Dyslexia

[Mother in Need]

My youngest son NT (age 9) clearly is dyslexic. Last year school consented to test him, but all they did was spend about 15-20 minutes with him; this was done by one of the teachers who had done a course or something. Yes, they said, he was mildly dyslexic, but he only came out of the test as such because one of the questions was whether there was any dyslexia in the family; school said that that one point only put him into the dyslexia bracket, and hence they have never taken it seriously at all, they keep saying he just has to try harder

 

He is sooooooo frustrated with his difficulties with spelling, it is really affecting his self esteem; though very able and top of the class, he feels 'he is cr*p'.

 

When I had my AS son tested for his dyslexia by a private EP, she took over 2 hours of testing etc, before confirming that he indeed is dyslexic etc.

 

Now I am wondering if I can ask the school to have my youngest properly tested by an EP?

 

Ofcourse I can ask, but I need them to be able to say yes and not fob me off.

 

Is there any guidance or legislation that I can quote so they'll take me seriously? Has anyone got any other advice?

[carrieq]

I am sort of in the same situation as you with my dd. Ds and dh are dyslexic and she has shown signs for years now but when dx will only be mildly affected. She is going to be assessed at the Dyslexia Institute as the school is really dragging its heals. If dx the school doesn't have to, in theory, take on board any of the recommendations. When I started teaching over 13 yrs ago no one was allowed to use the word dyslexia because of the implications for provision so children had a specific learning difficulty so at least things have moved on.

The other way to do it is just keep on top of the SENCO until they test just to get you out of their hair!!

Hope it gets sorted

Carrie

[darky]

good question! i have here today a report from a private specialist saying my son has dyslexia. im now going to fight for him to get an assessment done by an EP. im hoping either they will asess him or take into consideration the report thats already been done. because dyslexia is a specific learning disability, they are entitled to certain provision so i think its worth pushing, but im guessing this is why the EP's and schools are reluctant to assess and dx dyslexia.

[julieann]

My youngest son NT (age 9) clearly is dyslexic. Last year school consented to test him, but all they did was spend about 15-20 minutes with him; this was done by one of the teachers who had done a course or something. Yes, they said, he was mildly dyslexic, but he only came out of the test as such because one of the questions was whether there was any dyslexia in the family; school said that that one point only put him into the dyslexia bracket, and hence they have never taken it seriously at all, they keep saying he just has to try harder

 

He is sooooooo frustrated with his difficulties with spelling, it is really affecting his self esteem; though very able and top of the class, he feels 'he is cr*p'.

 

When I had my AS son tested for his dyslexia by a private EP, she took over 2 hours of testing etc, before confirming that he indeed is dyslexic etc.

 

Now I am wondering if I can ask the school to have my youngest properly tested by an EP?

 

 

Ofcourse I can ask, but I need them to be able to say yes and not fob me off.

 

Is there any guidance or legislation that I can quote so they'll take me seriously? Has anyone got any other advice?

 

 

Hi Mother in need,

I work as LSA in secondary school - support 2 ASD Yr 7 girls - I have also done dyslexia course and got the certificate. It is for teaching and supporting children and teenagers with dyslexia and not for testing. The proper testing takes around 2 hours and is usually done by an E.P. I have found that the schools seem to want to spend their SEN resources on helping the children who already have a diagnosis and not on testing the ones that don't. In our school if it is thought that a child is dyslexic, lots of information is sent home in the hope that the parents will pay for their own childs testing.

Julieann

(mum of 16yr old dx AS/Dyslexia)

Edited April 1, 2006 by julieann

[Ian Jordan]

Dyslexia covers many groups of symptoms and it is best you have an idea what you suspect to be the problem before confronting the school

 

These include

 

Visual input

Temporal processing

cognitive processing - understanding

memory access / storage / recall (visual auditory language)

sensory integration problems

language problems

output difficulties (speech kinesthetic proprioceptive)

neurological problems.....

 

Schools tend only to address language and phonic problems - a very limited view that is not sustainable

 

You can contact the director of education (in writing) and ask for a EP assessment but be aware that an EP will not want to deal with a physical problem - and I don't blame them!

[phasmid]

Schools are not the right places to get these sort of things DX'd. We might pick up on the problem but it should then be passed to the correct (medical) people for dx to be given, or not. A teacher is NOT quailified to make or dismiss a dx of anything medical. Ian is also quite right when he says that:

 

Schools tend only to address language and phonic problems - a very limited view that is not sustainable

[Mother in Need]

Schools are not the right places to get these sort of things DX'd.

But schools only accept that particular dx if either they themselves or one of their 'own' people (ie EP from the same LEA) has diagnosed it; at least that's my experience...

 

Ian, thinking about it that way, I am not sure, definitely language and phonic, but I have no clue how to check out all the other probs you mentioned.

 

Julieann, you've confirmed what I suspected.

[Flora]

The HT, who is also the SENCO at our school totally dismissed my request to have Luke assessed. It has been acknowledged since he was 4 that he has learning difficulties, and his first EP said 'probably dyslexia', but this school refused to acknowledge any of his diagnoses. As a result I paid for him last year to be assessed at the dyslexia institute who dx'd moderate dyslexia and pin pointed the ASD (I didn't even tell him about that because I wanted him assessed with no preconceptions). I have provided the school with this report and they have not acted on it or even acknowledged it.

 

So, it's true, school is not the place to dx dyslexia, but I wonder why that is? Funding or inability?

 

The situation that most of us are dealing with in trying to access help for our kids is appalling, you really couldn't make it up. I have been fighting long and hard for William and haven't really even started with Luke yet or I would make myself ill, I'm half wondering what the feasibility is of suing the LEA for probably shortening of life span

 

Of course, there's no chance for any of us with dyslexia after that bloke last year said it was an emotional issue. As usual the blame is placed firmly at the feet of the parents while the LEA's do ###### all to help.

 

Sorry, ranting again

 

Lauren

[justamom]

As a result I paid for him last year to be assessed at the dyslexia institute who dx'd moderate dyslexia and pin pointed the ASD (I didn't even tell him about that because I wanted him assessed with no preconceptions). I have provided the school with this report and they have not acted on it or even acknowledged it.

 

Lauren

 

Lauren i also had to pay for my son to be assessed at the dyslexic ass it cost a bleeding fortune!!! ?350

 

Justamom

[JsMum]

MIN

 

J has dyslexia and its severe too he had an assessment at school but no support then at a CAMHS unit they said Dyslexia but again at school they didnt offer any further support so I went to the Dyslexia Institiute and took advantage of a open day and they had an offer going for ?10 assessment so we both had an assessment and we where given the possiblity of Dyslexia so we paid an extra ?25 for a full assessment as I am on benefits so this was substidised, and we where given a full evaluation, the assessments prooved severe dyslexia for J and has commenced on a 1-1 support programme and he is starting from the beginning so key stage 1 and basic abc and 123 shapes and all that, they are doing phonics and loads of others, also I recieve weekly group support as an adult with Dyslexia so we are both getting support, the Dyslexia Institute also believe J has Dyspraxia and now addressing this one too as I didnt think J had Dyspraxia as he can ride a bike, and very well, so canceled this out but I have since learnt a lot more about Dyspraxia, so I now understand more of Js difficulties, I would recommend a visit to the Dyslexia Institiute and if your on benefits there is help with financial difficulties as the assessments are exspensive but we went for the cheapest assessment in the end.

 

Its made such a big difference for both J and me, my writing is really coming on and I am learning to be more confident when reading books to J so it has certainly helped me, it also is great for J and he attends the institiute during school hours and this is ok with the school, so this has worked out very well for us, and the school are also going on the Dyslexia courses and so they can provide more awareness in the classroom.

 

JsMum

[Suze]

Hi my son showed dysx tendencies at 6.....we asked the school to assess, but were told they had no more hours left with the ed physch till the next school year,we decieded because of this to go the private route.He was assessed at the dyslexia inst and came back in the bottom 3%........worthy of a statement the report said.We took the report to school and he was moved up to school action +.He recieved 2 ,1/2 hr sessions a week doing the hickey programme.His school acknowledged the private dx immeadiately and have been very helpful.Sadly he is still in the bottom 3% despite having now 2hrs a week with a specialist literacy teacher supplied as part of his statement.

[col]

I am going to be e-mailing the dyslexia research trust. As someone said it worth asking their opion.

I bave been having the same problem with DD7.

She see's a specialist language teacher once a week and this teacher is convinced there is something wrong with her eyes even tho she has seen the optican TWICE within 4 mths.

The optican has recommend dyslexia assessment.....and i just found out for sure that the school/special teacher are fobbing me off by offering me the screening test. I don't want the screening test i want the proper test!!

 

The special teacher has said to the LSA that my daughter does have dyslexia traits and has been teaching her as if she is dyslexic. But also recieved the fob off that she was too young????

 

Apparently DD7 leans to the left of her work and the research trust are in to the eyes side of things.

 

But yep i have had enough as well and i don't want the ep to assess her as her EP is just horrible and a liar.

[Ian Jordan]

An optician will not screen for visual perceptual problems and is NOT trained to do so.

Send me your email and I will send you info on what to look for etc.

 

 

I am going to be e-mailing the dyslexia research trust. As someone said it worth asking their opion.

I bave been having the same problem with DD7.

She see's a specialist language teacher once a week and this teacher is convinced there is something wrong with her eyes even tho she has seen the optican TWICE within 4 mths.

The optican has recommend dyslexia assessment.....and i just found out for sure that the school/special teacher are fobbing me off by offering me the screening test. I don't want the screening test i want the proper test!!

 

The special teacher has said to the LSA that my daughter does have dyslexia traits and has been teaching her as if she is dyslexic. But also recieved the fob off that she was too young????

 

Apparently DD7 leans to the left of her work and the research trust are in to the eyes side of things.

 

But yep i have had enough as well and i don't want the ep to assess her as her EP is just horrible and a liar.

[Zemanski]

I had inklings of Dot's dyslexia before she went to school and these were confirmed by the class teacher in Y1 but because she is very able and only just acheiving average at the time there was no possibility of calling in even an ed. psycho. never mind giving her a full test - she doesn't qualify to even be on the SEN register without a diagnosis.

 

We waited till she was in Y3 before acting, because by that time school was finally admitting she was struggling and there was an obvious discrepancy between her verbal ability and her written output, until that point we were pretty certain diagnosis would have been ignored.

 

We were told in no uncertain terms by a very sympathetic senco that there was no way he could persuade the powers that be that formal testing should be done as her attainment was too high.

 

When we took her to the dyslexia institute we were given a lecture on not wasting our money - her attainment was average, what were we worried about?

 

We went ahead and the psychologist was stunned - we thought we had an ordinary bright kid with a touch of dyslexia, we actually have an extremely gifted kid with severe dyslexia.

 

The impact on her in school has been enormous; she doesn't get a lot of support, she still doesn't qualify, but she does get significant levels of differentiation, she is allowed to record by other methods and her talents are recognised and fostered to the point that she is on the G&T register for language! Dot's self-esteem has risen dramatically and her attainment is now well above average across the board.

 

Private diagnosis was definitely worth it for Dot.

 

One of the things that happened when Dot got her private diagnosis was that school immediately had her tested for irlen syndrome (they have trained TAs) and recommended overlays for her which do help. We know her visual problems are more extensive than irlen testing can determine and that she needs more accurate testing by someone like Ian (soon) to really benefit from what lenses can do for her but as a first step it confirmed her visual difficulties and the lenses help her a lot in the classroom with reading and writing.

Irlen is not particularly useful for many people because it is so inaccurate and if I had to pay I would recommend going straight for the more extensive and holistic tests used by the orthoscopic clinics, they are more expensive but the outcome for Com has been brilliant - he can see faces and depth more easily now and irlen didn't really change that for him; we expect that Dot will get similar benefits though maybe not so dramatic as her perception is not so severely affected in the first place.

 

Zemanski