being able to write each letter correctly from visual memory. The PLCT evaluates these visual-auditory-motor abilities. The test comes with instructions, test plates, and recording forms.

Dyslexia Screener for First-graders (DSF)
This screener is normed for children in the first grade although it can be used in cases of low achieving students in the second grade or high achievers in kindergarten. Because deficits in decoding and encoding the written language are hallmarks of dyslexia, the use of phonetically regular and irregular words in the systematic manner of the DSF allows for detecting dyseidetic (visual), dysphonetic (auditory), and dysphoneidesia (auditory and visual) types of dyslexia. The DSF comes with instructions, decoding stimulus pages, and recoding forms for decoding and encoding of words.

Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT)
This diagnostic test is normed for grades 2 through 12. It is the gold standard in testing for dyslexia and the definitive and validated test as such, first being published in 1981 with three subsequent editions. The DDT provides evaluation of eidetic (visual) decoding skills of sight-word recognition and phonetic (auditory) word attack skills as well as these categories for encoding (spelling) of words and, also, evaluation of motor skills in writing as regards letter reversals. Testing allows for determination of whether dyslexia is present and, if so, the type and severity of it. Theoretical and validation discussions are included with detailed instructions, with sample cases, for testing administration and interpretation. The results can suggest recommendations for specialized educational therapy if dyslexia is found. If dyslexia is ruled out, recommendations for therapy by other professionals can be suggested when there are reading problems. The DDT comes with Form A and Form B, for test-retest purposes. It comes with an extensive instruction manual, a booklet of plates for word decoding, and recording sheets for decoding results, recording sheets for word encoding results and letter reversal evaluation. Rapid scoring is achieved by use of a laminated reference table.

Adult Dyslexia Test (ADT)
This test is normed for college grade levels or for examinees over 18 years of age who have completed high school but without college education. The importance of education has been widely disseminated throughout the United States. Adult schools and literacy programs are found in most communities. Because of the high prevalence of dyslexia, even in the adult population, it is necessary to determine the presence and severity of specific eidetic and phonetic coding problems in dyslexic adults. The ADT is the first test, and only one of its kind, to fill this need and allow for recommendations for specialized educational therapy in literacy,
occupational therapy, and counseling programs, based on ADT results. The ADT comes with complete instructions, stimulus decoding pages, and recording sheets for decoding and encoding results, allowing for determination of dyslexic types and degrees of severity.

The Dyslexic Screener (TDS)
This screener is normed for grades 2 through 8. With prevalence of dyslexia ranging from 10% to 20% in elementary and middle schools, it is imperative to detect it and make appropriate referrals for further testing and diagnostic evaluation of dyslexia. TDS screening has high sensitivity and specificity for detecting dyseidetic (visual) and dysphonetic (auditory) types of dyslexia. It is an important tool for professionals on the multidisciplinary team involved in helping individuals with reading problems. These may include teachers, resource educational specialists, school psychologists, speech-language specialists, pediatricians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, occupational therapists, school nurses, and other professionals. They particularly need a dyslexia screening procedure when parents present their children with the complaint that: “My child is having trouble reading.”

Therapy in Dyslexia and Reading Problems: Including Vision, Perception, Motor Skills
This book is coordinated with the Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT), both as a complementary information source and as a “how-to” on therapy for the several types of dyslexia. Therapy is begun using “strengths” rather than “weaknesses.” For example, in dyseidetic dyslexia, emphasis is initially on phonics, later following with sight-word recognition training. In dysphonesia, emphasis is initially on sight-word recognition, later following with phonics training. When considering appropriate therapy in dyslexia, it is important to account for any other reading problems relating to visual information processing, audition, speech, motor skills, physical status, emotional status, mental abilities, and other factors, as discussed in this book. Besides recommendations for specific educational therapy for dyslexia, therapy techniques are discussed for various other-than-dyslexia problems to ameliorate reading difficulties.

Screening (English, Spanish, or French): practical, easy-to-learn

Pre-Dyslexia Letter Coding Test (PLCT):kindergarten
Pre-Dyslexia Letter Coding Test (French version)
Dyslexia Screener for First-graders
The Dyslexia Screener (TDS): grades 2-9
The Dyslexia Screener (French version)
Spanish Screener of the Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT): grades 2-12

Testing: This is essential for school and literacy programs and other professionals for diagnosis of the various types of dyslexia.

Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT): grades 2-12
Dyslexia Determination Test (DDT) French version
Adult Dyslexia Test (ADT): 18 years and older

Therapy (book): Therapy in Dyslexia and Reading Problems: Including Vision, Perception, and Motor Skills (all ages).

*Prices

*Prices subject to change

To order these books contact the publisher directly at the address below:

OEP Foundation, Inc.
1921 E. Carnegie Ave., Suite 3-L
Santa Ana, CA 92705
Tel: 949-250-8070 FAX: 949-250-8157
www.oepf.org

Note the DESD is also available through the OEP Foundation as well as other distributors

Western Psychological Services
12031 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025-1251
Tel: 310-478-2061 FAX: 310-478-7838
www.wpspublish.com