How does an assessment work?
Support with a dyslexia diagnosis...
A diagnostic assessment will usually take up to three hours to complete. The assessment will take place in a private room (such as your normal place of work, at the assessors’ office, etc.). It must be quiet and free from disturbances with a writing surface/table available. If the assessment is taking place at the assessor’s premises, you should make sure you know where you are going and how to get there. Also, allow enough time to arrive on time for your appointment. During an assessment the assessor will carry out a series of tests to explore aspects of underlying ability such as: • There is usually an informal chat before the assessment to gather a little more background information. • Reading, writing and spelling • Handwriting and fine motor skills • Underlying learning skills: phonological awareness, speed of processing and memory, speech and language and auditory processing. The aim is... • To formally diagnose dyslexia (if this is supported by the test results). • To assess performance on a range of items, allowing the assessor to consider strengths and weaknesses. • To collect information about reading, spelling and writing skills. • To identify whether there is a clear discrepancy between general level of ability and reading and writing attainment. • To consider other factors which may be affecting learning. • To identify whether any reasonable adjustments will need to be made in order for a person to fully access the curriculum and exams. • To identify whether reasonable adjustments need to be made to a person’s place of work.
Reasonable adjustments in the workplace At Specsavers we are committed to making reasonable adjustments to the workplace to enable our dyslexic employees to carry out their roles to a satisfactory standard this forms part of Specsavers Diversity and Inclusion Policy. A reasonable adjustment is a change to the working environment or way of working. What is ‘reasonable’ will depend on the employee’s difficulties, the employer’s resources and how practicable the changes are. Many reasonable adjustments are simple inexpensive changes that are easy to implement. They can be suggested (or requested) either by Specsavers or the member of staff. Access to work If the reasonable adjustments put in place by your employer do not provide sufficient support, you may be able to get help from Access to Work. To apply for Access to Work you need to have a paid job, or be about to start or return to one. An Access to Work grant can pay for: • Special equipment, adaptations or support worker services to help you do things like answer the phone or go to meetings • Help getting to and from work • Dyslexia awareness training for colleagues and strategy training, both of which can be put in place immediately
Apply for Access to Work Access to Work factsheet Examples of reasonable adjustments How to talk to my manager about my needs
After the assessment the assessor may be able to provide some insight but they will need time to calculate the test scores and analyse the results in order to give a diagnosis. This information will be provided in the subsequent report.
We currently exploring a process with the Employee Relations team that is similar and streamlines the reasonable adjustment application for Access to Work
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