Dyslexia in a minority setting. The adaptation of a dyslexia screening test for a minority French-speaking population: the example of ODÉDYS

In Francophone minority communities, delays observed during screening for reading problems could be caused by under-exposure to the language. However, these delays could be confused with a specific learning disability in reading (dyslexia) if the standards used in the assessment are not representative of the target population and if the tool contains cultural and linguistic biases. To avoid interpreting these difficulties as an inaptitude, which could lead to errors in screening, the reading assessment tool must be adapted, especially when dealing with a minority population. This research, whose objective is the adaptation of a dyslexia screening tool (ODÉDYS), was carried out based on expert judgments. The adaptations made to the tool mainly concern the modification of items in the reading and dictation subtests, given the use of Anglicisms and unknown words according to the students’ learning experiences. This research also provides an example of a methodological approach to adapting a tool in order to correctly detect manifestations of dyslexia in a minority setting.