i think my almost 7 year old may be dyslexic

[misdee]

she is still on some year 1 books, but is progressing well. Still using a scribe a school for her written work, and is in a SN group. dyslexia hasnt been mentioned yet, but I think it will be at the next parent teacher meeting. She is well supported already at school, and i do think the school has already picked up at it. is it still true they wont confirm dyslexia until a certain age? what age is that?

[fizzbuzz]

They don't have an age when they confirm dyslexia do they? I'm a secondary school teacher so may be wrong.
Perhaps what you are referring to is the fact they try to delay labelling as long as possible, so it costs less...it all comes down to money unfortunately...

[misdee]

i'm sure i read they couldnt confirm it before a certain age as a lot of children write thigs backwards and p,q,b,d mixed up and S+5 backwards.

[flack]

Where I live it's 7 (at least) before dyslexia would be confirmed. But I think it could be different in different places (postcode lottery).

I started a thread on this, because I suspected one of the children in DS class had dyslexia. It's under S.E.N. thread topic. Some knowledgeable people posted in reply.

[flack]

Here .

[fizzbuzz]

Flack, looked through your thread and coudn't find anything about age 7!Am I blind?!

If some authorities don't diagnose until age 7, still feel it would only be a money saving thing, as I am sure it is obvious from an early age. (Sorry to be cynical, but work in school, and know how lea's work-everything is trying to get as few pupils as poss on SN register, as it cost less) My son has it, and reversed d's and b's from very early on.

I took him to a private ed psych as school was dragging it's heels, and just presented them with the report. Know lots about how schools operate about this sort of thing, and ....OH GOD...have to go as feel a rant coming on about underfunding of SEN....rant ...rant...

[misdee]

she is still confusing p,q,b,d and S+5 backwards at almost 7. reading age is about 18months behind i think. she is good at maths dispite the maths problem.

my brother is very dyslexic as is my mum, and sister, so really dsont want dd1 ti struggle. which she isnt as she has help already. would a label/dx of dyslexia help at this stage if she already has 30mins wiuth SENCo a day anyway? she is on an IEP.

[misdee]

oh flack i remember that thread. how is the gil doing, has she been assessed at all?

[swedishmum]

Only an Ed Psych can administer certain tests and diagnose dyslexia - it's not cheap! Schools can administer very similar tests and can tell from the outcome if dyslexia is indicated. You need the real report for statement (not easy to get) and to ensure extra 25% time in SATS etc.

Ruth Kelly has proved how appallingly underfunded this area is. Appropriate programmes of work can make a huge difference but lack of knowledge among teachers is rife. Specific gaps in phonic skills can be easily identified at an early age and worked on. We had years of the school saying our son would catch up and we had a private assessment too. Grrrr. Rosner TAAS and Hatcher tests of Phonological Awareness are both tests aimed at your dd's age group that teachers or TAs could administer. They may highlight any specific phonological weaknesses you could work on at home - would happily suggest some fun games you could play to build on skills if you like. Had to make loads of resources for my course recently.

[misdee]

yes she has phonics small group sessions already (6 children in it), and we are working on blending some sounds atm, but right nowi cant remember which they are. Ou, Oo and Oi spring to mind but cant be sure if they are correct, will need to check. she did read the word Food at somerfield by herself by muttering out each sound slowly.

still cant get was/is correct, confuses them all the time.

[flack]

Misdee, not sure if the girl has been assessed. But at least I've planted a seed of thought.

Sounds like your DD is getting better support than the local girl, actually .

Really just referred to that thread because there were good comments on there about diagnostics/key traits, how old children tend to get diagnoses.

[misdee]

I am pleasently surprised at the amount of support dd1 gets at school juston an IEP. its a brilliant school, and she has been in the small group session soon after she moved there in oct 2005. her old school hadnt picked up at anything.

[fennel]

My nearly 7yo dd still confuses p,q,b,d, S+5 and so on. I think it's fairly common. I did mention it to her teacher (armed with a mumsnet post on dyslexia symptoms) who thought that at this age it's stil fairly normal, even though something to watch out for.

[isgrassgreener]

Misdee - where I live the ED Physc is very anti giving a dyslexic DX and although she told our Senco in private that she thought that DS1 was dyslexic she would not write it in a report.

She assesed DS1 in yr 1 and in yr 3.

He is now in yr 4 aged 9 and we had a private DX three months ago, that confirmed what we had always suspected that he has dyslexia.

With regard to school you are very lucky that your DD is well supported. My Senco made it quite clear that a DX of dyslexia wouldn't change the level of support he had at school. We have to see a tutor to help as the support in school in not enough.

Some children do have developmental dyslexia, that they tend to grow out of by 8/9, perhaps thats why they don't like to DX too early.