who can diagnose SpLD?

[brassedoffmum]

Does anyone know who decides if a child has SpLD?
The previous senco wrote that my ds had this on a referral form for a statement. Was news to me. Ed Pysych also said it. Told her I did not know about it. New senco says he has not got SpLD, previous senco must have put it on by accident and just a mix up.
Who should I be asking about this? School are as much use as a chocolate teapot.

[MorocconOil]

What does SpLD stand for as I've not heard the term before? To make any kind of diagnosis like Autism or Aspergers a child psychiatrist would have to assess the child. An Ed psychologist can suggest if a child is presenting with the characteristics, but can not make the diagnosis.

[brassedoffmum]

Specific Learning Difficulty e.g. dyslexia
That's interesting about the ed psychologist not making a diagnosis of aspergers.His report said that he did have characteristics and fell into the high risk category. So who does make the diagnosis?
.

[MorocconOil]

I think only a medically trained doctor, suchas a paediatrician or child psychiatrist can make a formal diagnosis of Aspergers. Other professionals can make suggestions, or be involved in the assessment, but it needs a medically trained doctor to make the diagnosis.

[brassedoffmum]

Thanks mimizan. So does anyone know who diagnoses specific learning difficulty?

[MorocconOil]

An ed psych diagnoses dyslexia, along with teaching staff. Presumbly that's the case for other SpLDs.

Every Education Dept should have a parent partnership team. It is their role to advise and support parents whose children have SEN. They are independant of the school. They should be able to help you with these kind of issues.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Many of the teaching staff I've come across would not recognise dyslexia evem if it came up to them and said hi. They are not taught about such things at teacher training college and thus do not pick up on it.

Have you ever seen a developmental paediatrician - they are often the best people to make diagnoses.

I would speak to the EP in question re the mixed messages of diagnosis - you need to know who is correct and who is wrong here.

SpLD can also mean semantic pragmatic language disorder. The most common features of SPLD include:

• delayed language development
  
• learning to talk by memorising phrases
  
• repeating phrases out of context, especially snippets remembered from television programmes
  
• muddling up 'I' and 'you'
  
• problems with understanding questions, particularly questions involving 'how' and 'why'
  
• difficulty following conversations
  
  Most of the children diagnosed as having semantic pragmatic disorder also have some mild autistic features. For example, they usually have difficulty understanding social situations and may not know what is expected of them. They may also prefer to stick fairly rigidly to routines and often need to have their day planned out for them. They also lack imaginative play and will tend to copy other people rather than think of their own ideas. If we break the condition down into its two components, ?Semantics? and ?Pragmatics? we will have a better understanding of what the condition involves and why it develops.
  
  Semantics is the aspect of language function that relates to understanding the meanings of words, phrases and sentences, and using words appropriately when we speak. Children with semantic difficulties have a very hard time understanding the meaning of words and sentences. They often take slang expressions literally or interpret them oddly and they are unable to understand the concept of sarcasm.
  Pragmatics is the area of language function that embraces the use of language in social contexts - knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. Children with pragmatic difficulties have great difficulty using language socially. For example, they often do not understand that we take turns to talk, and they will talk over the top of another person, constantly interrupting at inappropriate times. On other occasions, they respond to what you say with inexplicable silences, or in a voice that is too quiet. They may look around them during a conversation, giving the impression of complete disinterest in what is being discussed.
  
  Children with SPLD have a language disorder that affects both semantic processing and the pragmatics of language use. Some authorities see SPLD as part of the autism spectrum of disorders while others see it purely as a language disorder. It is difficult to make an individual diagnosis because the symptoms vary immensely. Although the mistakes with words and phrases can appear quite amusing, they can be extremely embarrassing and upsetting to the child. It is therefore important that family, peers, teachers and other adults apply great sensitivity in guiding the young person with SPLD.
  
  Who is applying for the Statement?. Would have to say that you as the parent are far better off applying for such a document than the school are. Parents have far more power in this regard.
  
  Would also suggest you put your post onto the Special Needs forum of this site as you will get more replies there.