Do You Really Need a Dyslexia Diagnosis to Get Help?
“Do I need to wait for a diagnosis before my child can get help?”
It’s one of the most common questions I hear from parents.
And I completely understand why you’re asking. You want to do the right thing for your child, but between teachers, psychologists, and specialists, it can feel like you’re standing in a maze of opinions, paperwork, and waitlists.
Here’s the good news: your child doesn’t need to wait for a formal diagnosis to start getting the right kind of support.
But a high-quality, in-depth assessment can make all the difference in understanding why they’re struggling and how to help them most effectively.
Let’s unpack this together. 💛
Support Should Never Wait for a Label
Many parents are told that nothing can happen until their child has an “official diagnosis” of dyslexia from a psychologist.
The problem is, that process can take months, sometimes even a year, and in that time, children can fall further behind.
Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference.
That means we can see clear indicators of risk long before a child meets full diagnostic criteria.
With the right screening tools and knowledge of early warning signs like difficulty remembering sounds, slow progress in learning letter patterns, or trouble spelling familiar words, we can begin evidence-based, structured literacy support straight away.
Because early, targeted intervention changes outcomes. Waiting doesn’t.
Why Assessment Still Matters
While we don’t want to delay help, assessment is incredibly valuable when done properly, especially by professionals trained to look beneath the surface.
A good assessment doesn’t just answer, “Does my child have dyslexia?”
It helps you understand, “Why are they finding reading and spelling so hard, and what can we do about it?”
That’s where tools like the Tests of Dyslexia (TOD) have become such a game-changer.
The Tests of Dyslexia: Looking Deeper Than the Label
Traditional assessments often focus only on scores like reading accuracy, spelling, and sometimes phonological awareness.
The TOD goes further. It gives us a complete picture of how your child’s brain processes written language by exploring several key areas:
Phonological processing – how well they can recognise and manipulate speech sounds
Orthographic processing – how easily they remember written word patterns and spelling rules
Rapid naming and working memory – how efficiently they retrieve and hold sounds in mind while reading
Language comprehension and vocabulary – their understanding of spoken language, which underpins reading
When we combine these results with background information from parents and teachers, classroom observations, and writing samples, we can clearly see where the breakdown is happening.
That insight guides everything, from the therapy plan to school recommendations to the emotional support your child may need.
Why Traditional Assessments Don’t Always Tell the Full Story
In many traditional assessments, evaluations for dyslexia rely heavily on broad cognitive and academic tests such as the WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and the WIAT (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test).
While these are well-established tools, they mainly look at the outcomes or symptoms of a child’s learning difficulties, not the underlying causes.
The WISC measures overall intellectual ability, including reasoning, memory, and processing speed.
The WIAT looks at academic skills such as reading accuracy, comprehension, spelling, and written expression.
These tests can certainly show that a child is struggling with reading and spelling and can highlight a gap between potential (IQ) and achievement.
But they don’t tell us why.
They don’t directly measure:
How well a child can hear and manipulate sounds in words (phonological awareness)
How efficiently they store and retrieve word patterns (orthographic mapping)
Whether their working memory and processing speed are affecting their ability to decode words
How their understanding and use of spoken language affects how easily they learn to read and spell
Without understanding these areas, we’re left with a surface-level picture: what the difficulties look like, but not where they stem from.
This is where the Tests of Dyslexia (TOD) fill an enormous gap.
They dig into the core deficit areas of dyslexia, not just the observable difficulties that result from them.
That level of insight allows us to create far more targeted intervention plans and to explain, in clear language, what your child actually needs, not just what they can’t yet do.
The Benefits of a Clear Diagnosis
A diagnosis, when made by someone who deeply understands dyslexia, can be empowering, not limiting.
It gives your child (and you) language to describe their experience.
It helps teachers and schools understand that the problem isn’t effort or intelligence — it’s how their brain processes written language.
And for older students, it can open the door to exam accommodations, assistive technology, and the right kind of adjustments at school.
At Little Voices we often say:
“Don’t chase a label, seek understanding.”
A good assessment shines a light on your child’s strengths as well as their challenges, so we can build confidence, resilience, and advocacy skills alongside literacy skills.
The Best Path Forward: Act Early, Assess Deeply
The ideal scenario is both:
✨ Start evidence-based support as soon as difficulties are noticed
✨ Follow up with a comprehensive assessment that pinpoints exactly what’s going on
That combination means your child gets the help they need now, while also giving you the information, language, and documentation you’ll need to advocate for them through school and beyond.
💬 Final Thoughts
Whether you’re just starting to suspect dyslexia or you’re navigating the next steps after diagnosis, remember:
You don’t need to wait for a formal report to start helping your child.
But a detailed assessment, especially one that looks beyond scores to the why, can change everything.
If you’d like to understand your child’s learning profile in more depth, or if you’re wondering whether a full dyslexia assessment might help, I’m always happy to chat about next steps.
💌 Learn more about my comprehensive dyslexia assessments and the Navigating Dyslexia parent course — designed to help you move from confusion to clarity, and feel confident supporting your child’s learning journey.
🎓 Mentoring and Supervision for Speech Pathologists
I also provide mentoring and clinical supervision for speech pathologists who want to build confidence and depth in assessing and supporting students with dyslexia.
Whether you’re just beginning to explore literacy-based practice or you’re ready to extend your diagnostic toolkit with tools like the Tests of Dyslexia (TOD), I offer one-to-one and group mentoring sessions focused on practical application, interpretation, and integration of assessment results.
If you’d like to expand your skills in this area and feel confident identifying and explaining dyslexia profiles, I’d love to support you.
📩 Get in touch to learn more about mentoring opportunities and upcoming professional learning options.
