From a Psychologist who truly understands

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Image used with the kind permission of Mackenzie Thorpe

Serving individuals 10years+ across New Zealand via Telehealth • Face-to-face in Queenstown • Registered Educational Psychologist

Dyslexia Assessment NZ aims to increase access to a psychologist for all those experiencing literacy difficulties and wanting comprehensive diagnostic assessment. Service is primarily delivered via telehealth, with a low-cost pathway available for those who need it.

Discover how comprehensive psychological assessment can help you understand your whole self, how you best think and learn, and give diagnostic clarity to your literacy difficulties.

About Ana

I am dyslexic. This means I understand what it's like to be unable to rely on your spelling, to find reading tiring and, within formal education, the benefits of certain supports and accommodations. I love doing dyslexia assessments, and in particular using a psychologist’s skill set to do this.

To date, 100% of the assessments I have conducted have required some wider assessment of individual needs, for example sensory processing and regulation, executive functioning, emotional regulation and/or mental health. Assessing the individual as a whole, and not solely focusing on their literacy difficulties, is critical to developing an accurate understanding of what is going on for ‘the individual as a whole’ and therefore understanding as to how to most effectively support them. Assessment is grounded across the home and school/workplace environments, so that key interventions can be placed, where possible, within pre-existing effective support structures and routines. My therapeutic knowledge in Solution-Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance Commitment Therapy are also regularly used, as needed, within the assessment and intervention process to identify how to build required psychological skills moving forward. It is this wider approach to the assessment of dyslexia that allows us to achieve a comprehensive understanding of you as an individual and identify sustainable pathways to support ongoing wellbeing and learning.

Why This Matters for You

You want a psychologist who

Prioritises understanding your strengths across environments, so these can be employed to help you learn and thrive.

Has studied language development, literacy and both normal and abnormal development, and who uses a research-based framework for assessment and diagnosis.

Is able to support immediate skill building intervention, NCEA Special Assessment Conditions, and the development of collaborative relationships between families and schools.

This decision pathway walks you through the most common questions about dyslexia; what the assessment options look like, the assessment process itself, and what support can look like afterwards.

Understanding the Process of Dyslexia Assessment

What is dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a persistent difficulty with accurate or fluent word reading and it affects spelling.

Read more: What is Dyslexia?

Do I need an Assessment?

Assessment may be helpful when reading or writing remains slow, effortful or stressful despite support, or when concerns have been raised at school, or work.

Read more: How do I know If a Dyslexia Assessment Is Needed?

Types of assessment available?

The right assessment depends on what you as the client want. Some people want to achieve a clear understanding of lagging literacy skills, and links to research-based interventions. Others want a formal diagnostic opinion, alongside the intervention supports.

Needs-Based Assessment

Clarifies learning strengths, barriers, literacy needs, and support strategies

Diagnostic Assessment

Determines whether dyslexia criteria are met, alongside literacy needs and support strategies.

Read more: How do I know If a Dyslexia Assessment Is Needed?

How does assessment work?

The assessment process is ecological in that it gathers information from across settings in order to build an affirming and clear understandings of literacy skills and associated factors.

Initial Consultation

Assessment Session

Feedback Meeting

Written Report

Read more: How Does a Dyslexia Assessment Work?

What happens after diagnosis?

An assessment and the following report is a turning point in someone’s journey when they themselves, their families, schools and workplaces can have a clearer and more positive way to understand their needs, and from which a collaboratively support plan can be developed.

Read more: How Does a Dyslexia Assessment Work?

Services

Online Dyslexia Assessment Process

Initial Consultation

One-hour meeting with parents/caregivers via Zoom. We'll:

  • Determine if online assessment will work for you

  • Gather background information

  • Identify contact information for key individuals across home and school

  • Discuss needs-based vs. diagnostic assessment options

  • Schedule both your assessment and feedback meeting

The Assessment

4.5hours of literacy, language and cognitive assessment are completed, with regular breaks, to explore ‘what exactly is breaking down in the reading system right now’. Standardised measures used include the Woodcock Johnson V and the TOWRE-2.

Note: Online assessment is appropriate for individuals 10+ years without significant anxiety or complex co-occurring difficulties. I am passionate however about providing assessment and intervention services for younger students, and supporting those with complex needs, but this work requires meeting face-to-face in my Queenstown office.

Feedback Meeting

Using visuals, we’ll discuss your thinking strengths, the nature of your literacy difficulties and next steps, ensuring you feel positively understood, confident and empowered.

Written Report

A concise report, as free from psychological jargon and statistics as possible, describing:

  • The ecological context for the individual

  • A strength-based perspective

  • The nature of the literacy difficulties

  • Priority literacy, cognitive, oral language and/or psychological skill interventions

  • Support strategies that prevent significant literacy learning difficulties limiting access to learning

  • Accommodations to help you thrive

  • Signed NZQA Special Assessment Conditions form (if applicable)

*Assessment of co-occurring difficulties
Reading difficulties rarely occur in isolation, and behavioural, cognitive, language-based, sensory, emotional and/or social commonly co-occur. As needed, we can explore other difficulties through comprehensive psychological assessment. Please note that for more complex cases that require additional assessment, additional costings for time and resources will be discussed at the initial consultation. In addition, more complex situations (and assessment with younger children) will likely require face-to-face assessment, which is possible in my Queenstown office.

Schedule An Assessment Consultation

Your report might be just the beginning of our relationship. I offer immediate online support for:

Direct Skill Development

☑️ Specific literacy skills can be targeted and taught using low-cost, online and research-based programmes. These programmes can easily be delivered according to research-based (i.e., proven) criteria for ‘effectively accelerating literacy learning’ i.e., 20 mins/day, 3+ times weekly, for 20 sessions.

☑️ Referrals to specialist teachers for targeted intervention.

☑️ Cognitive skills that directly impact the process of literacy learning.

☑️ Psychological skills that enable more effective coping.

Home-School Collaboration
Implementing strength-based individual education programmes (IEPs) that embrace whakawhanaungatanga (and bringing the team together), look to ‘broaden and build’ off what is already working well and allow for a small number of collaborative learning goals to be established and monitored.

Intervention Support

Schedule a consultation for intervention
Hourly Rate Full Assessment Package
Standard Pathway NZ$230 NZ$2,300
Low-Cost Pathway NZ$130 NZ$1,300

Cost

Making Assessment Accessible: A Social Entrepreneurial Model

Psychology services shouldn't be out of reach. I use a cross-subsidy model where standard-rate clients help fund a sustainable low-cost pathway for literacy assessments (the low-cost pathway constitutes 50% of my monthly caseload).

The low-cost pathway can be accessed by anyone who needs it. You can also seek out further financial support from local charities (like Pivotal Point), churches and schools who may directly contribute towards costs.

Additional costs:

●       Cognitive and literacy-based assessment materials: Approximately NZ$100

●       Additional assessment work e.g., sensory needs, is charged for by the hour.

Payment options:

●       Payment options are discussed in the initial consult:

●       Full assessment fee to be paid before the assessment is conducted.

●       'Pay as you go' arrangements can be made available if necessary.

●       Direct payment from insurance companies not accepted

General Psychology Practice Fees:

●       General psychology work, outside of that targeting literacy difficulties, is $180/hr

schedule a consutation

Additional Information

What are the unique skills that Educational Psychologists bring to assessment?

Text currently under construction re strength-based, ecological and solution-focused practice, and how these frameworks are essential to developing affirming understandings and sustainable interventions.

The Diagnostic Picture

Dyslexia is a language-based reading difficulty that directly affects reading and spelling, and sometimes impacts writing, maths, and social-emotional development. In New Zealand, it's defined as a a difficulty with accurate or fluent reading, writing, and spelling skills which develop incompletely or with great difficulty, often due to phonological processing difficulties.

The latest diagnostic manual (DSM-5) classifies dyslexia under Specific Learning Disorders. It's a pattern of learning difficulties characterised by persistent problems with accurate or fluent word reading, poor decoding, and poor spelling despite targeted intervention. The DSM-5 diagnostic process removes the historic link between specific literacy learning difficulties, intelligence and cognitive processes (as long as individuals do not exhibit general intellectual disability).

Important: Reading difficulties can vary in their presentation and exist on a continuum.

  • Not all reading difficulties represent the classical definition of dyslexia. There are many more reasons as to why individuals struggle with literacy development.

  • Your assessment will identify the specific nature of your literacy difficulties. It can also, if requested, provide clarity as to whether a significant and persistent reading difficulty, i.e., whether the difficulties fit diagnostic criteria for dyslexia.

What Clients Say

“It has been really fantastic getting an insight into [my child’s] learning, and we are excited about the next steps”

“Not being stuck in a room, not having to travel. I could get into the zone at home which is harder to do in a place you don’t know”. Student feedback.

“It was a really useful process.” Parent feedback.

“You’ captured [my child] perfectly.”

Psychological Services delivered via Telehealth

Psychology practices delivered through telehealth (TH) are guided by a range of national and international best-practice documents. The telepsychology guidance document from New Zealand Psychologist Board(NZPB) describes TH services to:

- Improve access to specialist psychological services, such as the ‘strength-based assessment for dyslexia service’ offered by Dyslexia Assessment NZ.

- Be particularly beneficial for those who are time-constrained.

- Suit individuals who appreciate the convenience and comfort of being able to do psychological work from home.

- Be especially effective and acceptable for young people, as it aligns well with youth culture and their preference for and comfortableness with digital forms of engagement.

*N.B. Telehealth service is not best for everyone for different reasons. This is discussed at the initial consult.

Current research threads continue to explore telehealth assessment (and intervention) for children with dyslexia. This growing research base continues to validate teleheath:

  • Lampis et al. (2024) reported telehealth-based assessment of children's learning skills (79 children studied) to be valid and reliable.

  • Capodieci et al. (2023) showed significant improvements in reading fluency and writing accuracy through telehealth intervention (73 children).

  • Casalini & Pecini (2024) reported there to be no differences between face-to-face administration and telehealth-based intervention for children with dyslexia.

  • Walker et al. (2023) showed telehealth assessment to be both feasible and acceptable across most cognitive and literacy-based domains. It also identified the next cognitive and literacy-based domains to be further explored.

Ready to connect?

Let's Understand Your Literacy Journey Together

Whether you're a young person curious about how your brain works, a parent seeking answers and support for your child, or an adult ready to understand lifelong challenges, I'm here to help.

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