1.2.2 What does the diagnosis involve?
A diagnostic assessment is not an exam, and there are no right or wrong answers. It is simply trying to find out about an individual’s style of learning, what does or doesn’t work in terms of academic or workplace skills, and to start to build a wider picture of an individual’s strengths and weaknesses.
There are a series of tests involved which explore different aspects, like: underlying learning ability; reading; writing; spelling; handwriting; fine motor skills; speech; language; and auditory processing.
These tests measure and build an overall learning profile, usually based on these four areas:
- verbal reasoning – thinking with words
- visual reasoning – thinking with images
- speed of processing – the speed at which the brain absorbs and responds to information, a lack of automaticity
- working memory – where verbal information is held and manipulated temporarily.
The test results support the diagnosis. A diagnostic assessment can also help to uncover any other co-occurring learning difficulties and identify what reasonable adjustments may need to be put in place. It can signpost to other organisations or to further assessments.