My 7 year old has an occupational therapy appointment. Do they test for dyslexia?

[STOPSCRATCHINGTHECRADLECAP]

I'm shocked that the referral worked tbh. I thought it would be rejected.

Having been recently diagnosed with dyslexia I'm worried DS is the same after previously saying "he's fine! He's just like me!" Without realising that I have dyslexia and not everyone in the world struggles with things the way I do.

However for my diagnoses I saw an educational psychologist. Not an OT. So I'm worried we'll go through all this and miss the very reason I asked for the referral...

Can anyone help?

An OT assessment is wholly appropriate for a child with dyslexia
OT will assess Fine- and gross-motor skills running, jumping, holding a pencil, Visual-motor skills: coordination of eyes and motor skills eg copying from the board and suggest strategies and treatment . OT will also plan treatment sessions and ask teachers and school to reinforce these

An OT won't diagnose dyslexia..

So they will or won't diagnose dyslexia?

Two opposing replies...

As LipstickHandbagCoffee they will do all of the above but they won’t diagnose dyslexia. They’ll look at gross and fine motor skills. But you’ll need an EP or someone who specialises in dyslexia. It won’t be an OT.

An OT assessment will focus on the physical aspects as Lipstick says.

A diagnosis of dyslexia covers much more than that, in terms of working memory, decoding skills, phonetic understanding, spelling, reading, writing etc. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but you wouldn’t assume both without assessment from an Ed Psych.

No, only an educational psychologist would do that.
An OT will have lots of ways to overcome barriers to learning, will give suggestions for home and school, not diagnose a specific learning difficulty.

That's frustrating.

How do we get down the education psychologist route?

OT won’t diagnose, a Doctor will diagnose

I am a paediatric occupational therapist. We do NOT diagnose dyslexia, that is a learning difficulty which is assessed by an educational psychologist.

The OT Ax will be hugely useful and help your son

OT is useful to see but won't diagnose dyslexia.

No an OT won’t diagnose dyslexia but that doesn’t diminish the assessment or it’s imoact

Who referred him to the OT and why? Are they concerned about developmental coordination disorder (often called dyspraxia)? Have you mentioned your concerns about dyslexia to anyone at school? What do they say about his learning?

The teachers because he can't sit still.

Ever.

And struggles to concentrate.
The problem it, I seriously struggle to sit still and have problems concentrating. Which all began to make sense when, during my seconns degree, they diagnose dyslexia.

So I'm frustrated to see that this isn't the route we are going down.

He has no symptoms of dyspraxia or similar. His motor skills are good though his hand writing isn't great, I still think this is more likely to be linked with dyslexia - if anything at all.

I paid for my ds to see an EP at the British Dyslexia association. It was pricey - £720 but worth every penny. You can also have an assessment from one of their specialist teachers which is slightly cheaper.

Popfan that's the route we planned on taking next if the referral was rejected.
In a way, it kind of has been. I feel like it's gone in the wrong direction.

I will follow it through of course, but if we read a brick wall I will go private. The only problem is we'll have to save. I'm on maternity leave at the moment so things are a bit tight.

How old is your DS? They generally won't assess till age 8ish. Even if there isn't an official diagnosis the school can still apply some dyslexia friendly strategies which would help. For example, processing speed is slow for people with dyslexia so extra time for answering questions is helpful. Lots of the strategies are just good teaching practice for all children.

My ds was referred to an OT for dyspraxia. Like your son, it was concentration problems and the inability to sit still, he isn't great at retaining information either. His motor skills are not that bad, I think dyspraxia has different severities.
The OT referred him on then to physio for weak core and to the educational psychologist for dyslexia and dyspraxia diagnosis.
His dyspraxia was then diagnosed from both educational psychologist and the OT.

The unit at the uni. near us tests at around 8 years of age.

OT won’t diagnose, a Doctor will diagnose

What will a doctor diagnose?

Have you considered ADHD?

We originally paid for a private EP because we thought DS had dyslexia (he does). After 2 more years when the private tutor and other strategies weren't helping as much as we'd hoped in terms of concentration and fidgetiness, we ended up back at the EP and psychiatrist who diagnosed ADHD. There is evidence of comorbidity.

Doctors don't diagnose dyslexia either, educational psychologists do. Referrals (non-private) to ed psychs are done by the school.

It sounds like the teachers are concerned about him not being able to sit still, which is not a symptom of dyslexia, but can be of ADHD or dyspraxia. The teachers sound like they are taking you seriously and trying to explore different possibilities, but perhaps they haven't seen signs of dyslexia. Keep talking to them, but be open to what they are saying and don't panic. Concentration issues could be all sorts of things. You haven't mentioned his learning - what are his reading and spelling like?

Specialist Teachers can diagnose dyslexia too. There is a specific qualification they have to do I order go be able to do this. You need to speak to his school for a referral.

From the few things you mentioned about concentration, he sounds like my son who has ADHD. The school or a gp can refer to cahms