Diagnosis is the single most important test before treating any kind of illness. But diagnosis and treatment do not always exist together. On one hand, there might be a way to correctly and easily diagnose a condition but there is no treatment that will address the medical problem. On the other hand, there is no easy method to diagnosis but there is an existing effective treatment. In the case of dyslexia, the affected children could neither have effective treatment nor easy diagnosis.
Treatment for dyslexia does not address the neurological problems that caused the reading difficulties. The focus of treatment is on the accommodation of the learning problem. That is, the teaching methods and the classroom environment are modified so that the dyslexic child may overcome his/her reading challenges. The prognosis is generally positive for those who had early interventions, but the severity of the symptoms can significantly affect the effectiveness of the treatment.
Before any treatment is even considered, there should be a correct diagnosis. Unfortunately, testing for dyslexia is difficult because there is no single assessment tool that will identify dyslexic children. Observations such as skipped words and lines while reading and an inability to count backwards are not sufficient. Such observations might be due to other learning disabilities and not dyslexia.
To rule out other learning disabilities and to be certain about the existence of dyslexia, school psychologists and other professionals in the field of special education end up utilizing several diagnostic tests. It is not inconceivable to have a child undergo a dozen tests before he/she will be diagnosed with dyslexia. This multi-approach to diagnosing dyslexia, so far, is the method that is currently used.
