teacher thiks my son may be dyslexic but wont diagnose till he is 8 what can i do

inkie

We are currently going through the process with our DD (9). I have requested a stat. assessment from the LEA - the school did not want to refer - and so we have done it. I would like to know what happens though if they refuse to do this - do we just have to struggle along. I am convinced that there is a problem.

milliebear00001

Hi there

The school probably don't want to assess yet as his probles may still be rectified beforehand - he's still very early on in his school life. Having said that, if they are simply doing 'nothing' that's not acceptable. It's worth having a chat with the teacher and or SENCo about what they plan to do to tackle the 'issues' they have already mentioned to you. It is near impossible to get a Statement of Special Educational Need these days (despite what the Code for SEN document says!) but your school school put together an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for him if they think he has issues not present in his peers.

mirrorimage0

thanks guys/girls all your comments and suggestions have been really helpful.

i spoke to some people from the council today and they are sending me some infor and advice me as well on what sort of questions i should be asking etc
i tried to arrange an appointment with a particular teacher who said they would not meet with me until they knew anything defininate about the assesments which could be quite a few weeks so have just sat down and written her a letter and included some questions i wanted answered which are as follows

1 what is being done at the moment to help my son in regards to his reading and writing and can i have a written plan of this

2 when will he be assesed and for what exactly

3 who is he being assesed by is it the educational phsycologist or another body

4 can i have a written report and meeting with the assesor

5 will my son be on a school action or a school action plus plan and what does this entail.

i also have spoken to my optician who has given me some interesting websites to read up on and has booked my ds in for an appointment so hopefully will get some idea of what is happening soon,

i like thew idea of him telling me his homework etc and me typing it out or writing it for him as his story telling and maths etc is really good he just cant get it onto paper.

they had to make up some super hero stories recently and his teacher said he was the best in the class at it and gave the other children on his tables ideas and characters as well he just couldnt get it written down so she had a teacher assistant help him which is good and she has adviced me on doing puzzles with hima nd lego and is getting me some discs with practicing ideas on which is good, i just wish the other teacher who is dealing with the assesment people etc would actually meet with me so i have some idea of what is going to happen. x

thanks again for all the replys. x

Savvy_Sue

one thing to remember is that a child doesn't need a diagnosis to get extra help.

It does sound as if his class teacher has picked up that he needs help to get things written down, and is arranging for him to have that help. She's also suggested activities which may help him, and things may improve. I'm not saying you should or shouldn't have him tested privately, just saying that what's important is that he gets appropriate help. That's more important than a formal diagnosis.

mirrorimage0

hi savvy yes i understand what your saying and its great that his own teacher is suggesting things for me to do at home with him but they arent doing an awful lot at school with him fo rthe extra help apart from this occasion where she helped him writing stuff down. they seem to be waiting until he is assesed before giving him any extra help which i feel is wrong as the longer they take the more behind he is getting and will just make him eventually want to give up, im not too fussed if they actually diagnose anything at this age i just want the assesment so they can get on and give him extra help in the areas that he needs. i just wished the other teacher that knows about the assesments etc would have a chat with me it just seems like its being passed from one person to another, i find it really helpful on here though as i can get out what im trying to say even if its in a rather jumbled way lol and sort out exactly what it is i need and want to know and what to ask if you get what i mean. x