Dyslexia Evaluation & Testing in Milwaukee, WI

Your child is bright. Everyone says so. But reading is a fight, homework ends in tears, and somewhere along the way they started saying "I'm dumb." You know that isn't true — you just can't prove what is.

Milwaukee families have more schools and more programs than anywhere else in Wisconsin, and still end up on a waiting list to find out whether their child is dyslexic. Dyslexia Evaluations offers free dyslexia screening in Milwaukee over Zoom, and walks you through the results on the same call.

The signs Milwaukee parents are told to "wait and see" on

Dyslexia affects roughly 1 in 5 children and has nothing to do with intelligence. Around 66% are never identified. The most common thing we hear is that a parent raised a concern and was told to give it another year.

Ages 5–7

• Trouble rhyming, or hearing the separate sounds inside a word
• Slow to learn letter names and letter sounds
• Guesses at words from the picture instead of reading them

Ages 8–12

• Reads slowly and choppily, or skips whole lines
• Spells the same word three different ways on one page
• Reads a word correctly, then misses it two lines later

Teens

• Reads far below their obvious ability, and knows it
• Dreads reading aloud and dreads timed tests
• Sharp in conversation; it never shows up on paper

If several of these sound familiar, a screening tells you whether it is dyslexia — before another year goes by. Learn more about what dyslexia is.

What Act 20 screening in MPS does and doesn't tell you

Wisconsin's Act 20 requires districts — including Milwaukee Public Schools — to screen every 4K through 3rd grade student for reading readiness, three times a year in 5K through grade 3. Students who score below the 25th percentile get a diagnostic assessment and a Personal Reading Plan.

That is real progress. But a universal screener is a net, not a diagnosis. It tells the district a child is behind. It does not tell you why, it does not identify dyslexia, and in a district the size of MPS a lot of children land just above the cut line and get nothing at all.

Wisconsin's Informational Guidebook on Dyslexia and Related Conditions, required by 2019 Wisconsin Act 86, is guidance for districts. It does not require any district to formally diagnose dyslexia. An independent evaluation closes that gap with a written report Milwaukee Public Schools is required to review.

What we measure: the WIAT-4 Dyslexia Index

Our screener uses the WIAT-4 Dyslexia Index — the same standardized instrument licensed psychologists use. It measures the four skills dyslexia affects most:

• Phonemic proficiency — hearing and manipulating the sounds within words
• Word reading — reading real words accurately
• Pseudoword decoding — sounding out invented words, where memorization gives no advantage
• Orthographic fluency — recognizing words quickly on sight

Together these produce a standardized Dyslexia Index score that states your child's risk level in plain language.

Free dyslexia screening in Milwaukee: how it works

1. Take the free 2-minute questionnaire to see if your child is at risk.
2. If flagged, book a free Zoom screening. No referral, no drive, no parking garage.
3. Our team administers the WIAT-4 live over video while your child stays home.
4. We walk you through the results on the same call.

Because it is all over Zoom, where you live in the metro is irrelevant — Bay View, Wauwatosa, West Allis, Greenfield, Shorewood, Oak Creek, or anywhere else in Milwaukee County.

Cost

The screener is always free — the questionnaire, the Zoom screener, and the results conversation.

If the Confident Reader Roadmap is the right next step, we walk you through the cost at your results meeting. For context, private evaluations run $2,000 to $5,000 nationwide. We open 10 free screening slots a week.

Frequently asked questions