Despite never being diagnosed or receiving accommodations, I have a master’s degree, run two businesses, and homeschool 4 kids. You have probably heard of others with similar stories. You may have a similar story.

But what about our kids? Does a diagnosis do more harm or good? Reasonable minds disagree and I’m not here to make that decision for you. Instead, I thought I would share some of the arguments on each side!

First, here are some of the top reasons I hear for getting a diagnosis:

1. They Already Know: Your kids probably already know that they don’t learn like other kids. A diagnosis may help them understand why they are struggling and give them language to explain their experience.
2. Evaluations Give Way More than Just a Diagnoses: A formal learning evaluation provides tons of valuable information. RAN, which we discussed last week, is assessed in evaluations. Evaluations also address overall intelligence, math challenges, and much more.
3. Evaluators Have Advice & Resources to Give: Now I am not saying that you need to follow all the advice and pursue all the resources that evaluators provide, but it gives you a place to start.
4. Accommodations From PreK to College: Public schools from preschool to college are required to provide accommodations to students with dyslexia and some kids may benefit from them.
5. Colleges Want a Track Record: I’m sad to report that some parents of high school seniors are seeking learning disabilities diagnoses to make it easier for their kids to get into college. Colleges have caught on to this and they are looking for a track record of diagnoses from an early age to assess if a student really does have a learning disability.
6. Scholarships: Need I say more?

So why not diagnose? Well here are some of the common reasons parents argue against diagnoses:

1. We Already Know What to Do: Since dyslexia is genetic, families often understand and recognize it. If everyone already knows what is going on, why spend the time and money on an evaluation?
2. Cost: A learning evaluation can be expensive and it is rarely covered by insurance. Public schools also rarely formally diagnose. That leaves the cost on us and none of us need an extra expense these days!
3. No Excuses Needed: As you know, kids are great at coming-up with excuses. Today my son told me he couldn’t take out the trash because he didn’t have his shoes on! Hmmm…. The last thing we want is for our kids to use their diagnoses as an excuse.
4. Kids Shouldn’t Come With a Label: It sometimes feels like kids that have a diagnosis of any kind come with a label and with dyslexia we often say our kids are dyslexic not that they have dyslexia. None of us want our kids prejudged by a label.
5. Future Limitations: In most cases, dyslexia is not limiting to our children’s future. I can say that no one has ever asked me if I have a learning disability or if I was a late reader. However, the military does take a dyxlexia diagnosis into consideration.

I think we can all agree that there is no one easy answer here.

Are you wondering what I decided to do? Well, all three of my dyslexic kids have been formally diagnosed and they know about their diagnoses. Why? As a child, I thought I was dumb and it significantly impacted my self-esteem for a long time. I didn’t want that for my kids.

However, I can easily see why others make a different choice. You know your child best and your intuition ought to be taken far more seriously than the decisions of some random mom with a blog!