The computerised-based Lucid Rapid Dyslexia Screening for the identification of children at risk of dyslexia: A Singapore study

Abstract

The computerised-based Lucid Rapid Dyslexia Screening (Lucid Rapid) used for the speedy identification of children at risk of literacy difficulties or dyslexia has been employed as part of the dyslexia awareness drive organised by the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) to identify Singapore children who may be at risk of literacy difficulties or dyslexia. In view of a lack of research on the Lucid Rapid, this study explored the effectiveness of the Lucid Rapid in the screening of children at risk of literacy difficulties or dyslexia in the Singaporean context. In this exploratory study, a sample of 127 children aged between 6 years to 12 years 2 months was each administered the Lucid Rapid. This was followed by formal assessments conducted at the DAS or external agencies, comprising of cognitive and literacy assessments as well as phonological tests. As part of the formal assessment, a full background history was taken of each child including educational history and teachers’ reports. Data from this sample showed that children found to be at risk of dyslexia on the Lucid Rapid were likely to be diagnosed to be dyslexic. However, concerns were raised on the large number of children who were misclassified falling within the false positive (misclassifying children to be at risk of dyslexia when they are not dyslexic) and false negative (misclassifying children to be at low risk of dyslexia when they are dyslexic) groups. In this sample, phonological processing, auditory sequential memory and phonic decoding, but not visual-verbal integration memory, on the Lucid Rapid positively correlated with comparable measures in formal assessments. As compared to the true negative group (children classified to be at low risk of dyslexia and not diagnosed to be dyslexic), the false negative group showed lower phonic decoding and auditory sequential memory scores. Risk levels on the Lucid Rapid have been found to be negatively correlated with a number of cognitive, literacy and phonological measures. The children’s home language usage might also affect the Lucid Rapid results to some extent.