Question 1

At what age can a child be assessed?

Accepted Answer

Early reading risk can be identified before substantial reading failure occurs. The appropriate assessment depends on the child’s development and learning history. Ask a qualified assessor what is suitable now; targeted support should not be postponed while waiting for a diagnosis.

Question 2

Who should assess my child?

Accepted Answer

Choose a professional with appropriate qualifications and experience in dyslexia assessment. Depending on the country and assessment purpose, this may be a psychologist or a suitably qualified specialist assessor. Confirm that the report will meet your intended school or institutional requirements.

Question 3

How long does a dyslexia assessment take?

Accepted Answer

Ask for the full process, including information gathering, testing and feedback, rather than only the testing appointment length. A focused literacy assessment and a broader psychoeducational evaluation may involve different schedules. Confirm the number of appointments, arrangements for breaks and expected report turnaround directly with your provider.

Question 4

How much does a dyslexia assessment cost?

Accepted Answer

Request a written quotation for the recommended assessment. Ask whether it includes interviews, testing, a report, feedback and school liaison, and whether follow-up appointments are separate.

Question 5

Is it the same as a psychoeducational assessment?

Accepted Answer

A dyslexia assessment focuses on reading-related difficulties. A broader psychoeducational assessment can explore additional aspects of learning and functioning. Discuss the concerns you want answered so the clinician can recommend an appropriate scope. CALM’s assessment process includes an initial consultation, testing, a written report and feedback.

Question 6

Is it anxiety or ADHD — how can I tell the difference?

Accepted Answer

The surface behaviours overlap heavily, so the answer is in the pattern beneath them. Anxiety tends to track with pressure and improve when a child is calm; ADHD tends to be pervasive and long-standing, present even when the child is relaxed. Avoidance driven by fear points to anxiety; avoidance of sustained mental effort points to ADHD. A proper assessment is what separates them with confidence.

Question 7

Can a child have both anxiety and ADHD at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it's common. The two frequently co-occur and can feed each other — undiagnosed ADHD can generate anxiety, and anxiety can further degrade attention. Because of this loop, it's easy to spot one and miss the other, which is why looking at both matters.

Question 8

Why does my child seem to focus fine on some things but not others?

Accepted Answer

This can happen with both. A child with ADHD may focus well on highly engaging or novel activities while struggling with effortful or repetitive ones. An anxious child may focus fine on things that don't trigger worry while struggling with anything tied to a feared outcome. The when and why of the focus difficulty is what's informative.

Question 9

Could my child's focus problems just be stress, not ADHD?

Accepted Answer

They could — stress and anxiety genuinely impair concentration. The clues that point to stress rather than ADHD are a recent onset, a clear trigger, improvement when the pressure lifts, and difficulties confined to high-pressure situations. If the focus problems are long-standing, pervasive, and present even when your child is calm and happy, that points more toward ADHD.

Question 10

Will an assessment be able to tell which one it is?

Accepted Answer

Yes — disentangling overlapping explanations is exactly what a psychoeducational or psychological assessment is designed to do. It combines a careful history, direct assessment of attention and executive function, and screening of the child's emotional world to identify whether the driver is anxiety, ADHD, or both.

Question 11

Can being bilingual cause dyslexia?

Accepted Answer

No. Being bilingual or multilingual does not cause dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder associated with persistent difficulties in areas such as accurate word reading, reading fluency, decoding, and spelling.

Learning more than one language can make dyslexia harder to identify because some of the signs overlap with normal second-language development.

Question 12

Can EAL look exactly like dyslexia?

Accepted Answer

EAL and dyslexia can look similar at the surface level.

Both may cause slow reading, spelling mistakes, limited written output, and reading avoidance. The distinction usually becomes clearer by examining home-language skills, progress over time, response to support, phonological processing, and the child’s broader learning profile.

Question 13

What is the main difference between EAL and dyslexia?

Accepted Answer

EAL difficulties are primarily caused by learning through a language that the child has not yet fully developed.

Dyslexia is an underlying learning difference that affects reading and spelling skills regardless of the language being learned, although it may appear differently across writing systems.

Question 14

Should we wait for our child’s English to improve?

Accepted Answer

Waiting may be appropriate when the child is making steady progress and their difficulties are limited to English.

Further investigation may be needed when the child is not progressing, struggles in their home language, or shows persistent difficulties in a specific learning skill.

Question 15

How long does it take a child to develop academic English?

Accepted Answer

The time required varies depending on age, previous education, home-language literacy, teaching quality, exposure to English, and individual development. Conversational English usually develops before the more complex language needed for reading, writing, and academic learning. Progress should therefore be assessed over time rather than based on conversational fluency alone.

Question 16

Can a child be both EAL and dyslexic?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A child can have EAL needs and dyslexia at the same time.

In these cases, the child may require both English-language support and targeted intervention for reading, spelling, or other affected learning skills.

Question 17

How early can we tell whether it is EAL or a learning difference?

Accepted Answer

There is no single age at which the distinction becomes clear.

Assessment may be appropriate when difficulties are persistent, appear across languages, do not improve with suitable teaching, or are significantly affecting the child’s learning and emotional wellbeing.

Question 18

Why do teenagers use AI for emotional support?

Accepted Answer

Teenagers may find AI easier to approach because it is available immediately, does not visibly judge them and allows them to control how much they reveal. Some may also worry that parents, teachers or counsellors will overreact or involve others before they feel ready.

Question 19

Is it safe for teenagers to use ChatGPT as a therapist?

Accepted Answer

ChatGPT may help a teenager organise their thoughts, name an emotion or prepare for a difficult conversation. However, it should not replace a qualified therapist, school counsellor or trusted adult, especially when the teenager is experiencing serious or ongoing distress.

Question 20

What are the signs that a teenager is becoming emotionally dependent on AI?

Accepted Answer

Possible signs include turning to AI after every difficult emotion, saying the chatbot is the only one that understands them, becoming distressed when it is unavailable and withdrawing from family or friends. Parents should also pay attention if AI use begins to interfere with sleep, schoolwork or relationships.

Question 21

Should parents read their teenager’s AI conversations?

Accepted Answer

Not automatically. Demanding access to every conversation may damage trust and make the teenager more secretive. A better starting point is to ask what they find helpful about AI and whether it has ever given advice that felt uncomfortable, inaccurate or unsafe. More direct intervention may be necessary when there is an immediate safety concern.

Question 22

When should parents seek professional support?

Accepted Answer

Professional support may be helpful when a teenager is becoming socially withdrawn, relying on AI as their main source of reassurance or using chatbots to manage persistent anxiety, low mood, friendship difficulties or family conflict. Urgent help is needed when there are concerns about self-harm, suicidal thinking, abuse, exploitation or immediate safety.

Question 23

Can a child have ADHD if they are well-behaved?

Accepted Answer

Yes. ADHD is not defined by disruptive behaviour. Many children with inattentive ADHD are cooperative, thoughtful, and eager to do well while still experiencing significant difficulties with attention, organisation, and executive functioning.

Question 24

What does inattentive ADHD look like in girls?

Accepted Answer

Girls with inattentive ADHD often appear dreamy, forgetful, disorganised, easily distracted, or overwhelmed. Because they are not disruptive, their symptoms may be mistaken for personality traits rather than signs of ADHD.

Question 25

Why are girls with ADHD diagnosed later than boys?

Accepted Answer

Girls are more likely to present with inattentive symptoms, which are less visible than hyperactive behaviours. Many also develop coping strategies that conceal their difficulties for years.

Question 26

Can anxiety be mistaken for ADHD?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Anxiety and ADHD share several overlapping symptoms, including concentration difficulties, forgetfulness, and avoidance of challenging tasks. A comprehensive assessment helps determine the underlying cause.

Question 27

Is it ever too late to seek an ADHD assessment?

Accepted Answer

No. Understanding a child's strengths, challenges, and learning profile can be beneficial at any age and often leads to more effective support and improved self-confidence.

Dyslexia Assessment for Children: What Happens and What Can It Tell You?

Anxiety or ADHD in Children? Why Similar Behaviours Can Mean Different Things

How to Tell EAL (English as an Additional Language) Struggles Apart from a Learning Difference

Why Teenagers Are Telling AI What They Won’t Tell Their Parents

Inattentive ADHD in Girls: Why Quiet Children Are Often Missed

Emotional Regulation Skills: How to Understand and Manage Your Emotions

How to Support Someone With a Mental Health Problem

Mental Wellness: Proactive Strategies for Everyday Life

Understanding Mental Health vs. Mental Illness

Trauma Therapy: Understanding How True Healing Happens