ABSTRACT
The present study was designed to formulate and modify a test to assess dyslexia in Arabic speaking children. The study works to establish its reliability and validity by comparing the performance of normal and dyslexic children, and hence providing a profile of strengths and weaknesses which can be used as a guide for the remedial program of these children. Forty dyslexic children and 120 normal children were subjected to thorough history taking, full clinical examination; including general examination, ear nose and throat examination, conventional neurological evaluation, ophthalmological and audiological evaluation, in addition to psychometric evaluation and language assessment. Formulation of the Arabic Dyslexia Assessment Test [ADAT] was done to suit Egyptian children. The test assessed the following items Rapid naming, Bead threading, One minute reading, Postural stability, Phonemic segmentation, Two minute spelling, backward digit span, Nonsense passage reading, One minute writing, Verbal fluency, and Semantic fluency. It was applied on normal and dyslexic children to test its validity and reliability. Test reliability was proven using test - retest method where the cases and the controls were retested 2 weeks from the original test date. Test validity was measured by Face validity and Construct validity. The results of the Arabic dyslexia assessment test were highly significant in discriminating dyslexics from non dyslexic children. The high validity and reliability of the formulated test proves the sensitivity and specificity of the test