School are bringing in Educational Psychologist

[LEMmingaround]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this.

DD is 8 and struggles wth reading and writing, it is generally accepted that she is dyslexic. She had some form of assesment in school last year but not an Ed Psych test.

Her teacher approached me today and said that they were going to get DD seen by a Ed Psych. This is good as we wanted to do this ourselves but couldn't afford it and at the last parents evening her teacher said that we should wait.

DD is such a good girl at school and she is bright as a button, although i think she is emotionally (age) behind her peers as well but that could just be in my head iyswim. Her teacher says that she is really good at expressing herself verbally, has ideas above her level etc and has also gone up a level in her literacy which is great. We have noticed a vast improvement too - all good.

So what should i expect? what sort of thing with the Ed Psych be looking at? Diagnosing? Does this mean she will get a statement? (Sorry, i don't really know what that is, just that some children get them) What will a diagnosis of dyslexia mean?

I feel bad because i don't do extra stuff with her after school, she doesn't want to do it and i don't feel i should be pushing her if she isn't enjoying it. I help her with her homework etc but nothing extra.

If i am honest i am hoping for a diagnosis as then she will get help, but not sure what form this help with take - extra time in exams i get, her teacher mentioned her being able to do her work on a tablet as her writing is illegible (she can't read her own writing).

[LEMmingaround]

Anyone?

[DioneTheDiabolist]

Lem, I have no advice.. But DS's school have referred him to the Ed Psyc as well. I have no idea what to expect.

[LEMmingaround]

hopefully we will get some advice :) Don't be sad - its a positive thing i believe. It means our children will be able to access help for whatever is holding them back at school.

[MrsBradleyJames]

My son saw ed psych in yr 1. Was a really good experience, not just focussing on his difficulties, but alot on his strengths too and how he learns, what makes him tick. It is very good that the school have referred - don't worry. And also don't worry re not dojng 'extra' with your daughter, they won't be concerned about that. They will be looking at giving the school strategies to help your daughter. (Imo her avoidance is in itself a symptom of the dyslexia, it was like that with my son). Our only problem with the whole ed psych thing, was getting the school to actually keep to his recommendations!!! (But that is a whole other story....)

[DioneTheDiabolist]

Lem not really sad that he's been referred. I'm just a bit worried. He doesn't have dyslexia, the school think that he might be on the Autistic Spectrum and I'm a bit worried for his future and sad that I didn't notice. I thought all 7yos were that bouncy, twirly and energetic. I suppose as you say the differences with their peers become more noticeable at this time.

[Barbaralovesroger]

I would play to her strengths to increase her confidence

[LEMmingaround]

I often wonder about that with DD too Dione - she has some strange little quirks and I am thinking i should mention it to her teacher but DP doesn't want me to because he thinks its just growing up things and he wants them to focus on her reading. I get his point to a degree but they need the whole picture.

[ikeaismylocal]

I am dyslexic, I wasn't diagnosed until I was 16 but the educational psychologist was really nice, I did lots of tests, thigs that dyslexic people are good at and things dyslexic people are trypically bad at (it wasn't at all about assesing the things I was bad at) there were stupid tasts like saying the alphabet backwards and remebering number sequences but I was older so it is unlikely they will ask a primary school child to do that. There were also more fun tasks like explaining words and 3d puzzels.

In terms of the help I got, I was given extra time in my exams, I had the option of useing a scribe but I didn't do that. I was given a coloured accetate (sp?) overlay that helped stop the words jumping around the page, I was give a free pc and free books whilst at university, I had a huge book allowence, something like 300 pounds a term, it was hard to spend all that money!

You mentioned your dd doesn't want to do anything extra after school, she may well be really tired from concentrating so hard, I was exhausted after school, I'd nap after school even as a teanager. Now when I read a book I fall asleep after a chapter.

I couldn't read words out of context (without a picture) when I was 10 but I have a b grade gcse in English lit and a c grade in English lang. For me I think it was just a case of becoming mature enough to understand my own learning style.

Living with dyslexia for me has been a mostly positive thing, I wouldn't choose to be not dyslexic if someone had a magic wand and offered to take my dyslexia away. I did a degree in visual communication and worked as a photographer in the UK and in Australia when I was in my 20s, I won profesional awards in the UK and in Australia, I feel that the way I understand colour, form and composition is in alot of ways thanks to my dyslexia. There are times it is hard, I can't remeber telephone numbers, not even my own, I can't spell all my ds's middle name (it is foreign and he is only 1, but still I need to find a way of remebering it!) my time management is crap and come posters on mumsnet make the occasional rude comment about my spelling but those are all small things really.

Good luck to your dd, I hope she gets the help she needs.

[ikeaismylocal]

I forgot to say that what the educational psychologist told me she looked at was the gap between my writing, spelling, reading skills and my verbal reasoning, 3d puzzel, comprahension (when spoken to) skills. The way she diagnosed dyslexia was to compare the skills typically effected by dyslexia with the skills not thought to be effected. I did very well in the non dyslexic skills and under average (although not shockingly bad) on the dyslexic skills. She said that some people would naturally have under average skills in all areas and it would still be in the normal range of learning abilities, that isn't seen as dyslexia, it is only if there is a notable difference between abilities in the different skills.

[LEMmingaround]

Thanks for sharing that, ikea - this is what they said to me at the school, that there is a huge gap between her verbal reasoning and comprehension and her reading and writing etc. She already has an unofficial diagnosis but this assesment will hopefully get her a proper diagnosis that we can use to help her. We live in grammar school area so with the 11+ looming in the near future, this is on my mind, although i wouldn't want to push her beyond her abilities, i don't really know what they are if that makes sense? I knew a lot of people at uni who were dyslexic, i did a science degree and apparently dyslexia is relatively common in scientists, must be to do with the thought processes. DD is particularly good at science at school so maybe she will go that way. In all honesty i just want her to be happy.

[Trebla]

Im an Ed Psych. It will be a pretty standard assessment. If you wsnt mor info on Dyslexia and how it is identified (rather than 'diagnosed') see the Rose Report 2009. Schools are expected to be Dyslexia Friendly and the teachibg strategies that support dyslexia shpuld be metin good quality fiest teaching and wave 2 and 3 interventions within all schools. It is a high incidence learning need. Rarely a child may get a statement for very severe dyslexia but generally this is when a special facility is being suggested and more of a resource led rather than strategy led process. You can ask the ed psych any questions you may have as they will want to meet you as part of the assessment. The SENCo should also be used to dealibg with dyslexic type differences and will have lots of helpful ideas. Hope all goes well.

[Trebla]

Gosh! it's late and my phone has made some dreadful auto corrects! Apologies!

[LEMmingaround]

Thanks trebla - i'll have to think of the right questions to ask :)

[Trebla]

Things like

What can you do at home
What are her areas of strength
How can you support her to develop compensation strategies and foster a sense of 'trying to overcome' rather than succumbing to 'being dyslexic'
What does having a label mean in real terms - will it be emancipating or stigmatising to her?
What transition plans will need to be in place
What, if anything, will she need in terms of equipment (speech recognition software, scribe at exams etc...)

[helsbels03]

Hi, I'm a Sendco in a primary school, the EP assessment will help the school make sure they are divining the right things to support your child. Don't forget that you know your child best, so the EP will need to know as much as possible so that the right support can be put into place. If they are making progress, if would be very unlikely that you'd get a statement, although if this is something you are thinking if ask at the meeting- the criteria is different in each education authority. I usually ask parents to write down their questions as it is easy to forget at the time. Also the EP may ask about developmental milestones- what age they sat, said first word, spoke in sentences if 3 words etc.
don't worry about the actual assessment, it us not a written exam but more finding out what your child can do in terms of sequencing, pattern recognition, applying her skills. The EP wi go through it afterwards and them send you a summary report of her findings. You probably won't get a copy of the actual assessment though.