• Mona White, MEd. -Hi! My name is Mona White. I am one of two of the educational diagnosticians for the Denton ISD Dyslexia Department. My job entails working with students who have been referred for testing in English through the Dyslexia department ( our other diagnostician, Joan Olivencia does the bilingual testing and some English testing as well). I assess the students using formal measures and write up the reports for these referrals to include an overview of the student including formal and informal data. We strive to see the whole child, not just test scores. If you have a question regarding Dyslexia testing or the department, feel free to contact me at mwhite@dentonisd.org 
     
    Considering a Dyslexia Referral?  Things to consider:
    • Does the student have average/adequate ability to learn when not dependent on print?
    • Does the student average/adequate cognitive ability overall?
    • Are the difficulties the student is having with reading UNEXPECTED for their age, educational level, and/or cognitive abilities?
    • Does the student have a deficit in phonology?
    • Has the student had effective classroom instruction?
    • Is there a family history?
    Does the student struggle with the following:    
    •    fails to understand that words come apart and can be broken down into smaller parts
    •    has/had difficulty decoding single words in isolation
    •    has difficulty spelling phonetically
    •    reads dysfluently (choppy, painful...)
    •    relies on context to recognize a word
    •    omits function words such as "a, an, of, the..."
    Answering "yes" to a majority of these questions would lead us to believe that the student would be a good candidate for a dyslexia referral. Please contact your campus 504 Coordinator.