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A special concern of school administrators, principals and superintendents particularly,
is the question who is qualified to make a diagnosis of dyslexia. The important thing
to remember is that dyslexia is a condition that effects learning primarily, and specifically
school learning. And so while many people believe that only medical people are qualified
to diagnose dyslexia, actually the best qualified are people who know very well what is involved
in learning to read, to write, and to spell. So if we think about those characteristics
that are most impaired for someone who has dyslexia, then we might think of a combination
of people such as reading teachers, school psychologists, special educators. People who
know for example how to administer tests to determine how well a child currently reads.
Who is able to look at the relationship between what a child has been taught versus what he
has learned or she has learned. And is able to look at characteristics of how easily or
how quickly new information related to reading and spelling can be learned. So people who
are familiar with the normal progress in reading are best able to recognize children who are
not progressing normally. And if those people have the skills to administer the specialized
kinds of tests to look at aspects of language and reading. These are the people who are
best qualified.