Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association is pleased to offer a service for screening children and adults for dyslexia.

For children aged 4 – 15 years

We offer  a screening service which utilises the  LUCID Rapid Screening programme, a computer programme which tests working memory, phonological processing and visual-verbal integration memory (4–7 years) or phonic decoding skills (8-15 years), looking at the areas of difficulty that are most common to dyslexic children.  It is a fun process, and the results are available in an easy to understand print-out which gives an indication of the likelihood of dyslexia. 

The Rapid Screening assessment together with a consultation with the teacher, which may also include testing for visual difficulties using coloured overlays if this seems appropriate, lasts about one and a half hours.  We charge £15 for this service. 

This is a useful tool for parents who are concerned that their child may be dyslexic and can provide a starting point for either a more comprehensive assessment for dyslexia or evidence that the child is unlikely to be dyslexic, so that parents can move on to try and support their child’s learning in a different direction.  This service is helpful for parents who are trying to negotiate with their school or Local Education Authority for help for their child, as it can provide some ‘ammunition’ for the case for additional learning support.  It also helps parents to understand how their child’s difficulties affect their learning, and their behaviour at home and at school, and to identify ways of helping their child.

For older children and adults:

There is also a LUCID Rapid computer-screening programme which is suitable for older students and adults, and gives a swift, objective indication of dyslexia. It takes around 30 minutes to administer and provides an immediate report with automatic interpretation. It tests verbal and non-verbal reasoning, lexical access, phonological processing and working memory. We can also test for visual difficulties using coloured overlays if this seems appropriate.   For adults who are concerned that they may be dyslexic, this is a first step to identifying whether dyslexia is a possible reason for many of the problems that they have experienced through school, and into their adult working life.

This test together with a consultation takes approximately one and a half hours and costs £20. 

Future Help

If the screening carried out indicates that your child is dyslexic, it may be that you would like to arrange additional classes for them outside of school.  We offer low cost literacy, handwriting and numeracy support in small groups, for dyslexic children.  If you would be interested in this, please let our Administrator know (details at the bottom of this page).  We keep a waiting list for our classes, and children are placed, as appropriately and sensitively as possible, with children who have a similar level of need. 

All our classes are run by qualified dyslexia teachers, and we have volunteer help in some groups from teachers and classroom assistants who are interested in developing their knowledge and experience of working with dyslexic children.

Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association is a registered charity, and all our activities are possible only through grant funding, fundraising, donations, and the contributions that parents make through the fees that we charge for classes.

To arrange a Screening 

Please contact our Administrator, Debbie Marshall on 078522 32509 or email Debbie.m@wfda.org.uk.

Please note that there is a waiting list for screening and we only work on Monday evenings during term-time.  It may be possible to arrange other times by appointment. It would be helpful if you would bring a photocopy (that you can leave with us) of any previous assessments, IEPs or statements for your child, which will be confidentially stored and passed on to our dyslexia teachers, if you wish to join one of our classes.