Dyslexia-where do I start?

[tomboytown]

How can my son have got to 12 years old without this being diagnosed?

Is it common to be diagnosed at this age? The change to senior school?

I was diagnosed 2 weeks before my A levels. I have now post graduate qualifications.

What is his reading age like?

How did I get to 26 undiagnosed OP.

Dyslexia isn't about intelligence, so your son may have come up with his own way of working. Now you have a formal diagnosis he will get that extra support he needs in lessons and exams (and if you get fobbed off please push the school - I know for me at uni doing my exams in a room alone massively helped with distractions when others finished way before me).

Dyslexia has not stopped me pursuing a good career and education even before I was diagnosed. I hope that offers some sort of support.

I was diagnosed in my 30s. High IQ and atypical symptoms or effective coping strategies (for example I could read if I put a coloured ruler over each line; I was always good at maths; but I was never good at paper organisation and really struggled - which is what prompted my workplace to offer the test) can make it be diagnosed later

This is what I don’t understand. He’s ahead in everything. Just got an academic scholarship. He’s never really struggled. His maths is brilliant.
he seemed to be struggling with new routine at senior school but that’s settled down.
Every step of the way I’ve asked about his reading(he’s reluctant) but always been reassured he’s fine.
I’m sorry I don’t know much about it except for the basics.

I wasn’t diagnosed until university, I was behind on reading and writing at primary school but by secondary i could cope, I was told I wouldn’t pass my GCSE’s but I did , then my a levels etc ... I was tested at uni due to awful Memory for names and how I could get muddled etc ... I am dyslexic specifically in English / reading ... I was doing a ba honours in English ... go figure

Your son will be fine upside they picked up before exams ... I literally lived on pro plus (caffeine tablets ) from GCSEs onwards so I could study for longer to pass my exams ... he will get more support now

I can remember reading being like hitting a brick wall everything was muddled, I couldn’t remember the page I had read before and it hurt my head I just couldn’t get it for the longest time ... my memory is still pretty shocking but I have coping mechanisms now

No need to apologise for not knowing about it OP. You would be best off speaking to his teachers about his diagnosis and support that they will put in place. Also there are lots of websites dedicated to dyslexia which can help you understand more about it. He may not want to talk about it himself but you will get tips on how to help him with homework at home for example.

Speaking from my experiences the way I think is completely normal to me, I have no idea how a "normal" brain reads etc. Also because especially during primary school I was at the bottom of the class I have no fear of failure, I remember a teacher screaming at me across the classroom for getting 1/10 on my spelling test (luckily them days are over) if I see something I want I go for it and if I don't make it I know I have tried my hardest with no regrets.

There are also lots of famous people who are open about their dyslexia (Jennifer Aniston, Alan Sugar etc.) Albert Einstein was even reported to have dyslexia!

I have 6 DC. DD14 (no4) was diagnosed in P3. DD19 (no2) wasn't diagnosed until last year when she started college. It's also become evident that DH is dyslexic, but has never been diagnosed.

I know from my professional experience that the toe by toe programme is amazing for young people with dyslexia who find reading difficult.

Primary schools don't want to can't pay for the tests so they fob you off until secondary school.

It sounds like he's doing very well academically. Why do you think he has dyslexia?

Our primary didn't have the funding so we paid for DD1 to be assessed. Her spelling is bad and her writing atrocious (also dyspraxic). For reading and comprehension she is top of her school (now 10).

Previously I'd mistakenly assumed that to be dyslexic you had to have trouble reading, but that's not the case.
It's more being great in some areas, but inexplicably struggling in others.

He’s absolutely fine about it. I’ve just shown him this and he agrees he ticks most of these boxes
Meeting with the school next week. I keep getting emails about excellence awards he’s getting so figured I’d just talk to them at parents evening in Jan.
He’s been at private school and actually had lots of testing in primary for adhd, which was not definitive, and he’s improved massively attention wise, but He’s just told me that the teacher gave him a fiddle toy to stop him fidgeting!

Neolara, Sorry, they've tested them all at school and I got a letter today about the results

@springydaff Schools don’t have the money to pay for it - not that they don’t want to.

OP - sometimes when the child steps up to the next level of challenge, the strategies that they’ve developed to cope previously can’t work anymore.

Path, they may not have the money but they don't say that. They say "oh s/he's fine, nothing to worry about" which is intentional cruelty.

To this day I could die at what dd went through every day of her school life until we got her assessed.

Yes, it’s not uncommon for discrepancies to be highlighted after educational transitions.

Dyslexia is a “specific” learning difficulty, so it affects specific skills rather than learning generally.

Some young people have general learning difficulties as well so get noticed early. Those who are generally high achieving often take longer to be identified. Also able students can be pretty astute at developing their own strategies to deal with their difficulties which go some way towards hiding them.

When there’s a marked step up in educational expectations, the difficulties can be exposed.

This is a good source of information:

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/

Ds2 was 17, diagosed after AS levels. High IQ, good coping strategies . Reading always at least 3 years above chronological age. Lots of A /A* at GCSE
Not unusual at all

@tomboytown
.I typed my previous response on my phone on bed. Where to start? BDA website is really helpful
In retropect, we realised although DS was a voracious reader, and always had been, he found it tiring, same for essay writing. Like your son he was screened when he entered Senior school, but nothing showed at that stage. The thing that triggered futher assessment was a comment by one of his teachers about his note taking speed. He did essay heavy A Levels, degree and post grad, but at a higher level he found he needed longer to do things because they were exhausting. In his case coloured films did not help but there is a programme called something gold which enables him to change the background colour of documents on screen and was amazing . He got it following a dsa assessment prior to Uni.
He was referred to a vision clinic who showed him how his eyes moved when he read, and he reread things and missed other words altogether. It helped him accept his dyslexia as he was very angry about it.
You may find other things come to light- my DS's dyslexia shows in his (lack of ) organisation skills , slower processing time and total inability to read a timetable. He doesn't drive and sometimes ends up on the wrong place on the train or bus, and completely missed an exam at Uni by turning up a day late.
Being dyslexic is NOT about intelligence or academic ability. DS was on a gifted and talented scheme for English.

Thank you
I’ve read a fair bit now, feel a bit more knowledgeable. Appt with teacher for Tuesday
Really thrown me. Feel guilty
But also v thankful that it been picked up now

Op. Why did the school say he had dyslexia? I'm just interested in what they are basing their judgement on.

New school, year 7 They’ve all been tested, we signed our permission

Depends where you live. My county will not test for dyslexia routinely and you would have to go private for a diagnosis.

It’s a private school too