Dyslexia

tw1nklestar

wellington square is also a brilliant reading scheme for children with dyslexia as they r high interest low vocab books - and with each set of books there is a cd rom so u can read the books on the pc and also do lots of activities - seen brilliant results with this scheme

janeawej

they sound great anything that helps a child get interested in reading is a help

Jimney

Hi everyone, spoke to my SIL today she was amazed at all the information you have given her and says thanks for all your help.

kabie

My son has just moved to wellington square at school and he really loves them. He hasn't been diagnosed with dyslexia and we've had a tough time fighting the school over the whole thing but things seem to be on the right track now.

foreveryoung_3

I am fighting with my LEA at the moment, it is not true that you cannot tell untill the age of 7 that a child is Dyslexic. I am so excuse any spelling mistakes, which is due to my own education not meeting my dyslexic needs. I have a condition called Dysgraphia and Hyperlexia. I have a photographic memory and think in pictures. The LEA have not learnt the early tell tale signs of these conditions, they have to wait untill its SOOOOOOo Obvious and usually at a loss for the child as the child needs more than the others for it to be recognised as soon as they start learning written text. As they lose the primary Educational skills needed to keep up and follow the lessons by the age of seven is discracefull. I am trying to get a public enquiry by petition about this and the damaging effects on our children. I have 5 all with photographic memories all struggling in Mainstream Education. Mainstream Education is set up to be Auditory-Sequential learning, ie: you need to be able to sit still and listen and record facts on to paper being writen neatly. Not a problem unless you are Dylexic or Dyspraxic or Deaf, then you need Visual-Spatial learning ie: you have to visualize what it is you are learning about see it take a picture, then ask about it or touch it or copy it and imprint it into your mind. A third of our school children are Visual-Spatial learners being set up to fail by suffering 2 or 3 years or more in my childrens cases through getting knowhere for a long time. It is Education Discrimination as in my family this has been a gift that through the education system has been crushed untill leaving school, some amazing potential is being lost by Educational Psychologists lying about when you can tell if a child is dyslexic or not. Knowing what I know now you can tell from when your child becomes interested in things and what things they go for. There are many excellent support groups on the net but as for the Lea or Government they want to ignor it so they dont have to change or admit they have got it wrong and they wont admit to the damage they are causing children, Only recently in 2 schools in Surrey kids committed suicide, I sat in Court with 2 other parents on friday being taken to court by the LEA because thier children were refusing to go to school or had time out, both parents were in bits, 1 son was threatening suicide he is 14 and the other a 15 year old girl had started cutting herself. Both parents are being forced to plead quilty because the LAW is a stitch up and gives no room for this to be a valid reason for a child not to be at school, the parents have no choice but to plead quilty. After talking to these parents I helped them uncover some difficulties that thier kids may be having apart from bullying was dyslexia and Auditory Processing Disorder. Again you cant get this information from the NHS or SCHOOL or your DOCTORS as they are trying to not let the cat out of the bag. Well I am gonna blow the lid off as I do not like being lied to ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO MY CHILDREN who can play chess and cards and use typing programs on the pc and more yet in class they regress !!!!!!!!!!
Sorry to have gone on so much but I am a firm believer in DYSLEXIC INTELLIGENCE these children have such potential in other areas but are being crushed and its got to stop.

ben500

One thing I would recommend she do if not done already is get the childs hearing tested, many children experience learning difficulties simply because they are not hearing sounds correctly, this can sometimes be recognised in their speech also, a child that cannot hear sounds correctly will have difficulties in both reading and writing as a result and can display symptons such as dyslexia and the mythical adhd are responsible for.

blissfulbabe

Has your niece sat her GCSEs yet?

If she has and is considering her next move she may want to think about her local college. Colleges are often very good at offering a thorough screening which identifies the risk of dyslexia and the learner's strengths and weakensses. Although it's not a full assessment it will make sure that your niece would get support, extra time for exams and, if your niece is planning on university, a full assessment so your niece can claim extra allowances when she starts uni.

I work in an FE college which offers excellent support for learners and it makes me so angry at the number of people who go through school and are labelled lazy or slow, when in reality they have dyslexia. Each year we identify at least 30-40 people with undiagnosed dyslexia. Over the last two years I supported a 56 year old who had been labelled unteachable and was functionally illiterate - but he's just completed a HND in Business (including writing a 4 000 word essay) and is going to uni in October. He uses speech to text software to 'write' his work and to help with proof reading and it has transformed his life.

Schools are poor at recognising dyslexia because they use a very narrow criteria for identifying dyslexia and don't seem able to recognise the organisational difficulties that it can cause.

On the other hand (and I am not insinuating this applies to your niece) I do see a sizeable number of people who want to be diagnosed with dyslexia because they are struggling with the course because it just isn't appropriate for them or they have overestimated their abilities. My favourite is the learner who wanted to be diagnosed as dyslexic because they wanted a free laptop!

If your niece is dyslexic she probably has strengths in other areas and would benefit from support to learn how to use them to help overcome her weaknesses. If she is moving on to six form/ college she and your sister should attend any open days or evenings (nearly every college will be open on the 25th August as people will have got their GCSE results) and make contact with the support/ dyslexia services to start the ball rolling ASAP.

Whatever she decides to do wish her good luck from me!

emg

Foreveryoung - I'm sorry to hear that you are having such a fight to get adequate provision for your children. It's true that some LEAs are better than others at recognising and providing for special needs.

The LEA where I live have actually moved on in leaps and bounds over the past few years when it comes to recognising learning styles. The whole 'auditory, visual, kineasthetic' learning styles is a real 'buzzword' at the moment in this area. Around 20% of the population are Auditory learners and schools are starting to set-up their classrooms and design lessons to meet the needs of all the different types of learners.

Another iniative in this area is 'Dyslexia-Friendly Schools'. Schools apply for this award and are audited by experts to ensure that they are using best practise to identify and support children with Dyslexia. To get the award they have to have certain levels of staff training, procedures written into the school policy, special schemes of support available, etc.

I know this is a bit off-topic from the original post and in the past i have experienced that frustration where the LEA wont recognise difficulties until the child is older (it used to be that children had to be 2 years behind their classmates, hence being 7 before any diagnosis was made). But I just wanted to say that the future is getting brighter for these children and the knowledge and expertise in this area is increasing all the time.

You always need to be a bit wary of places that make you pay for assessment. They make their money by convincing parents that the mainstream school system cannot meet their child's needs. While I agree that some mainstream schools have a long way to go, the LEA always has a responsibility to assess a child who is not progressing as expected (and all good moneysavers should at least try the free route first!)

mclaren_2

i too am dyslexic - found out, that alot of celebs are aswell.....

http://www.dyslexiamentor.com/famousdyslexics.php

Dyslexia is a problem but its easy to get over and around the hurdles

i use a "talker" on the pc so i can hear whats there, so i dont have to attempt to strain my eyes to make out what it says (my eyes btw are 20/20 - so noboyd can say its your eyes being weak btw)

LEA should help out - if they dont, ask why not. if its down to money, then you can have fun by saying that they are refusing education needs.... etc...

Im 20, was not even diagnosed at school, doctor did, the reffered me to a psycologist type person and they done some tests to see how i was at spelling, reading and writing - then they done more tests..... so picking up dyslexia today, is easier than it was back in the late 90's

a myth though - is that if somboyd says they are dyslexic, people assume they cant read, write OR spell - which is wrong. if you are dyslexic, it dont mena you cant spell read or write, it means you struggle with it and you need help - but you do "fail" in one of the 3 if not more.... fail is a bad word but the only one i can think of. i cant spell or write properly, reading is poor but can make out mostbut i get very sharp headaches after about 30 words.

dont give up though - the lea wll have to test them for dyslexia - bearing in mind, its more common these days due to what i said above about them not testing in the 90's as much.

now every child in primary school are tested with the teacher passing out certain work - which gets tested and analisist.

good luck

spud30

My children are 10 and 8, and neither of them has been tested at school.

I have discussed my lad's problems with his teacher, but nothing has been done. The trouble is, he doesn't disrupt the class, so doesn't get noticed.

He also has quite bad attention problems, and often drifts off into his own little world.

I have no option but to try and help him myself. I have just bought a book called The Gift Of Dyslexia by Ron Davis, which was recommended to me.

I also have a DVD from Dore, which shows how they help people. To attend one of their centres is around £2000 for a course of treatment, but the DVD shows some of the exercises they get people doing.