Mis-diagnosis dyslexia

Mulberry_bush

bestpud wrote: »

What strengths and weaknesses are mentioned in her initial assessment report?

Do they tally with the info given in the sites Mojisola has posted links for?

In the original report she was behind in reading, writing, spelling and text interpretation. Strengths lay in excellent general knowledge (she would teach the class sometimes as her knowledge in a certain religion was better then the teachers) excellent at problem solving.
I do not see dyslexia in my daughter in terms of the symptoms listed in dyslexic sites and I know she is intelligent as she was given a QI test a couple of years ago and came out at 120. She is given the nickname of professor at school as she is always quoting facts and figures.

Mulberry_bush

The problem with private tuition is that I do not know what she needs help with as the school says she does not need any help. But as I pointed out to them I have heard this all before - leading up to her dyslexia diagnosis. Not one teacher, not one report card suggested that she was falling behind!
The problem I have got is i do not trust teachers anymore, I have been told by one school she is 2 years behind, then another school saying she is 4 years behind and now another saying she is not behind? Who do I believe?

Mojisola

Mulberry_bush wrote: »

In the original report she was behind in reading, writing, spelling and text interpretation. Strengths lay in excellent general knowledge (she would teach the class sometimes as her knowledge in a certain religion was better then the teachers) excellent at problem solving.

I do not see dyslexia in my daughter in terms of the symptoms listed in dyslexic sites and I know she is intelligent as she was given a QI test a couple of years ago and came out at 120. She is given the nickname of professor at school as she is always quoting facts and figures.

First, there's no link between dyslexia and low intelligence. Dyslexics can fit in anywhere along the intelligence scale.

What you describe in your first paragraph does sound like someone with dyslexia. A good memory means that you don't have to keep looking up facts - my son outshines all the rest of the family.

Many dyslexics are also very good problem solvers. Dyslexia isn't a deficiency in the brain but the connections are wired differently so that the written language is harder to interpret but other activities are much easier.

bestpud

Mulberry_bush wrote: »

In the original report she was behind in reading, writing, spelling and text interpretation. Strengths lay in excellent general knowledge (she would teach the class sometimes as her knowledge in a certain religion was better then the teachers) excellent at problem solving.
I do not see dyslexia in my daughter in terms of the symptoms listed in dyslexic sites and I know she is intelligent as she was given a QI test a couple of years ago and came out at 120. She is given the nickname of professor at school as she is always quoting facts and figures.

I have to say that she may well have a specific learning difficulty of some kind then.

It would be unusual for a child with that ability to slip 4 years behind so I'd say something is going wrong for her somewhere.

I'm assuming all the other children from that primary aren't so far behind...?

I know intelligence is about more than IQ but you seem to have a child who is well ahead verbally but it is not reflected in her academic work. That should sound alarm bells.


I'd have her assessed ASAP if she were my child.

Mulberry_bush

I know a couple of the parents from the old primary who are up in arms about their child's education, one child was diagnosed with autism, which the old school failed to recognise and the others had to get private tutors as their children could not read.

Mulberry_bush

bestpud wrote: »

I have to say that she may well have a specific learning difficulty of some kind then.

It would be unusual for a child with that ability to slip 4 years behind so I'd say something is going wrong for her somewhere.

I'm assuming all the other children from that primary aren't so far behind...?

I know intelligence is about more than IQ but you seem to have a child who is well ahead verbally but it is not reflected in her academic work. That should sound alarm bells.


I'd have her assessed ASAP if she were my child.

The only thing that's went wrong for her is incompetent teachers.

Gloomendoom

Mulberry_bush wrote: »

She is an intelligent girl and hopes to go to Oxford and she does not want a dyslexic labelling following her into uni.

She shouldn't worry about that as she certainly won't be the first or only student at university with dyslexia. Universities are used to dealing with dyslexic students and every attempt is made to compensate. There is no stigma that I am aware of.

bestpud

Mulberry_bush wrote: »

The only thing that's went wrong for her is incompetent teachers.

Why is she the only child to have been kept back a year then?

Sorry to be blunt but someone as intelligent as you say she is should have survived a poor education fairly well.

Up to you obviously but the education system has already let her down - be careful your misguided fears and prejudice don't also hold her back.

Mulberry_bush

bestpud wrote: »

Why is she the only child to have been kept back a year then?

Sorry to be blunt but someone as intelligent as you say she is should have survived a poor education fairly well.

Up to you obviously but the education system has already let her down - be careful your misguided fears and prejudice don't also hold her back.

Are you for real.

pmlindyloo

Mulberry_bush wrote: »

The problem with private tuition is that I do not know what she needs help with as the school says she does not need any help. But as I pointed out to them I have heard this all before - leading up to her dyslexia diagnosis. Not one teacher, not one report card suggested that she was falling behind!
The problem I have got is i do not trust teachers anymore, I have been told by one school she is 2 years behind, then another school saying she is 4 years behind and now another saying she is not behind? Who do I believe?

The first thing you need to do is look at her test results.

For example what did she achieve at her SATs test - Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3? These will give a good indication of whether she is 'behind'.

Just to confirm. Your daughter is now 16 years old and presumably is about to do some more exams. What are her predictions for these?

Is her reading/understanding of text/writing/spelling good?

Is there anything in her recent reports to suggest that any of these are not on par for her age? (not her year)

I also cannot understand about being in a year lower than she should be. When is her birthday? What year is she in now?

Once you know what particular area she needs help in then you can look at tutoring.

Is she allowed extra time to do exams? Is she allowed a computer? Does she need either of these? Does she need a 'reader' when doing tests in subjects other than English?