Dyslexia-where do I start?

[tomboytown]

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

My DS was diagnosed in the run up to the start of secondary school, literally the day after he left Year 6. We privately funded an ed psych as we were continually fobbed off by the primary school. In their eyes he read "just fine"--and yes, he could read a page aloud beautifully from any book, and that was good enough for them. What they didn't realise is that he didn't comprehend a single word. I was duped too, and really did not suspect dyslexia, so I didn't necessarily blame the school for not getting it right.
What does hurt is that he spent so much time being told off by certain teachers for not focusing or trying hard enough, particularly in the run up to SATS. 💔

Hi,

We recently made a video with the help of the British Dyslexic Association - it might be a good starting point for some of your questions.

That’s very helpful thank you

I feel so bad
His entire life I’ve just been waiting for him to grow out of things, grow up, be sensible
He’s been told off so much for things he couldn’t help. But I knew he couldn’t help it, I just haven’t known how to help him

@tomboytown
I know how you feel, DS,DH and I were completely poleaxed when DS was diagnosed. So were the Learning Support team, and his tutors. Actually they have reviewed the way they look at the cohort who were regarded as "bright, good in class but a bit lazy when it comes to written work" in the light of his experience. They had supplied DS with some triangular pens when he was younger as his handwriting was better with them, but dyslexia was never considered because he had developed his own coping stategies and has an high IQ.
Its lucky he was diagnosed now ( DS got through the year 7 assessment with no query)so we were dealing with University applications at the time of diagnosis as well. We had looked at a lot during the summer and he had to contact them all to find out about the Learning Support.
You should not feel guilty, you can only act on the info available. My DS's prep school had a dyslexia specialist unit, they didn't suspect his dyslexia either.

On the plus side she’s now protected under the disability act.

I would also add that no doubt you have put a lot of time and effort into his education to enable him to mask his difficulties- which in some ways prevented an earlier diagnosis.

Dyslexic children all have a ceiling at which they start to struggle, some are early others are much later, it usually runs in families which makes it difficult to spot as adult have coping strategies, yet don’t acknowledge this is what they are doing

For example - I write everything down, shopping lists, gift lists, to do jobs. I set the calendar reminders all the time

Not because I am efficient and organised, but because I’m crap at remembering stuff!! Hence a mask.

Primary schools not testing I don’t think it has anything to do with money because I was only too happy to pay for the test.

Instead if I hadn’t taken him out of school when I did he would have never learned to read.

For my 2, Dd has dyslexia and ADD hers is all about spelling and not being able to have her ideas in a chronological order.

Helped a lot by computers and spell check

For Ds he can spell great but he can’t read his handwriting

Both can read and do maths fine.

Dyslexia isn’t just about the ability to read it is about how you learn and work as well

I was diagnosed aged 21 in my final year of university- I had a nightmare with a particular type of examination for a course where I knew the subject matter inside out. School would have been much easier if I'd been assessed at a young age, but my coping mechanisms masked it really well- I was an A* student.

Dyslexia is independent of intelligence, it's about how your brain processes and uses information. People will develop coping mechanisms which can successfully mask it, but often without support, these can be less effective or extremely tiring.

Don't feel bad that it wasn't picked up, it's amazing how quickly some learning and an understanding of how his brain works will unleash his potential.

Springfan, ds had those pens and a rubber thing for pencils

If I’d have known this earlier maybe I wouldn’t have given him such a hard time over certain things. It’s so frustrating
But yes I guess I have had to put a massive about of my energy and time in to make sure he Gets through. I’m the one doing the organising. But his teachers in primary were fantastic
Tomorrow’s appt can’t come quick enough.

Any thoughts on questions I should ask?
Hopefully I can see the test results and I’d like to know how this info now gets communicated to his teachers and obviously what can be done to help.

Oh I had forgotten about the rubber thing for pencils.
I would want to talk about what the results mean, and if they have identified strengths and weaknesses. You need to know what support they can give in school, and any techniques he needs to practice at home.
It was suggested to us that we got a full Ed Psych assessment, and they gave us the names of a few they had seen good reports from previously. From our experience (DS is now 23) DS's assessment was 3 hours and hugely detailed. However it also included information to get additional time in examinations and support at University, including the Disabled Students Allowance. Timing is crucial as extra time depends on Ed Psych report being within the last X years ( I think X is 5). It gave the Learning Support team and his teachers a clear insight into where he needed to work and what support he needed.

Sorry to jump on this late, but I'm starting to wonder whether DD, 8, might be dyslexic: she's a good reader but utterly hopeless at spelling. Even when she's learned a word before if she writes a story (which she loves doing) she won't use it. So everything is spelled phonetically without even breaking up individual words at times ("nexdor" for next door, etc).

Her organisational skills are dreadful too; she is always losing things and her room is a permanent disaster area. Oh, and she had a rubber pencil thing too.

DH thinks she is just lazy and doesn't care, but I wonder whether the latter attitude is her covering up the difficulty she's having. I'm speaking to her teacher tomorrow but wondered whether this sounded familiar to anyone?

To get the extra exam time the kids need a diagnosis and have a normal way of works if so for example - they can use a laptop or text to speech in lessons they can in exams
Or a Clairo pen or scribe etc

So look at the test, where is the deficiency?
Memory? Memory games. Organisation, tools they use or teach, exams question practice, clario reader or PDF reader.

Ask about classroom assistants

Different colour paper use of iPads, can they photograph the board for homework, can the teacher check homework is in their planner properly can they record lessons or have copies of the presentation for reference, can they can they have a written list of instructions to follow,

It really depends on results .... maybe pop back when you have them