Dyslexia diagnosis.... what now??

[heartofhome]

Hi all- my 8yo has been diagnosed with dyslexia after a long battle with school etc- her ed phyc report shows her of good height average ability but specifically falling behind in spelling and segmenting of phonics. Luckily working memory / processing seems on par with IQ, so think she has ability- it’s just I don’t know what to do next - school support for specialist teachers not happening to next year due to large backlogs, too late to help now- I have been researching what I can do to go back over sounds- but totally overwhelmed by the amount of programs available - I have signed up to ten min tutor - but didn’t realise the lady had an ozzy accent- really confusing the sounds for my daughter- have bought toe by toe and seen dancing bears- which one should I use which is best ....... or where the hell do I start!!!!!

[Hurricane74]

Following your thread with interest as my DD who is about to turn 8 has suspected dyslexia. We don’t have a confirmed diagnosis as school want to monitor things for a while. I am going in to a SEN drop in session tomorrow to see what resources they are using with her but I know she’s not getting much extra support with a teaching assistant as they have had to make a few of them redundant due to financial problems and govt cutbacks.

Sorry I don’t have any practical advice for you. I haven’t tried the programs you mention to go over phonic sounds. Aside from that kind of thing we have tried the Barrington Stokes Little Gems reading books which are supposed to have a more dyslexia friendly format but I don’t think they made a huge difference. I also want to get some coloured overlays. Have you tried this kind of thing?

[abc12345]

I would advise you to get a “visual ability test” with a decent optometrist ( which is not the same as an optician). Make sure they test for tracking, convergence and colour sensitivity.
This made a massive difference with my ds (I wish someone had told me about it years ago!!)

[heartofhome]

Hurricane must admit I have every resource goingwent mad on amazon when I was in “let’s fix this” mode. I use the coloured ruler things with overlays, not a massive difference- rather than invest a lot of money your library may have them to try- if does help, colour will be specific to your child- be sure to ask them to describe how it is to read, rather than”is that better” as kids naturally want to please and better =good and may not actually make a difference

ABC is the optometrist found on the high street or do I need a hospital appointment? My child wears glasses and was seen by hospital when first referred by school nurse , but no lasting issues- just vision

I am still not sure what the best course of action is to work on the issues- anyone have good structured programmes that actually work?

[abc12345]

I ended up going to a private optometrist appointment and they found out all sorts of things that weren’t picked up by the the nhs or specsavers. It has made so much difference. I can recommend a place if you are anywhere near London...

[Hurricane74]

Hi abc - that is really interesting. What sort of thing have you been able to do to help your DD after the optometrist picked things up?

[abc12345]

He had tracking and convergence issues (seeing double!!) that hadn’t been picked up anywhere else. Glasses sorted those things out. And he also can’t cross the midline with his eyes so we are doing exercises for that. The difference with the new glasses is incredible.
They also tested for colour issues/binocular stability/loads of things... we were in there for 2h. The place we went to had lots of v up to date equipment. It was expensive but so worth it

[secretmum41]

Try this man ... coloured lens glasses, amazing for us.