How the summary works

Where the questions come from

The 24 questions were written for this site in October 2026. They are not taken from, or adapted from, any screening checklist or published instrument. They have not been validated, which means nobody has studied whether answers to them relate to any diagnosis. That is why the site never uses them for one.

They are grouped into 8 everyday situations. The groups exist to make the summary easier to read. They are not measures of anything.

• Written instructions. Forms, recipes, setup steps, signs and messages that tell you what to do.
• Longer reading. Anything longer than a page or two: reports, contracts, long emails, chapters.
• Keeping your place. Moving from line to line, and picking up again after a break.
• Spelling and checking. Writing words down and checking what you wrote.
• Taking notes. Writing things down while someone talks, and using those notes later.
• Reading in a hurry. Times when you have to read quickly, or someone is waiting.
• Tools and formats. Ways of getting information other than plain printed text.
• When reading feels easier. The conditions that make a difference for you.

Each question asks about the past 3 months, covers one idea, and gives a concrete example. There are no trick questions, no reversed questions and no timer. Response time is not recorded.

Answer options

Situation questions: Rarely or never, Sometimes, Often, Almost always, plus Not applicable and Not sure. Tool questions: Very helpful, Somewhat helpful, Not helpful for me, Have not tried it, plus Not sure. Two questions let you tick any number of options. Every question can be skipped.

Rule 1: missing answers stay missing

Only a frequency, a helpfulness rating or at least one ticked option counts as an answer. Skipped, Not applicable, Not sure and Have not tried are never treated as "no difficulty" and never lower or raise anything.

Rule 2: is there enough to summarize?

Area summaries appear only if you answered at least 6 situation questions across at least 3 of the situations. Otherwise the summary says there is not enough information and lists your individual answers instead.

Rule 3: describing each situation

For each situation with at least two answers:

Each answer is also repeated as a sentence, such as "You reported that you often go back and reread parts of longer texts", with the question number.

Rule 4: choosing strategies

Strategies come from a fixed list of 15 written in advance. Each is tagged with situations, goals and, for some, a tool. Points are added up, and the highest come first:

• +3 if a matching situation was described as coming up often; +1 if it was mixed.
• +2 for each goal you ticked in question 24 that it matches (up to +4).
• +1 if it uses a tool you said helps, or one you have not tried.
• A strategy that uses a tool you said is not helpful for you is never suggested.
• A tool answer on its own is not enough. At least one reason must come from your situations, goals or conditions.

The first 1 are shown free with their reasons. The optional Full Reading Report lists all matches. If nothing matches, three general starting points are shown and labeled as not chosen from your answers.

Rule 5: language context

The optional language questions never change any rule. If you say the language is not your strongest, one sentence of general information is added.

Reading settings

Text size, spacing, font, colors and read-aloud change only how the page looks or sounds. They are never stored with your answers and cannot change your summary.

How this is checked

Automated tests run the rules on 10,000 random answer sets and fail if any personal sentence contains diagnostic wording (such as diagnosis, likely, risk, score or signs), if any sentence cites a question that was not answered, or if removing an answer ever adds a statement. See sources and claims for the evidence behind the articles.

All questions

1. How often do you read written instructions more than once before you start?
2. How often would you rather have instructions explained out loud than read them?
3. How often do you lose track of which step you are on in a list of written steps?
4. When you read something longer than a page or two, how often do you go back and reread parts of it?
5. How often do you feel worn out after a long stretch of reading?
6. How often do you save a long document for later, when you can have quiet time for it?
7. After an interruption, how often does it take a while to find your place again?
8. How often do you skip a line or read the same line twice by accident?
9. How often do you use a finger, ruler, cursor or highlighter to keep your place?
10. How often are you unsure how to spell a word that you use easily when speaking?
11. How often do you pick a different word because you are not sure how to spell the one you wanted?
12. How often do you ask a person or a tool to check your writing before you send it?
13. When you check your own writing, how often do you find mistakes later that you missed?
14. When you take notes while someone is talking, how often do you fall behind?
15. How often are your own notes hard to use later?
16. How often does reading feel harder when you are timed or someone is waiting?
17. When you have to read something quickly, how often do you miss what you needed?
18. Listening to text read aloud
19. Changing how text looks
20. Speaking instead of typing
21. Spelling and grammar checkers
22. Breaking long text into smaller parts
23. When has reading felt easier for you? Choose any that apply.
24. Which areas would you like ideas for? Choose any that apply.