S.L.D. Assessment

At All Kinds of Minds Assessments, S.L.D. assessment is completed by a P.S.I. Chartered Clinical Psychologist with relevant training and experience in cognitive and attainment assessment, developmental formulation, and the diagnosis of dyslexia and dyscalculia. D.A.R.E.‍ ‍recognises an appropriately qualified psychologist as the professional to provide a report diagnosing dyslexia or dyscalculia.

A comprehensive S.L.D. assessment is not based on one test score or a simple comparison between cognitive ability and academic attainment. The Clinical Psychologist considers the child’s or young person’s cognitive and learning profile alongside their developmental and educational history, standardised attainment findings, learning opportunities, response to teaching and support where known, everyday educational functioning, and any relevant linguistic, sensory, attentional, emotional, medical, neurodevelopmental, or contextual factors.

This allows the assessment to consider not only whether the evidence supports dyslexia, dyscalculia, or both, but also how the child’s or young person’s particular pattern of strengths, learning differences, and support needs is best understood.

Formal psychological assessment is not required for every educational support or external scheme. It may be particularly helpful where literacy or numeracy differences have been persistent, where their nature is not yet clear, where diagnostic clarification would be useful, or where a more detailed understanding of the child’s or young person’s learning profile would assist educational planning and support.

The assessment also considers whether other factors may be contributing to, co-occurring with, or more coherently explaining aspects of the learning profile. For example, relevant features associated with Autism, A.D.H.D., language, anxiety, low mood, broader cognitive development, health, or other contextual factors may need to be considered when interpreting the findings. Where these are relevant, they can inform the formulation and recommendations. The S.L.D. pathway does not, however, automatically include formal diagnostic assessment of these additional areas. If further assessment would be helpful, this will be explained and can be considered separately.

It is also important to distinguish a clinical diagnosis from the eligibility criteria for a particular educational scheme or support. External schemes may use specific scores, documentary requirements, or functional criteria for their own purposes. These requirements do not determine whether a child or young person is dyslexic or dyscalculic. Equally, meeting a numerical threshold within an external scheme does not, by itself, establish a diagnosis. The diagnostic conclusion is based on the assessment evidence as a whole.

A Psychological Report does not have a universal expiry date. It can remain an important part of the child’s or young person’s developmental and educational history. Some external organisations may nevertheless require more recent attainment results, updated evidence of educational impact, or particular documentation for a current application. Where an assessment is being considered primarily for a specific external purpose, families should therefore check the requirements that apply at the time of application.

A formal assessment can provide diagnostic clarity, a detailed understanding of the child’s or young person’s learning profile, and professionally reasoned recommendations. Decisions about eligibility for a particular exemption, accommodation, grant, admissions route, or other external provision are made separately by the organisation responsible for that scheme.

A diagnosis of dyslexia or dyscalculia can provide important clinical and educational clarity, but diagnosis and eligibility for a particular educational accommodation, grant, or external scheme are separate matters.

Many educational supports can be provided on the basis of a child’s or young person’s identified needs without a formal diagnosis or Psychological Report. Other provisions require particular professional evidence, current attainment findings, school documentation, evidence of educational impact, or a combination of these.

A Psychological Assessment can clarify the child’s or young person’s learning profile, identify strengths and functional learning needs, establish whether the evidence supports dyslexia, dyscalculia, or both, and provide individualised recommendations. Where a particular accommodation or support is professionally justified by the assessment findings, it will be stated clearly in the Psychological Report.

Reports issued by All Kinds of Minds Assessments are professional psychological reports and may be used to inform educational planning and relevant applications. Where an external scheme applies its own eligibility criteria, the relevant school, examination body, higher-education institution, public authority, or scheme administrator considers the evidence and makes the decision under that scheme.

The sections below explain how Psychological Assessment relates to Irish exemption, assistive technology, R.A.C.E., and D.A.R.E., including the specific evidence and application requirements that apply in each case.

A psychological assessment or formal diagnosis of dyslexia is not required for a child or young person to be considered for an exemption from the study of Irish. Eligibility is determined through a school-led process under the applicable Department of Education and Youth criteria, and a diagnosis of dyslexia does not automatically establish eligibility for an exemption.

The governing arrangements are set out in Circular 0054/2022 for primary schools and Circular 0055/2022 for post-primary schools. These circulars set out the grounds on which an exemption may be considered, the evidence required for each route, the school’s responsibilities in reviewing an application, and the applicable appeal process.

Significant and Persistent Literacy Difficulties

One route applies where a child or young person experiences significant and persistent literacy difficulties that present an obstacle to learning across the curriculum and these difficulties have continued despite differentiated language and literacy teaching and support.

For this route, the applicable criteria include a standardised score at or below the 10th percentile on a discrete test of at least one of the following areas: Word Reading, Reading Comprehension, or Spelling. At primary level, the child must also have reached at least second class.

A percentile rank shows how a child’s or young person’s performance compares with the relevant standardisation group for the test. A score at the 10th percentile means that the child performed as well as or better than approximately 10 out of every 100 children in the comparison group, while approximately 90 out of 100 obtained a higher score; a score at the 5th percentile means that approximately 5 out of 100 obtained the same or a lower score.

Parents may also be familiar with Standard Scores. On many educational measures, Standard Scores have an average of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, and on this type of scale the 10th percentile corresponds approximately to a Standard Score of 81–82. This is only a general guide, however, because scoring systems and rounding conventions differ between tests. For the Irish-exemption criteria, the relevant requirement is the reported percentile rank on an appropriate discrete test rather than assuming that one particular Standard Score applies across all measures.

The literacy score is only one part of this route. The school also considers whether the difficulties are significant and persistent, whether they create an obstacle to learning across the curriculum, and whether they have continued despite appropriate differentiated teaching and support. Existing school records, standardised assessment findings, intervention history, and review of the child’s or young person’s response to support therefore form an important part of the evidence.

A Psychological Assessment is not necessary simply to obtain the literacy score required for an Irish-exemption application. The school may already hold suitable standardised literacy findings or may be able to obtain the necessary evidence through its own assessment and support processes.

Multiple and Persistent Needs

The circulars also provide a separate route for a child or young person who experiences a high level of multiple and persistent needs that create a very significant and continuing barrier to participation and engagement in learning and school life. This route is distinct from the literacy-difficulties route and does not depend on a particular Word Reading, Reading Comprehension, or Spelling score.

The focus is instead on the overall pattern, persistence, and functional impact of the child’s or young person’s needs, together with evidence of the support that has already been provided. The school must have substantial written evidence showing that these needs have continued despite targeted and individualised support, including Student Support Plans that have been implemented, monitored, and reviewed over time in collaboration with the child or young person and their parent(s) or guardian(s). The relevant circulars require this support history to extend over at least two school years.

A range of developmental, neurodevelopmental, learning, communication, sensory, emotional, health-related, or cognitive factors may contribute to such a pattern of need. For example, Autism or A.D.H.D. may be relevant where differences in communication, flexibility, attention regulation, executive functioning, working memory, organisation, sensory processing, or participation interact with the demands of learning Irish. Language differences, multiple learning differences, or certain cognitive profiles may also be relevant where they form part of a broader and persistent pattern affecting participation and engagement in learning.

These profiles do not create automatic eligibility for an exemption. Autism, A.D.H.D., a particular cognitive profile, or another diagnosis may help explain the nature and extent of the child’s or young person’s educational needs, but the relevant consideration under this route is the documented impact of multiple and persistent needs over time, together with evidence that these needs continue despite sustained and individualised support.

How the Application Is Made

A parent or legal guardian applies in writing to the school principal. The principal, acting on behalf of the school’s board of management, considers the application under the relevant circular and completes the required consultation and evidence-gathering process.

The school determines whether the criteria for the relevant route are met and, where an application is refused, the decision may be appealed through the process set out in the applicable circular. The decision to grant or refuse an exemption therefore rests with the school rather than with the Psychologist.

Role of a Psychological Assessment

A Psychological Assessment can provide important clinical and educational information where there is a broader question about the child’s or young person’s learning or neurodevelopmental profile. It can clarify the nature of persistent literacy difficulties, determine whether the overall evidence supports dyslexia, identify cognitive and academic strengths and learning needs, and help explain how different aspects of a child’s or young person’s profile may be contributing to their educational experience.

Where the assessment includes relevant standardised measures of Word Reading, Reading Comprehension, or Spelling, these findings may provide evidence for the school to consider within the literacy-difficulties route. Where multiple and persistent needs are relevant, the assessment may also help clarify the contribution of factors such as Autism, A.D.H.D., language and communication differences, executive functioning, broader cognitive profile, or multiple learning differences.

Where the findings are relevant to a possible Irish exemption, they will be described clearly in the Psychological Report. The report can set out the child’s or young person’s learning profile, standardised findings, functional educational needs, clinical formulation, and professionally supported recommendations, while the school considers these alongside its own records, Student Support Plans, intervention history, and the other evidence required under the applicable circular.

For families considering an S.L.D. Assessment primarily or solely to support an application for an exemption from the study of Irish, it is advisable to discuss the matter with the school principal before arranging a Psychological Assessment. The school can clarify which route may be relevant, what evidence is already available, whether further school-based assessment or documentation is required, and whether a Psychological Assessment is likely to add useful information.

Where the broader purpose is to understand persistent literacy difficulties, clarify whether the diagnostic criteria for dyslexia are met, or develop a fuller understanding of the child’s or young person’s learning, cognitive, or neurodevelopmental profile and support needs, a Psychological Assessment can address those questions independently of whether an Irish exemption is ultimately sought or granted.

The Assistive Technology Grant provides funding to schools towards specialist equipment that is essential for an eligible student to access the curriculum. The scheme operates under Circular 0010/2013, with applications processed through the N.C.S.E. and funding decisions made by the Department of Education and Youth.

S.L.D. is one of the categories that may be considered under the scheme, but specific eligibility criteria apply. For this purpose, the Department describes the S.L.D. category as applying to children and young people who have been assessed by a psychologist as having overall cognitive ability within or above the average range and a learning difficulty specific to basic skills in reading, writing, or mathematics that places them at or below the 2nd percentile on suitable, standardised, norm-referenced tests.

Within a Wechsler cognitive assessment, overall cognitive ability is usually considered with reference to the Full Scale I.Q. (F.S.I.Q.). Where there is substantial variability across the cognitive profile and the F.S.I.Q. is not considered the most representative summary of the child’s or young person’s reasoning abilities, the General Ability Index (G.A.I.) may also be relevant. The G.A.I. provides an estimate of general cognitive ability that is less influenced by working memory and processing speed than the F.S.I.Q., which can be particularly relevant when interpreting some dyslexic learning profiles. For the purposes of this grant, the important point is that the Department’s S.L.D. category requires evidence that overall cognitive ability falls within or above the average range. However, the Psychologist determines the most clinically appropriate interpretation of the cognitive profile.

The 2nd-percentile requirement is a particularly stringent attainment threshold. A score at the 2nd percentile means that the child or young person performed as well as or better than approximately 2 out of every 100 people in the relevant standardisation group, while approximately 98 out of 100 obtained a higher score. On many commonly used educational measures with a mean Standard Score of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, the 2nd percentile corresponds approximately to a Standard Score of 70, although the precise score-to-percentile relationship depends on the particular measure and its scoring conventions.

These are administrative eligibility criteria specific to the Assistive Technology Grant and should not be interpreted as the clinical criteria for determining whether a child or young person is dyslexic or dyscalculic. Contemporary psychological assessment considers the overall pattern of developmental, educational, cognitive, attainment, and functional evidence rather than requiring a particular global cognitive score or attainment at or below the 2nd percentile. A child or young person may have a clinically well-supported diagnosis of dyslexia or dyscalculia without meeting the narrow criteria applied within this grant scheme.

Even where the S.L.D. criteria are met, eligibility for assistive technology is not automatic. The scheme also requires evidence that specialist equipment is essential for the student to access the curriculum and that the school’s existing resources are insufficient to meet the identified need. The relevant question is therefore not simply whether technology would be helpful or likely to improve performance, but whether the student requires the equipment to access their education effectively.

The professional evidence required depends on the basis of the application. Across the scheme more broadly, a recent, comprehensive assessment may be provided by a Psychologist, Occupational Therapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Physiotherapist, medical professional, or another appropriately qualified professional, depending on the nature of the student’s needs. Where an application is made specifically on the basis of S.L.D., however, psychological assessment is required because the scheme criteria include both cognitive and standardised attainment evidence. The supporting assessment should describe the nature and extent of the student’s needs, identify the equipment or technological support considered appropriate, explain how it would address those needs, and establish why it is required for curriculum access.

The school also has an important evidential role. Before applying, it must demonstrate that appropriate teaching interventions, reasonable accommodations, adaptations, and existing technological resources have been considered or used. The school provides information about the supports already in place, the equipment currently available, why those resources are insufficient, how the proposed equipment would be used during the school day, and the educational needs and outcomes it is intended to address.

School management submits the application to the S.E.N.O. assigned to the school. The S.E.N.O. considers the professional assessment, the student’s identified educational needs, the school’s existing provision, and the applicable scheme criteria in deciding whether to recommend funding to the Department. Department approval must be received before the school purchases equipment under the scheme.

Role of a Psychological Report

Where a Psychological Report forms part of an application, the Clinical Psychologist will describe the relevant assessment findings and recommend assistive technology where this is professionally supported by the evidence. The report can explain how the child’s or young person’s cognitive and learning profile affects curriculum access and identify the functional features required of suitable equipment or software.

Depending on the individual profile, these features may include text-to-speech, speech-to-text, word processing, spelling support, digital access to written material, or other forms of technological support. Recommendations are based on the child’s or young person’s assessed functional educational needs rather than on diagnosis alone; a diagnosis of dyslexia or dyscalculia does not, by itself, indicate that a particular device or software package is required.

The Psychological Report and the school’s evidence therefore have distinct and complementary roles. The Clinical Psychologist provides professional assessment, interpretation, and recommendations relevant to the student’s identified needs, while the school documents the interventions and accommodations already provided, the technological resources currently available, the intended classroom use of the proposed equipment, and why its existing provision is insufficient. Eligibility for funding is then considered through the N.C.S.E. and Department process under the criteria of the scheme.

Equipment and Software

Where a particular item or type of software is professionally justified, the Psychological Report may describe the functional features required. The scheme may approve equipment or software that provides those features without funding the particular brand or model named in a professional report. This does not alter the professional basis of the recommendation or the child’s or young person’s identified need; it reflects the way equipment is considered and funded under the scheme.

Equipment funded through the scheme generally remains the property of the school. Where a student changes school and the equipment continues to be appropriate for their assessed educational needs, the schools should consult the relevant S.E.N.O. or Visiting Teacher regarding arrangements for transfer. Communication, medical, or therapy-related devices that are not specifically required for educational access may instead fall within the remit of H.S.E. services, depending on the nature of the child’s or young person’s needs and the applicable service arrangements.

The R.A.C.E. Scheme is administered by the State Examinations Commission. It provides reasonable accommodations for eligible candidates whose established needs affect how they can access the Junior Cycle or Leaving Certificate examinations, or demonstrate their knowledge under ordinary examination conditions. The purpose of an accommodation is to support appropriate access to the examination without changing the standard at which the candidate is assessed.

For applications relating to learning difficulties, a formal diagnosis is not generally required. R.A.C.E. is primarily a school-led process: the school completes the prescribed application procedures, undertakes any standardised testing required for the accommodation being sought, documents the candidate’s educational needs and the functional impact of those needs in examination settings, and provides any additional evidence required under the applicable scheme criteria.

Eligibility is based on the candidate’s individual examination-access needs and the criteria governing the particular accommodation, rather than on diagnosis alone. A diagnosis of dyslexia, dyscalculia, A.D.H.D., Autism, or another neurodevelopmental or learning profile does not automatically establish eligibility for a R.A.C.E. accommodation. Equally, the absence of a formal diagnosis does not prevent a candidate from being considered where the relevant criteria are otherwise met.

Depending on the candidate’s demonstrated needs and the applicable criteria, accommodations may include reading assistance, writing or recording assistance, use of a word processor or other approved technology, a waiver from the assessment of spelling and grammar in specified examinations, a separate examination centre, additional time, or other examination-access arrangements available under the scheme. Different accommodations have different eligibility requirements, and the appropriate arrangement depends on the nature and extent of the candidate’s need, how that need affects examination access, the type of examination involved, and the criteria governing the accommodation. A candidate may therefore meet the criteria for one accommodation without meeting the criteria for another.

Where accommodations were approved at Junior Cycle, the school may be able to reactivate relevant arrangements for Leaving Certificate where the need remains and the current scheme requirements are satisfied. Previous approval does not necessarily mean that no further action is required; the school remains responsible for completing any reactivation, review, confirmation, or new application process required for the later examination cycle.

Role of a Psychological Assessment Report

A Psychological Assessment Report can provide important clinical and educational evidence where a child or young person has a more complex learning profile, where the nature or extent of their learning differences requires diagnostic clarification, or where an individually reasoned professional understanding of their examination-access needs would assist educational planning. The assessment can clarify the relationship between the child’s or young person’s cognitive and learning profile, standardised attainment findings, functional educational needs, and the demands they experience in examination settings.

Where a particular examination accommodation is professionally supported by the assessment findings, the Psychological Report will identify the relevant functional need and state the recommendation clearly. This may include recommendations relating to reading support, use of a word processor or other approved technology, writing or recording assistance, additional time, or another appropriate examination accommodation where this is supported by the evidence.

A recommendation within a Psychological Report provides professional psychological evidence of the candidate’s assessed needs and the rationale for the recommendation. It does not replace the prescribed R.A.C.E. process or, by itself, establish eligibility for an accommodation. The school remains responsible for completing the relevant application or reactivation procedures, carrying out any school-based testing required under the scheme, documenting the candidate’s educational and examination-access needs, and submitting the required evidence. The State Examinations Commission applies the scheme criteria and determines which accommodations are approved.

The Psychological Report, school-based evidence, and R.A.C.E. application therefore have distinct and complementary roles. The Clinical Psychologist provides professional assessment, interpretation, and recommendations where these are supported by the evidence, while the school provides the educational and functional information required within the R.A.C.E. process and manages the application.

Families considering R.A.C.E. should discuss possible examination accommodations with the school sufficiently in advance of the relevant application deadline, particularly where school-based standardised testing or additional documentation may be required. As scheme criteria, available accommodations, procedures, and deadlines may change, families and schools should consult the current State Examinations Commission guidance for the examination cycle in which the application is being made.

Planning for the transition from school to further or higher education is most helpful when it begins sufficiently early to allow the young person to explore suitable courses, understand entry requirements, consider the supports they may need in a different educational environment, and make contact with the relevant access or disability service where appropriate. A Psychological Assessment Report can support this process by providing a clinically coherent account of the young person’s learning profile, functional educational needs, established supports, and professionally justified recommendations for their next educational setting.

Supports available after secondary school operate within a different educational framework and may not correspond directly with supports previously provided at school or accommodations approved through R.A.C.E. Further-education providers and higher-education institutions apply their own procedures when considering reasonable accommodations, assistive technology, learning support, examination arrangements, and other supports for participation in education. Importantly, access to these supports is separate from admission through D.A.R.E.; a student may be able to access appropriate disability or learning supports whether they enter through an alternative admissions route or through the standard admissions process.

The D.A.R.E. scheme is an alternative admissions route for school-leavers whose disability has had a significant educational impact during second-level education. Eligible applicants may compete for reduced-points places in participating higher-education institutions, provided that they also meet the minimum entry requirements and any course-specific requirements. D.A.R.E. eligibility, being offered a reduced-points place, and receiving disability or learning supports after entering further or higher education are related but separate decisions, so eligibility for one does not automatically determine the outcome of the others.

Under the published dyslexia criteria, an applicant may provide a Psychological Assessment Report identifying dyslexia or apply through the alternative Significant Literacy Difficulties route using the prescribed school-based documentation. A Psychological Assessment Report is therefore required for the dyslexia diagnostic route, but not for the alternative school-based route. Both routes also require the applicant to satisfy the applicable literacy-attainment and educational-impact requirements, so a diagnosis of dyslexia forms one part of the evidence and does not replace the other requirements of the application.

The evidence route for dyscalculia is different. Under the published dyscalculia criteria, a full Psychological Assessment Report completed by an appropriately qualified psychologist is required. The applicant must also provide the qualifying numeracy-attainment evidence, an Educational Impact Statement, and any additional documentation required under the scheme. A diagnosis of dyscalculia therefore provides important professional evidence, but the attainment, educational-impact, and documentary requirements must also be met.

Where an S.L.D. Assessment is being arranged with D.A.R.E. in mind, sufficient time should be allowed for completion of the assessment and issue of the final report, as well as for any school-based testing, preparation of the Educational Impact Statement or other documentation, and submission of the complete application within the relevant deadlines. This is particularly important where current attainment evidence is required in addition to the Psychological Assessment Report.

A report issued by All Kinds of Minds Assessments may provide the required professional psychological evidence where it addresses the applicable published criteria and the assessment findings support the relevant diagnosis. The report will describe the young person’s cognitive and learning profile, relevant standardised findings, diagnosis where supported, functional educational impact, and professionally justified recommendations. Where appropriate, it can also identify supports or accommodations that are likely to assist the young person in further or higher education.

The Psychological Assessment Report forms one part of the wider D.A.R.E. application process. The applicant and school remain responsible for ensuring that the other required elements are completed, including any current attainment evidence, Educational Impact Statement, prescribed school documentation, application forms, and supporting material required for the route being used, and for submitting these within the applicable deadlines.

D.A.R.E. requirements, forms, evidence criteria, application procedures, and deadlines are reviewed periodically. Families and young people should therefore consult the current application guides and forms well in advance of the intended year of entry. Where clarification is needed, guidance can also be sought from the school or from the access or disability service of a prospective further- or higher-education institution.