Dyslexia: Signs, Diagnosis, and What an Assessment Involves
Dr. Konstantinos Konstantopoulos · Professor of Speech and Language Therapy, University of Peloponnese
Parents usually get in touch when homework has turned into an exhausting daily routine.
A child might be articulate, quick to grasp concepts when listening, and creative, yet their reading is hesitant, spelling seems unpredictable, and getting through a few pages of text takes an unreasonable amount of effort. Often, teachers notice that written work does not reflect what the child knows in class.
These difficulties do not necessarily mean a child has dyslexia. However, when the struggle persists despite steady teaching and extra help at home, a formal assessment helps clarify what is going on and what kind of support actually works.
1. What dyslexia looks like in practice
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty with a neurological basis. It mainly affects how accurately and fluently a child reads words, and how reliably they spell. It has nothing to do with general intelligence, curiosity, or how hard a child is trying.
In my practice, I frequently see children who:
Read slowly and with visible strain, often guessing words from their first letter or the general context.
Struggle to link letters with their sounds, making unfamiliar words particularly hard to sound out.
Make persistent spelling mistakes, frequently spelling the same common word differently on the same page.
Reverse, omit, or skip small words and word endings.
Understand stories and school subjects far better when someone reads to them than when reading by themselves.
Spend hours on reading tasks that take their classmates twenty minutes.
Start to avoid reading altogether, often developing anxiety or feeling that they simply “aren’t smart enough”.
No single sign on this list diagnoses dyslexia. A careful evaluation looks at the child’s age, schooling history, whether they are learning in a second language (as is common in international schools), and how they have responded to help so far.
2. When to arrange an assessment
An assessment is worth considering whenever difficulties with reading or spelling begin to hold a child back academically or affect their self-esteem.
Common situations include:
A class teacher or learning support coordinator (SENCO) raises concerns about literacy development or reading fluency.
Homework is causing persistent frustration and family tension.
An earlier assessment took place some years ago, and the school now requires an up-to-date profile to guide classroom support or exam accommodations.
A child has spent months in support sessions without clear improvement, and parents want an independent second opinion on their current needs.
3. What happens during an appointment at Memory & Speech
The initial appointment lasts roughly 75 minutes and takes place in a quiet, unhurried environment. Because every child’s profile is different, the session is structured around their age and specific difficulties:
1. A conversation with you, the parents: We discuss developmental milestones, language exposure, school history, and the specific difficulties you observe at home.
2. Literacy tasks: We look systematically at reading accuracy, speed, reading comprehension, and spelling.
3. Underlying processing skills: We examine the auditory and phonological skills that underpin reading, including phonemic awareness and retrieval speed.
4. Working memory and attention: We check cognitive functions that affect how information is held and manipulated during reading.
5. Infrared eye-tracking (when appropriate): I often use eye-tracking technology to observe how a child’s eyes move across a line of text.
It is important to note: eye-tracking does not diagnose dyslexia on its own. What it does provide is objective, supplementary data on fixations, regressions, and visual efficiency while reading, which we interpret alongside the standardized tests.
4. What you receive afterwards
Following the assessment, you receive a clear, straightforward picture of your child’s learning profile—both where they struggle and where their strengths lie.
The report sets out whether the findings are consistent with dyslexia, what specific teaching strategies or accommodations the school can put in place, and practical ways to support reading at home without endless conflict.
5. Clinical practice in Nea Makri, East Attica
Assessments are conducted personally by Dr. Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, Professor of Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Peloponnese.
The practice is based in Nea Makri and regularly sees families from across East Attica and Athens, with straightforward access from Pallini (including Campion School), Rafina, Marathon, and Pikermi.
If you have questions about your child’s reading or would like to discuss whether an assessment is appropriate: