Dyslexia, Educational Psychologists & Scotland

[clc03]

Hi all!!

So I have never posted before but I def need help!! At the moment I HE so I have been advised not get a private EP if my daughter plans to say go to secondary school as this report wouldn’t be valid or recognised?! However while she was at school, before I removed her, the school refused to refer her to the EP for another 2yrs as per their guidelines on which age range/class she was in. Even though it was them who told me she was failing the tests they were doing with her and they brought up the ‘D’ word!!

So does anybody know if I can refer her to the nhs EP myself? I would be grateful for any information/help!!

[Pecanpickles]

The NHS don’t typically employ EPs.
What is it that you want to achieve from the Dyslexia diagnosis? I don’t live in Scotland so I’m not sure about their system and the provision they offer, but in my experience little difference is made by having a diagnosis of dyslexia. If the school is a good one, they will give your daughter the support she needs regardless of whether she is diagnosed.
When it comes to exams, the diagnosis can help to get extra time, but again, a good school should be able to get this without the diagnosis (this does come with the caveat of not knowing the scottish system!)
You can get a private EP assessment, though they are expensive. As you say, the school aren’t obliged to follow the advice in a private EP report, but I can’t think why they wouldn’t want to? Schools are generally glad to have advice such as this.
Is your daughter currently in school? If so I would suggest asking them to refer to their local authority EP.assessment.

[Pecanpickles]

*for assessment.

[Pecanpickles]

Oh I just re-read and saw that you home educate. I would suggest contacting your local authority directly and asking for an EP assessment. If they say no, and your daughter does go to secondary school, then once she’s started the school can request an EP assessment from the local authority.