Dyslexia in secondary school

[northcountrygirl]

Hi
I have a daughter in year 8 in an academy secondary school. She was diagnosed at aged 7 with dyslexia, dyspraxia and discalculia (hope I've spelt that all correctly!).

I'm going to try and cut a very long story as short as possible. Basically in year 1 her difficulties were brought to our attention. There was apparently the person at the bottom of the class, then there was a big gap, then there was my daughter. Bearing in mind there were several children that were at the early stages of learning english (it's my daughter's only language) that should give an idea of how far behind she was.

We had her assessed privately and the report basically said that she had an above average iq (based on vocab and reasoning) but way below average reading age and writing which would indicate dyslexia. Later had another assessment which indicated dyspraxia and discalculia.

During primary we paid privately for specific dyslexia tuition and also maths tuition. School did an iep but basically claimed credit for what we were doing privately. Oh they also did 20 minutes per week on "wordshark" a computer program we also had at home but hey ho. Anyway she caught up! She worked really hard herself and ended up with grade 5 sat results which obviously we were thrilled with.

Problem now seems to be at high school. She no longer has an iep. Her grades are slipping - she's actually going backwards in English and had recently got a grade 4a in an English test. Have spoken to the school (not the senco - she's proving elusive!) and I've been told she doesn't meet the criteria for an iep. Apparently (and baring in mind my daughter us 13) to gave an iep the reading age needs to be below age 8 and level 3.

I've made an appointment for yet another private assessment but that's not until February. Surely my daughter has a right to fulfill her potential? She has recognised learning disabilities. She's an intelligent girl - just slow processing capabilities.

I would be soo grateful for any advice at all.

[SatinSandals]

I had the same problem. It is the SENCO you need to see, don't let her be elusive, insist on an appointment. Get them to run tests. Once that had been done DS got the extra help and the extra time in exams. Sad to say he wouldn't have got it without a pushy mum.