"Powys Educational Psychology Service has actively promoted and encouraged the use of CoPS in all Powys schools"
Dr Alun Flynn, Principal Educational Psychologist, Powys, Wales

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Case studies

Below are descriptions of how various educational profesionals use their Lucid software.

To skip to a particular program click on the product title below:

Lucid Rapid
Users of several programs
Lucid Exact
Lucid CoPS and LASS
Lucid ViSS

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Rapid

Dyslexia Association Singapore

Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) introduces dyslexia screening software to identify dyslexics who are at risk

Mrs Soh suspected her child was dyslexic and hence, sent her child for the free computerised screening test conducted by the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). She was relieved to know that her child is not at risk of dyslexia.

In the past, parents would need to send their child for a 3 to 4 hour long full psychological assessment which costs $500 to $600 to ascertain if he/she is dyslexic. This hefty sum intimidated parents and deprived their dyslexic child proper intervention.

From May 2009, DAS has been using the LUCID software as a screening tool for dyslexia for children of 4 to 15 years of age. With LUCID, it takes about 15mins to conclude if the child is at risk of dyslexia. If the screening concludes that the child is at risk, it is still not too late for the child to undergo a full psychological assessment. This would be a great saving for parents of non-dyslexic children from the fees of undergoing the full assessment. This would also spare the parent and child the turmoil of the whole process of denial, embarrassment, resulting in delaying to seek the appropriate professional advice.

DAS has been conducting free computerised screening test for more than 10 primary schools since May’09 till Jun’10. There were more than 400 students screened and approximately 150 students were at high risk of dyslexia. They were hence recommended to go for the full psychological assessment. DAS would continue to conduct computerised screening at various schools using LUCID. DAS Associate Psychologists, Ms Veronica Ng and Ms Lim Boon Hong are very satisfied with the LUCID software. Apart from the computerised screening aspect, the psychologists could also use the opportunity to understand a child’s background, the environmental factors as well as their exam results as considerations if the child is at high risk of dyslexia.

“The screening is conducted in English. A child who is not proficient in the English language might have a lower score. Hence, we will seek to understand their language background. However, if a Primary 4 student obtained a lower score, we will recommend a full psychological assessment. This is because a Primary 4 student would have 4 years of exposure to the English language and should have a reasonable proficiency towards the language to handle LUCID screening questions.

Based on the selected size of 127 screening results attained out of 400 local students, the accuracy of LUCID is considered high. The LUCID screening is able to identify those at risk of dyslexia and is suitable to be used in Singapore.

They emphasized that LUCID aids awareness towards dyslexia but is not a substitute for the full psychological assessment.

Dyslexia has nothing to do with a person’s intelligence but there is a discrepancy between a child’s reading ability and actual reading age. Dyslexia is mostly detected during a child’s pre-school and Primary 1 age when they encounter difficulties in learning. Some would have delayed speech developments, difficulties with remembering alphabets, etc. There is also a possibility that dyslexia is hereditary is high. Dyslexia is a neurological condition and is not an illness and would not be curable. It could be overcome with professional intervention.

Globally, about 5% to 10% of students are dyslexic. According to an estimate by DAS, there are about 4% of dyslexics in the local student population which is approximately 29,000 students. The current student enrolment in DAS is however at 1,700.

Veronica and Boon Hong think that there are still students locally who are not aware of their dyslexia and hence, not receiving any form of intervention. “The later the intervention, the more struggles the child will face and the more difficulties faced while overcoming it.” The DAS hopes that the LUCID software would be able to identify more dyslexics and provide the appropriate professional intervention as soon.” For more details, please visit their website at www.das.org.sg

Various

Ros Henshaw

I am a specialist teacher, a SENCO and do training as well. A lot of my learners have poor memory skills and I need to find things that can support them. Memory Booster has a story element and it is fun to do. Children are engaged right from the very start and when it gets tricky and they have to remember four or five items at a time they are very motivated. The program has attractive graphics and cartoons are used for rewards which most children find riveting. The memory strategies which are suggested are not new to them but because they are presented in a different and more entertaining way they have more impact. I have a range of programs I use but many of them come back to Memory Booster because of the graphics

I do a lot of paper based assessment but the computer based ones keep the children focused. I also use COPS with younger children and LASS with older ones.
Some of the assessments are linked to real life scenarios. For example, in the LASS assessment, the mobile phone task is considered a great ‘real life’ motivator. Through this engaging task, auditory sequential memory is assessed.

LASS 11 – 15, is especially successful. Teenagers like the design. Boys at that age often have low esteem and we are revisiting their areas of weakness. Through LASS, they have more control over the assessment process. They can see how far they have got and how much remains to be done. They can stop and start the assessment as it does not have to be done all in one go and they can choose in which order to do the various elements.

The design of COPS and LASS is really clever because you don’t need a qualified person to administer the assessment. A Learning Support Assistant can quickly get up to speed and carry out reliable standardised assessments. It is very straightforward and the program produces a profile which is easy for parents and staff to understand.

On occasions, I have used the COPS and LASS assessments with pupils where English is a second language. This software lends itself well to this especially. This software has been used successfully for these students, both with and without an interpreter.

I love using Lucid software. I have used this software for a number of years. I find the company very friendly and supportive. This support is linked to technical issues as well as advice on various areas of standardisation. I have always found the staff very helpful and knowledgeable.

Michael Hannaway works at the Naima Jewish Preparatory School in North London which takes in children from 3-11. By and large the children are above the national ability level and are taught in small classes which ensures that they make rapid progress. Nonetheless, because the school is non-selective, there is still a wide range of ability. All the children learn Hebrew and this can cause laterality difficulties so there is a higher incidence of letter reversals. Michael uses Lucid Rapid, a dyslexia screening program, at the end of year 1 if a child is having literacy difficulties of any kind, just to make sure that phonological awareness is in place, ‘It is a very effective tool and quick to administer,’ said Michae.l ‘The children like it because they think it is a game.’

He also uses Ability to assess verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills and general ability, ‘We use these as first line screening tools. We would use them in conjunction with other tools before referring the pupils to the school’s educational psychologist. Professional judgment is key but these interventions help us identify children who need help.’

Exact

Helen Ashton works in Shrewsbury in a school for pupils in care and ‘really difficult children’ who are referred by the local authority. ‘I have used Lucid’s Exact for two purposes,’ she said. ‘First I use it for exam concessions then I use it to assess levels of skills for pupils who are leaving to go off to college.’

Helen particularly likes the fact that the scores are standardised.’ Exact highlights key points. I can be confident that any parts on the print out that are highlighted in pink are an accurate indication of the level of need. If I use it in September with my year 11 I can see where they are. I use it in conjunction with Lucid LASS so I can plan a programme for them. But also it is a great analytical tool for meeting needs. It is an objective measure of ability and is a very functional way of ensuring that our pupils get the exam concessions that they need.’

Anne Sudborough said, ‘I’ve just bought Lucid Exact to assess the Yr 6 children that I work with. They’re just off to secondary schools and the results can go along with them for their continuing ‘learning support’ and provide evidence if access arrangements are applied for. The analysis of the mistakes made will also prove useful in planning the children’s support.’

CoPS and LASS

Anne Sudborough is a Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) consultant and the Secretary of Rutland Dyslexia. She trained as a secondary teacher but these days she works with children in the junior age range who need a boost with their reading and writing. ‘I trained for SpLD in primary and worked in private schools but found there was a demand for working with children after school and it snowballed,’ she said. ‘Now I work with children aged 6 -12. Once they start, their enthusiasm develops and I get most of my referrals by word of mouth. Many of the children have dyslexia but some may also have dyspraxia, ADHD and autistic spectrum disorders.

Anne uses Lucid Software as a diagnostic assessment tool for teaching, ‘I started with CoPS but now with children over 8, I use LASS Junior. It covers all the things I need to find out: visual and auditory memory, the ability to segment words and to decode non-words. I can check cognitive skills and also reading and spelling ages. I do have all those tests on paper but it is the graphing element in Lucid Software that makes it such a winner, especially with parents. Most of the children come with an educational psychologist’s report. There are pages of statistics and analysis but parents can’t easily see where the problems lie whereas with Lucid they can see at a glance.’

One of the things Anne finds most useful with LASS is that she can repeat the assessment 6 or 9 months later and both children and parents can see how much they have progressed. Sometimes they have improved a lot with non-verbal reasoning which may be a matter of confidence. On the non verbal score, some have moved from the 49th to the 94th percentile. All Lucid’s tests have the backing of research and have been trialled in schools. ‘The beauty of them is that they are easy to administer and fun,’ said Anne, ‘although more challenging when you get to the harder tests. The Lucid LASS is affordable and standardised. It is a delight when we can prove so easily that there has been an improvement. It really builds the children’s confidence.’

The Bulmershe School in Wokingham has 1200 pupils, including the sixth form. It has a wide range of abilities: some pupils go on to Oxbridge each year and there is a fairly large learning support section. The local authority has set up a specialist dyslexia resource in the school which caters for up to 10 children at any one time. Many of the learners are ‘classic dyslexics’, although some may have additional issues such as dyspraxia or ASD. These children will be fully involved with their tutor group but withdrawn for one or two subjects. They get a lot of specialist help. As well as intensive support in the unit, they also have TA assistance with reading and writing for some of their other classes.

Mary Allan, head of the Bulmershe dyslexia unit, is a great fan of LASS Secondary. ‘We have been using it for about 10 years because it is particularly good at identifying strengths and weaknesses. The pupils enjoy doing the assessments and we have never had a problem engaging them with the program. They like it when I print off the results and talk them through their profile, discussing their strong points and the areas where they need to improve. Often they know their weaknesses only too well but need to have their strengths pointed out to them. For example, if a pupil shows up as having good visual skills, that is an area which can be developed and used in lessons. It also gives us more hooks for discussions with parents who may be keen to help but not clear what they can do. It means we can give more targeted in –class support as well. When we do a profile for the learning support register, we do say if a pupil has especially strong visual or auditory skills so the TA can provide the right sort of support. LASS Secondary has proved really useful in our school.’

ViSS

“It’s sometimes a bit like a pantomime,” said John Vicker, the special needs co-coordinator at Trent Valley Academy in Gainsborough. “I’ll say ‘Does the text jump up and down or trickle off the page?’ and sometimes the students look blank and other times I see a look of relief on their faces.” John has found that that about 15% of people in the UK suffer from visual stress and believes that figure is reflected in his school. John starts by picking out all the pupils who seem to be underachieving. He then checks to see if they have problems focusing on the printed word or find that text moves or bends when they are reading.

The next stage is to use VISS, a computerised assessment for visual stress from Lucid Research. VISS is an objective way of identifying those pupils who have visual stress and measuring the extent of the condition. It can help teachers find out which children are likely to benefit from using coloured overlays or tinted lenses. John refers the pupils to an optician or consultant ophthalmologist who can assess them further and provide glasses or overlays as appropriate. “I can’t make recommendations for them. I am not a specialist,” said John. “But with VISS I am confident that I can identify those children who need to be referred.”

Penny Brandling-Harris is Learning Support Co-ordinator at Tonbridge School, a high-achieving public school in Kent. The school caters for approximately 750 boys aged 13-18, and has a very selective entry system.

Some pupils need to improve their reading skills. All the new boys are screened for reading speed and comprehension and if these are not up to scratch, they can do an Effective Reading Course, run from outside the school. This helps the majority to increase their reading speed because it trains the eyes to move smoothly from left to right. The second part of the course teaches the boys to slow their reading down so that they can to understand most of what they have read.

‘I mainly work with boys with mild dyslexia or dyspraxia,’ said Penny Brandling-Harris. ‘I like to use VISS on occasion to rule out visual stress. It’s always interesting for adolescents to see how they function. I used it this morning on a boy whose score improved with the addition of stress: he said that it made him concentrate more!’

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Lucid's programs were quoted as an example of good practice in the
House of Commons Education and Skills Committee Special Educational Needs Report
Third Report of Session 2005-2006 Volume 2
Oral and written evidence EV 100, 101, 114 and 115

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