To provide an accurate assessment of dyslexia; one must first provide an agreed upon operational definition of dyslexia; for how can we assess the existence of something if we do not know what it is? Dyslexia has enjoyed an immense interest from various and diverse stakeholders such as researchers, psychologists, educators, parents, policy makers, physicians, and individuals with dyslexia since it was first coined by the German Ophthalmologist, Rudolph Berlin, in 1895. Although it was first discussed in medical circles, by 1940s educational experts started to pick up the pace and explored dyslexia and its various manifestations. Along the way, several definitions of dyslexia were proposed as a direct result of the diverse disciplines and backgrounds of the individuals engaged in investigating the condition.
The International Dyslexia Association adopted on November 12th, 2002, the following dyslexia definition: “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge”.
The Genius Reader 1 Programme is a specialized therapeutic educational intervention program to teach reading skills at the word level in the Arabic language, starting from the first grade of kindergarten until the end of the second grade of primary school in most Arab countries (skills covering 4 years of study) for dyslexic students (dyslexia - that is, students with special learning difficulties). in reading).
The Arabic Online Dyslexia Screener aims to screen for dyslexia through the online administration of 7 sub-tests. The screener provides a Dyslexia At Risk Indicator and a severity index. In case there is a risk of dyslexia, the screener will confirm it and estimates its severity. The screener is useful in providing quick and easy indicator for parents at home or educators at schools who can take quick decisions to monitor the performance of students at risk and intervene early when necessary.
The Arabic dyslexia online screener produces an instant report that can be saved and shared about the performance of the child in both Arabic and English and can therefore be utilized by schools in their admission process and in their progress monitoring efforts to follow up with those who need help and support in their Arabic reading.
