Dyslexia, something or nothing. WWYD

[TeenAndTween]

Reposted from the SEN page in a hope of getting some replies.

Adopted DD is 10.5 and in y5. 7 weeks premature. GDD when little.
BM has learning difficulties, elder sister has dyspraxia confirmed age 15.

• Poor (atrocious) spelling, wouldn't look out of place in y2
• Reading is OK, but she is 'stuck' as she seemed to avoid pages with too much text, so she stays with books with larger print and/or lots of pictures. Hardest books read are the David Walliams ones.
• Poor motor skills OT assessed with DCD. Handwriting passable though.
• Counts on fingers mainly, times tables patchy despite practice.
• Fluency & clarity of speech behind her peers, had SALT when younger
• Difficulty with time concepts, both telling time and relative events like yesterday or tomorrow
• Avoids sitting to do schoolwork with me if at all possible

Seems brighter than schoolwork shows. Is a good day to day problem solver, and shows more general awareness of life around her than her sister ever did at the same age. Doesn't 'shine' at anything.

School generally don't seem too bothered, she not the worst in the class. But I can't help thinking she should be managing better than she is considering environment at home.

I'm concerned about secondary a year from now.
But I don't know what to ask from the school or whoever.

Something to be explored? Just not very bright?
Any suggestions on how to proceed?

[teaandcake2016]

Hi Teen,

I work in a school and I would suggest you try and meet with the SENCO or head of year, if you have not already done so. Lots of your description does seem to mirror dyslexic tendencies. Perhaps don't go in with a 'diagnosis' to the school - just say you are worried about XYZ...

If she is going to secondary school in September, realistically, it might be worth speaking to them, as Primary would only have a few weeks left to implement any actions. If she is year 5 at the moment, then definitely speak to the primary school.

If you do feel she is dyslexic, there are private assessors available but there is a considerable cost to this.

Hope all goes well for you both.

[teaandcake2016]

Sorry just seen that she is year 5 - not sure who you spoke to at school, but perhaps try a different member of staff?

[TeenAndTween]

Thank you. I always worry I'm just expecting too much.

I'll have a chat with the teacher (who is very able, but is an NQT so doesn't have years of experience to guide her) and SENCO, and ask for current reading and spelling ages, and if they are what I suspect, I'll ask for dyslexia screening to kick off with.

[senvet]

I have dyslexic dyspraxic ds.

We were told to by the EP and OT to get him touch typing and, with bribery, succeeded!

This was vital as there is such a huge step up in the amount of writing expected in secondary school.

With reading, two other friends have kindles/tablets with the print size maxed up.

Result - the age appropriate books suddenly became accessible. One friend said that there was a climb up through some lower-aged texts.
The other said their was a function where you could hover over an unfamiliar word and get a definition there and then.

current reading and spelling ages
This is a good lead in to the conversation BUT look out for school saying that they are "within the average range so nothing to worry about"

The "average range" includes all but the bottom 25% and is a bit of a red herring.
DS had spelling near the bottom of the average range, was definitely dyslexic, and in secondary school was still quite capable of mis-spelling his own name.

With touch typing he was OK and got extra time for GCSEs etc, so it worked out fine.

Good Luck