Private Dyslexia Assessment

[Campfiresmoke]

Hi I am asking this as a mum but is there a reason teachers are not accepting of private Dyslexia Assessments?
I will explain my situation so as not to drip feed. My husband and his brother are dyslexic. We were concerned about my son now in Year 4 and my husband recognised my son was experiencing same problems he had at school.
Teacher didn't feel there was any need to do an assessment as all classrooms are Dyslexia friendly. Due to the distress our son was experiencing over literacy homework - trying not to cry every week at homework time, his self esteem plummeting - crying that he was stupid etc we decided to get a private assessment done. It was done by a qualified Ed Psych with a special interest in Dyslexia through a large Dyslexia charity. Test came back positive. Son overjoyed that he wasn't "stupid", we got a private tutor from PATOSS (who agreed with diagnosis too) who has been amazing for her self esteem and loosing this fear of literacy work.
We went to see teacher to inform her and give her a copy of the report. We stated straight away we weren't expecting anything particular from her but thought it important she knew (and gave her a copy of the report before we met her).
It was an amicable meeting as we have always got in well with her. We were surprised at her reaction though. She started by saying she wasn't qualified to diagnose Dyslexia. We replied we didn't expect her to be and it didn't matter because we had been to someone who was. She said she didn't accept the report as everyone who went to the charity was diagnosed positive. This isn't true at all and we told her this but she disagreed and said everyone she knew who had been there was diagnosed positive. We said probably this was because private assessments are so expensive you have got to be pretty sure your child is dyslexic before you fork out so much money. I know I had researched Dyslexia symptoms for at least a year before we booked the assessment!
It doesn't really matter that she doesn't accept the report as my son feels so much better about himself, we are much more understanding when he gets distressed and we have got a Dyslexia tutor for him.
It does bother me that our relationship is now awkward as I sort feel I have done something wrong or gone against her in some way.
Do all teachers feel the same about private assessments? Is it a commonly held view that they aren't accurate and if so why is this? I would be grateful for the views from the other side as it were.
As schools don't have the money to do assessments (i completely accept that a very limited ed Psych budget needs to be spent on more needy children e.g. Autism, psychological problems)is there another option for parents if they are worried other than a private assessment.
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[LunaLambBhuna]

Hello.

I am a teacher and a mum of a child who is just about to have a private EP assessment.

I am surprised by the attitude of this teacher. I think she is extremely unprofessional and I would not expect most teachers to behave in this way.

I would be inclined to make an appointment with the SENCO at the school to discuss your son's needs.

There are some schools/LEAs that do not accept private assessments and will require an in house EP to do an assessment for themselves. However, unless your son in particularly dyslexic, you won't be asking for a statement (or whatever they call it now).

The school should however have your son on an additional support plan and be able to meet his needs.

How can this teacher say all resources are dyslexia friendly if she has claimed herself not to be an expert? Her attitude is disgraceful.

Good luck with it OP. I'm glad to hear your son is feeling much better though and that his confidence is improving as a result of his tutor.

[junebirthdaygirl]

I agree with Lunai. That's disgraceful behaviour from a teacher. I'm in lreland but it's the same here in that parents have no choice but to get a private assessment as others are very limited. You have done the correct thing in having your dc assessed and bringing the findings to the class teacher. That teacher would do the exact same if it was her child.
It's OK saying a classroom is dyslexia friendly but as you realise these children often need one on one support and do thrive with that. It's important that any teacher dealing with your ds understands him so it was absolutely correct to bring the report to the teacher.
Only this week l have had a student deemed nor to be dyslexic with a private report so that can happen. Obviously he has difficulties or the report wouldn't have been requested but he doesn't meet the criteria for dyslexia.
Keep going with the tutor if possible.

[Anothernamechanger1]

Iv had exactly the same happen to me. I questioned some things my eldest did when younger and was told he would grow out of it, fair enough, then beginning of year 5 fed up of them moaning how illegible his handwriting was etc etc they wouldn't assess him so I paid privately. He had a very thorough test done and was diagnosed.

Went back to school with the report in a 'just so you know' way with a copy of the report and theyote or less dismissed it saying they were 'a dyslexia friendly school'. He doesn't get anything 'extra' in terms of help etc. He's had years of intervention for his handwriting but it made no difference. He can't spell, he always done it phonetically and his head teacher? She said 'oh well they don't do spelling tests at secondary anyway' when I asked what we could do to help before he goes up.

So although I'm not a teacher, my personal experience is that they haven't spotted a problem therefore won't take responsibility!

[TenaciousOne]

She shouldn't have reacted that way however, I have known a couple of people who were diagnosed as dyslexic as children who then didn't get rediagnosed as an adult for access to extra help at university. She may have been projecting that which she shouldn't do at all.

[TenaciousOne]

Oh and I was diagnosed as Dyslexic as an adult and my experience is there is a very strict criteria in schools for them to pursue a diagnosis. If you enjoy reading at all you can't be dyslexic.

[WhoKn0wsWhereTheTimeG0es]

I've experienced pretty well the exact same thing. However there is one key difference and that is that they no longer attribute DD's difficulties to not trying hard enough and she gets much better effort grades now. The report has been very useful in helping us choose her secondary school too (she's year 6 now).