Getting help for child with learning difficulties

[lynds34]

Hello,
I am wondering if anyone can help me in finding help for my daughter. She turned 5 in June and has just finished the first year of school in reception and basically her teacher has told me that she has very real concerns in terms of her development. To be honest this was not a surprise to me as she is my third child and I knew that she was not progressing the same as her sisters and so I first took her to the doctors re my concerns when she was 2. For me the thing that was most noticeable was that her speech was delayed. From that time nearly 3 years ago my daughter was referred for speech therapy but their involvement with her has been limited an boarders on useless - this has even been noticed by her teachers as in one whole school year they have only been to see her twice! My daughter also has issues with her hearing and had grommets put in last year but which fell out quite quick. After one whole school year my girl can barely write her name an only has recognition of about 8 letters. She does know her alphabet and can count to about 20 but she tends to forget things taught very quickly which has led her teacher to express concerns for her memory? Basically where we are now is that I have pushed so they are going to get her seen by a educational psychologist which i believe is first step to getting her statmented. I am so afraid for her future and having lost all faith in the State system wonder if I can help my daughter by getting her private tutoring aswell but I wouldn't know where to look or which is safest way forward? Grateful for any advice given

[Eveiebaby]

You are right getting the EP to see you daughter is the first step towards getting a statement. I would keep on chasing this up with the school I would even phone and speak to the headteacher during the holidays about this as without an EP assessment your DD will probably get minimal extra support plus you need the EP to try and define exactly the type of support your DD needs. My DD has special needs too although different to your daughter I know how worrying it all is. Have you thought about getting a private speech therapist to evaluate your DD's speech and language abilities.

[sickofsocalledexperts]

My friend whose child has LD has seen great improvements with an aba tutor. My son is autistic with LD and has also benefited greatly, though i taught him to read myself. The state doesnt like ABA, but it is the norm in the US and we are way behind.