How do you get an assessment for dyslexia?

Hi Chapter, my son is in state school. Last year he had 2x 25minute additional quick lessons per week (one spelling and one handwriting) during registration time and one lesson a week of accellerated literacy. I also took him out of school once a week (timed so that he'd miss non important lessons) for a specialist dyslexia lesson in Cardiff. At £33.50 a week this was not cheap, however it have me the shove to get qualified myself; I am a secondary school teacher and have an MSc in special needs education, so it was easier for me to grasp the specific techniques and glean tips and learn what to do. This year I've purchased an ipad with the savings from not paying the now £35 per week for lessons, downloaded some excellent spelling, grammar, memory and comprehension apps and I teach him myself for an hour every week. Twice a week we also learn spellings using the ipad which is MUCH more interesting for him than just writing spellings down on a piece of paper, plus it also means I'm not having to decipher his handwriting.

What I have found to be VERY useful is teaching him to touch type. Typing creates muscle memory which can aid in learning the spellings of words they struggle with

Hi Chapter
I also have dyslexic sons. You would be best off getting him a tutor that is trained in dyslexia teaching. Try the PATOSS website for a list of tutors. My sons are in state schools and they are rubbish at helping them.
A really good thing to help dyslexic kids to learn to spell and read is this www.wordshark.co.uk/wordshark/wordshark-home-use.aspx I've found that doing it is better and cheaper than getting a tutor.

Trooperlooperdo, what kind of support did your receive? My son is 8 years old and we had him tested for dyxlexia on Saturday. They think he might have mild dyslexia however, they think he has dysbraxia and I now need a referral from my GP to get him tested.

I would be interested to know whether your son was in a private school and received additional assistance. I just don't know where to start and any advice would be much appreciated.

I am in the process of getting my son a tutor, a teacher. Although, I wonder whether I need a tutor who is trained to work with children who have dyslexia and dysbraxia!

Many thanks for advice.

I've just sent my son for a dyslexia assessment which wasn't cheap but well worth it to get him the right help in school. Definitley get your child assessed if you can. Unfortunately it isn't covered by the NHS and getting a school to fund it is difficult.

A petition has been set up to try to get this changed, need as many people to sign as possible so many others don't have to go through what families do currently:

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/secretary-of-state-for-education-and-secretary-of-state-for-health-make-dyslexia-diagnosis-easier-for-children-to-get?share_id=PcElAuEZkI&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_false

I paid for my two to be assessed. It had made a big difference psychologically to DS1 as he was starting to call himself stupid.

get an assessment from a PATOSS registered assessor. www.patoss-dyslexia.org/SupportAdvice/TutorAssessorIndex/

That is a great story, trooper. I had a similar experience with my son. Always worth getting tested in my opinion.

We took my son to dyslexia action in cardiff. OK it was expensive, but I knew that the council and subsequently the school would take the report seriously and that to me was worth every penny....what I didn't count on was the HUGE improvement son made once he'd been officially diagnosed. He positively skipped out of the centre singing "I'm not stupid, I'm not stupid" He went from a reading age of 7 (at age 9) to a reading age of 15 at age 11. He's a member of mensa, has already passed his maths gcse exam and is up level 7 for everything important at comp in year 8.

It's the best £400 I've ever spent!

Dyslexia Action is very expensive!

You can use a PATOSS registered teacher for half the price. It is the same test.

Or go to Dyslexia Action (charity) and ask for an assesment, you have to pay but much cheaper that an educ psyc.

Have youspekn to the shcools SENCO?

You would need an educational psychology assessment. X