dyslexia "statemented"?

caris

Hi

When our boy was younger he had a squint which was operated on, after this I noticed that things didnt seem quite right with his schooling and asked his then teacher if he could be dyslexic, she said no way, she would know if he was or not, anyway at his next eye clinic appointment I asked if he could be and she very kindly referred us to the appropriate clinic, low and behold he was dyslexic. I informed the school who did nothing.

A couple of years later a lady used to come into the school (from county) and did some tests and we received a letter "confirming" that they had found he was dyslexic, she then taught him and another child for 30 mins a week for a while, this suddenly stopped about 1yr ago, we received no corresspondance about his progress in school or anything to say it was stopping. He goes to the hospital clinic every few months for assessment.

We recently had to attend the his new school (he goes to the comprehensive school in sept) and we asked what support he would be getting for his dyslexia and were told that he would only get any if he was "statemented". His primary school have since said that he isn't.

We went back to the clinic today and asked about it and was told that its difficult to get and its down to the school.

How do we get this? especially has the school is not helpful anyway

Thanks
caris

wornoutmumoftwo

I would have thought he should get some sort of support being dyslexic. I help dyslexic children with specialist reading scheme at our local primary (I'm a vounteer), and there are quite a few.

TheEffect

I'm an LSA in a secondary school and unfortunately dyslexic people are not statemented (most of the time) and therefore no funding is provided for support and as a result, no support is given.

We have so many dyslexic pupils in the school I work at, and only around 5/6 LSA's, so a large amount of these do not receive any support, and the ones that do are placed in a class where there is a statemented child which allows us to help them as well.

It's a shame, as these kids seriously need the help. We have a boy in year 7 who has been at the school since September and none of his teachers picked up that he was severely dyslexic and could hardly read or write. He went 2 months without doing hardly any work and no one picked up on it.

He's now had to be moved into lessons where there is a statemented child, as we receive no funding for him and do not have enough LSA's to support him, however without us he cannot keep up and is learning nothing.

Your best bet is to speak to the SENCO at the school and ask if any support can be provided. It differs from school to school, and some may be able to offer more than others.

bylromarha

Just to echo The Effect, get an appointment to speak to the SENCO (Special needs co-ordinator). Every school has to have one. They'll be the one who organises who gets what extra support within the school day. Make a list of questions you'd like to ask regarding your son and take it with you to the meeting.

Getting a statement basically means that your child has been getting some support in school and is making slow progress, despite that support. The school then applys for a statement, based on the childs needs, and the statement gives the school extra funding to meet those needs. If support for your son has been reduced, it may be that he is making good progress? How do you feel he's been doing at school for the past 2 years with and without the support? Again, raise this with the SENco.

If your child is in last year of primary, it is very unlikely that the school will be pushing for a statement TBH.

BTW, the hospital clinic he attends, is that for his dyslexsia or for his eye?

rainbow81

Hi there

As far as I know there are 3 levels of support for a child with additional needs. The first is known as School Action where there is support within the school from LSAs, etc. It may be something like 1:1 reading or a social group, something like that. THen there is School Action Plus which is where the school ask for outside input. THis could come from Educational Psychologists or Paediatricians, etc. I believe they do actually receive some funding fom the education department for a certain amount of hours per week for this, dependant upon what the child receives. The final level is a Statement of Educational Needs which is very difficult to get. My son gets 16hours support in a mainstream school as he is autistic, and that's after a year of being on School Action Plus.

I don't know much about dyslexia or the support provided, sorry. Have you spoken to your child's current school about why the help stopped?

Also, try calling Partnership With Parents? They are great at explaining the system with regards to special or extra needs.

R

HRV

As rainbow says there are 3 levels. You are very unlikely to get a statement for dyslexia however this does not mean he shouldn't be getting any help.

If he is on special needs register, which he will be as he is dyslexic he should have an individual education plan (IEP), which should be discussed with you each time it's reviewed (at least once a year- I do them every term for my class). Im pretty sure he should be on school action plus as he has had a diagnosis from an outside agency.

The IEP will outlien 3 key targets to be worked on- for which he should get support.

Depending on your LEA they may have a way of allocating funding even with out a statement. Our LEA has something where the SENCO applies for funding for school action plus children (it's alot of paperwork- so poss the SENCO just cant be bothered!) Funding can be allocated between 2.5 hours to fulltime (to include support over lunch time). We have a child with downs syndrom who does not have a statement but funded nearly fulltime.

Also be aware if he has a dyslexia diagnosis I'm pretty sure he should be getting extra time in his SATs and a reader if needed for the papers (with the exception of the reading paper)- check this with the SENCO as I think this has to be arranged well before the SATs. I know you def get these for GCSEs and A levels (as my brother is dyslexic- he is just completing his masters- so dont think it will stop your son achieving his dreams:T)


Good luck and stick with it- fight for it- you may have to!!!

MissMoneypenny

caris wrote: »

Hi
A couple of years later a lady used to come into the school (from county) and did some tests and we received a letter "confirming" that they had found he was dyslexic,

I should imagine that was their Educational Psychologist?

My son was found to have a squint when he was 4 years old. I found out years later that children who had squints, should be given eye exercises to help their brains process what they see. I was fortunate to get an Ed psych for my son who knew about vision imaging and I took my son for some simple eye tests to see if this was what he had. He did. Yet he had passed all of his eye tests at school and at Specsavers.

The government wasn’t funding this test then, at least, not for children but they were for their fighter pilots. As your son has been confirmed as being dyslexic, the visit and test maybe could be financed by your local council for his dyslexia on the recommendation of the county Ed psych? If she won’t, then perhaps contact your local dyslexia society to try to get help paying for it, if this is what you want to do?

This a piece from the website of the person my son went to:-


"Of all of our senses, that which is the most important in the learning process is vision. Over 85% of all we ever learn is thought to have been received. Any parent looking for help for their child with a learning difficulty should ensure that they have checked out the possibility of vision problems at an early stage.


Keith Holland & Associates are able to look beyond the standard eye examination to the vision as a whole. Many children who are diagnosed as dyslexic or who are underachieving at school, can show simple vision problems that are not picked up in standard eye examinations.



Several recent studies have suggested that as many as 80% of dyslexic children have unresolved eye problems contributing to their reading and spelling difficulties - even though they may see well and pass simple vision screening tests such as those carried out in schools."
http://www.keithholland.co.uk/Assessment-Information.html

dizziblonde

It's getting harder and harder for schools to get statements put through for kids in general (not surprising since statements bring help, and help costs money). Even getting to see an ed psych for a firm diagnosis is a battle in some LEAs... so often the only way we can get these children support is out of the general pool of TA hours, or by them piggybacking onto a child who has a statement and TA via that statement - who invariably won't sit ignoring other children near "their child" who are needing help.

It's not a situation I approve of - it's blooming frustrating when you can't get the help out of the system for kids - but that's the way it's going in schools. I've taught statemented children who wouldn't get one these days because they squeaked through before the pursestrings got tightened.

caris

Thank you for all your replies.

He sees a specialist at the clinic for his dyslexia only now, he was signed off from the eye clinic as his squint and vision had improved so much.

The lady we see at the clinic now is not happy that he does not get any help in the school and was shocked when we told her that he only received 30mins a week when someone was coming in.

The school in general is not very good at supporting either the child or the parents when issues arise, the head is more interested in getting a good name for herself and building the school up in the results table.

caris

wornoutmumoftwo

How old is your son?

caris

He is not or son, hes or GS, we have had residency of him since 2002, and he is 10.

caris