ALPACA is a universal early literacy screener and as such is an early warning system for children that may go on to struggle when then begin to read. Our schools then put in place any number of their own targeted supports and measure the response to intervention at the next ALPACA screening point.
It would not be recommended to send a child for a Dyslexia assessment until sufficient data has been collected including two response to intervention cycles being accurately measured. This would not be typically achievable by the end of junior infants.
We wouldn't recommend what diagnostic to use next however given early literacy is highly associated with Dyslexia, we are currently developing an early dyslexia screener which will be piloted with some of our existing schools in Senior infants this year building on the data already captured through screening with ALPACA and measuring the response to interventions put in place.