Dyslexia assessment advice please ?

pigpen

My son really struggled as well, by the time the school were kicked into action he had already decided he couldnt do anything, he was useless, he lacked confidence and self esteem and now at nearly 16 that has still not fully rectified itself.. however.. he might not have been able to write or read at 7... but he could read music and play the clarinet! He is a whizz at maths too..

pmlindyloo

Please have a look at this website:

http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/what.htm

I am a specialist teacher in Dyslexia and have taught at primary level for too many years to mention.

Without being unkind to hardworking teachers everywhere, in a 'normal' classroom situation there just aren't the resources (human and otherwise) to help individual children who have learning difficulties to the extent that they need.

I totally agree that children under 7 years cannot be tested accurately but now he is going into year 3 I would encourage you to seek a private assessment. I know schools should be providing such assessments but being realistic it is a very slow process and often gets overlooked. Sometimes this is because some schools do not accept that dyslexia really exists or sometimes because they do not have the skills to 'diagnose'.

Young children often exhibit some 'dyslexic tendencies' and the school have recgnised that.

However, do not leave it too long. Lacking confidence and low self esteem must be taken seriously.

I know this is a moneysaving forum but if you have a little 'spare' or could find some, then private tutoring might be one way forward. The dyslexia institute wold probably give you contact details of someone in your area.

Hope this helps a little.

Savvy_Sue

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I know schools should be providing such assessments but being realistic it is a very slow process and often gets overlooked. Sometimes this is because some schools do not accept that dyslexia really exists or sometimes because they do not have the skills to 'diagnose'.

And sometimes they know that if they recognise a problem fully, they'll have to do something about it.

OP, from what you've now said it doesn't sound as if the school are doing 'enough' for your son - and never mind if other schools are worse, or your friends are struggling to get anything for their children, you can only do what's right for YOUR family.

So rather than waiting until term starts, it might well be worth getting either that assessment or some specialised help over the summer. Then in September you can 'hit the ground running', either because you'll have a piece of paper which says "these are the things little Johnny struggles with, these are the ways he could be helped" or whatever, or because with specialist help little Johnny will have made progress, and you'll have picked up tips and strategies for helping him which you can discuss with the school.

Even if the school don't 'recognise' the private assessment, you'll KNOW how bad the problem is, and what might help, and you can just keep banging on until the right help, and the right amounts of it, is forthcoming.

It's a different situation, I know, because it wasn't dyslexia, but one friend was being told that their child didn't need to go to a special school but could stay in mainstream. My friend didn't believe this was appropriate, and therefore pushed for the statement needed to get the special school placement. Once the child had started, my friend asked 'how bad is it, on a scale of 1 to 10?' and was told 'this is about the most severely affected child we've ever seen'. I'm not saying your son is 'that bad', but unless he gets the right support, no-one will ever admit how bad it is! It may be quite mild, but you don't KNOW, and I think it does help to KNOW.

Chris_Hanna

As a teacher qualified to teach children with Dyslexia my advice is push school for assessment by an Educational Psychologist.Do not be put off as there is funding for Dyslexia,just difficult to obtain! Seven is the time to insist on help and labels mean entitlement to appropiate tuition rather than wellmeaning school staff trying their best.Do not be fobbed off, time flies and gaps with peers widen causing lack of confidence and stress.Good luck!

xxdeebeexx

I had DS1 privately assessed at 8yrs and 8mnths because he found school so tricky.

Unfortunately, as a pushy mother, all I could see were the things he couldn't do ie couldn't read, spell, write, tell the time and so on.

We paid a lot of money for the assessment as the school would not consider it. DS did the tests and we had an initial brief report on the same day. The first thing that we were told was that we had a very, very bright son with an IQ of 142 ! I am ashamed to say that I NEVER knew he was bright. It changed my attitude towards him and it gave me the confidence to stand up for his rights. He is now coming up to 16 and the report has enabled him to have extra time in GCSE and a reader for certain exams. School is still tricky but has become easier since he has chosen his options.

I have never regretted having the assessment.

If reading is tricky have a look at crossbow education and the Reading Rulers they made a fantastic difference to DS1 and DS2. I bought a mixed pack of 10 to discover which one worked best and sold the remainder on Ebay!

Good luck

Dx

PS I think there is a lower age of 7.5 yrs before assessment can be accurate

esmy

A friend paid for her son to have a private assessment - he was about 10 at the time and really struggling in school. I saw them as they returned home and asked how they had found it. He stood up straight, looked directly at me and said 'I'm not thick' - I said that I had never thought he was. To see the pride and relief on his face must have been worth every penny

Mojisola

xxdeebeexx wrote: »

The first thing that we were told was that we had a very, very bright son with an IQ of 142 ! I am ashamed to say that I NEVER knew he was bright. It changed my attitude towards him and it gave me the confidence to stand up for his rights.

esmy wrote: »

A friend paid for her son to have a private assessment - he was about 10 at the time and really struggling in school. I saw them as they returned home and asked how they had found it. He stood up straight, looked directly at me and said 'I'm not thick' - I said that I had never thought he was. To see the pride and relief on his face must have been worth every penny

My son received an apology from the Head Teacher after the test results came in - he said my son probably had a higher IQ than most of the teachers in the school.

I always emphasised the benefits of a dyslexic brain to my son and encouraged him to see the things he was better at than other children but he still ended up being affected by the constant "failure" at school.

alwayspuzzled

The school I 1st went to diagnosed me as dyslexic and I remember going to extra/different lessons, this early help made all the difference as despite my diagnosis apparently entitling me to extra exam time etc I found school easy (apart from spelling, still find that really hard) and never needed it. TBH to this day I don't know what was different about the way I was taught but it obviously worked. My younger sister went to a different school who refused to acknowledge our mothers concerns and had a completely different experience of education. Her school told my mother "shes not dyslexic just below average intellegance" in secondary school she got shunted into the bottom stream where she got bored and rebelled. Mom paid and had her privately assessed which found her to dyslexic with a high IQ but by the time mom had found the strength of her convictions sis's self esteem was so low and we have never managed to completely reverse that self opinion.

Sorry to ramble but my point is the 'label' and the extra help this allowed made the difference between one sister flying thru school and college and having uni place and other sister dropping out at 14 without a GCSE to her name and still having self esteem issues 15yrs later.

jazzypinkpuppet

Thanks guys, I have telephoned My local Dyslexia association and they have put me in touch with a few assessors in my area. I think you might be right Savvy_Sue, if I have it done in the holidays I can go and see the teachers in September and hopefully he will get all the help he needs from the beginning. It seems early intervention is the key.
Thanks also for all the posts about how you or your children went to uni and have good jobs etc, it is really encouraging to read.
Sallylizzie, it is an awful situation to be in, I hope you get the help you need soon. I will let you know how we get on.

SDG31000

We paid for our son James to be privately tested at Dyslexia Action after he had been seen by the LEA's Educational Psychologist. The LEA's report showed that James was severely Dyslexic, but not specifics. The Dyslexia Action report enabled us to go to school and show them just how bad the problem was. Unfortunately the school did all they could, but admitted to us that it just wasn't enough in James's case. So we paid for three years of private lessons at Dyslexia Action and also for the DORE system (I understand that DORE is now defunct, but we think that it did help James a lot). It cost us thousands of pounds, but it was money incredibly well spent. James now needs no extra help and is on track to get A*, A and B grades at GCSE. I'm still angry about the education system failing James and leaving us to pick up the pieces, but it worked. The little boy who got bullied for being stupid and dumb is now a confident 15 year old who knows he is incredibly intelligent.