DC struggling at school - dyslexia??

[LostAcre]

We’ve had concerns about DS1’s English work for a while. He’s in Year 5 now.

He’s always found writing difficult. It’s never been in the normal range for his age.
His teacher has said that she struggles to read it, and DS1 can’t always read it either if he’s asked to read it out loud. He made me and DH a Christmas card at school, and he’d written the first letter in his name backwards.
I’ve attached a picture of his letter to Santa this year as an example of his handwriting.

His spelling is bad. He has difficulty retaining correct spellings, even for words typically found in the Year 1 / 2 spelling lists on Spelling Frame (spelling website his school subscribes to). Most of the time when he misspells words, he’s spelling them in a phonetically plausible way.

He’s generally happy enough to read, if it’s a subject he finds engaging, but I’ve noticed that if he’s reading out loud and he comes to an unfamiliar word, he tends to slur over the word, or make a guess based on the first syllable rather than trying to sound the word out. But generally, his reading has been at a normal level for his age, so I’ve not worried too much about his reading. Until recently.

The new problem that his teacher has raised is about joined up writing. (Not about DS1 doing this himself, she’s said that he’s not ready for that)
The school policy is for the teachers to use joined up writing on the board in Y5, and DS1 can’t read it.
She’s sent home sheets with examples of joined up writing, I’ve used handwriting fonts on Word to write short things for him to try reading, but whenever he looks at anything that’s joined up writing, rather than printed writing, he just stares blankly and says he can’t read it. Not even when it’s his name in the joined up writing. I’m concerned that this will be a problem going forward.

I’ve asked the teacher a few times this year if they think there might be something like dyslexia going on with DS1, but every time she’s just said that she’ll talk to the school SEN lead, and I’ve never heard anything back about that.

His eyesight was fine at his last eye test (but he’s overdue for one thanks to COVID). And he has ASD, but I’m not sure if that’s relevant to his reading / writing / spelling problems.

So, I’m worried, but I’m not sure how worried I should be. Does it sound like it might be dyslexia? And if so, what’s the best way forward?

With private assessments, do the school need to be on board with it?
As in, would the specialist doing the assessment need to talk with DS1’s teacher and / or see DS1 in the school environment?

Ideally school would be on board with an external assessment so that they can provide info. But they don't have to agree to it. The assessor or psychologist can see a child without any involvement from school if necessary. But it's not recommended as it misses so much useful school based info. Plus school are less likely to follow up on recommendations if they are not involved.

Also due to covid, a school obs is unlikely right now.

Foxy stringent criteria for referrals?
I thought sen has to be merely suspected for various interventions to take place even getting echp ball rolling

Yes good point about Covid ruling out a school observation!

The school will need to be accommodating to a private assessment. You tell them you’re having it done then they need to make a teacher available on the day for a while to chat about your child. Then they need to sit and listen to the report findings when it’s done.

With regards to a private assessment.

If DC ends up with a diagnosis (dyslexia, dyspraxia, ASD etc...), then the school cannot ignore it. This would put them in breech of the Equality Act 2010. A diagnosis (SpLD etc...) = disability = protected characteristic.

If the school chooses to ignore the recommendations of an Ed Psych / Clinical Psych (even if there is no formal diagnosis but falls under the SEN component of the SEND Code of Practice) then the school are in breech of the SEND Code.

The school would have to justify why they will not put appropriate help in place.

I would also question the competency and ideology of the school if they chose to ignore the recommendations of a professional psychologist. These are the people who go through rigorous, specific training.
Teachers are not trained to assess or diagnose and the amount of SEND within typical PGCE / NQT training is woefully low. Any teacher who is interested in SEND will have to undergo further training.
I’m not teacher bashing - I happen to think there is an unfair burden placed on teachers re SEND especially when it comes to JCQ exam assessments.

RubyRed
Not all D.C. will qualify for an EHCP.
A diagnosis and IEP (Individual Educational Plan - see SEND Code of Practice) should be enough for most DC to keep on top of their learning, behavioural and social needs.

Hey, I think you are right in thinking this could be dyslexia. This sounds exactly like my son who has dyslexia. Schools often arent too much help in my experience. There's a good book on Amazon called 'write from the start' this goes back to the basics we need for handwriting. We also found Dyslexia Gold really good for his reading and more, we just did 10 mins or so a day, it also has a speacial spelling programme and dyslexia screener. Good luck :) xx

I assess for dyslexia - most schools will not pay for a specialist assessment unless there are very significant needs as they simply do not have the budget; however, lots of local schools refer their pupils to me for a private assessments. Dyslexia assessments are not provided through the NHS so there is no point going to your GP; however, something like dyspraxia is a medical diagnosis under 16 years and needs to be done through your GP.

A private specialist assessor will ask that he has had an up to date eye test and will ask you to discuss any difficulties with text moving and blurring with the optometrist before you have an assessment. If your son is diagnosed with dyslexia privately, the school do have to make sure that the teaching meets his needs in order to comply with the Equalities Act and they must follow the guidelines in the SEND Code of Practice. You can get an assessment from a Specialist Teacher Assessor or through an Ed Psych. Specialist Teacher Assessors are usually cheaper than an Ed Psych and usually provide a more detailed report.

A diagnosis and IEP (Individual Educational Plan - see SEND Code of Practice) should be enough for most DC to keep on top of their learning, behavioural and social needs

A diagnosis of dyslexia on its own is very unlikely to meet the criteria for an EHCP. There would need to be additional co-occurring difficulties.

Hi. My yr 5 DD also found writing very difficult, and had other struggles at school.
I echo others saying get A private educational psychologist to assess him. Try to find one that looks at everything not just dyslexia and includes an IQ assessment too. As a previous posted said there are lots of linked conditions to ASD - see the dyslexia Uk website for details of neurodiversity.
My DD turned out to be neurodiverse -has Specific learning difficulties low processing/working memory/literacy/executive function (spld) alongside extremely high IQ, maybe dyspraxia and maybe ASD.
Also has eye issues (longsighted and strabismus) - we have seen a behavioural optometrist- who has been absolutely brilliant. DM me if you want a recommendation in the SE. My own research suggests Eye issues can go alongside ASD/dyspraxia as well as hypermobility.
What has helped has been having a dyslexia tutor to go through all the phonics programme again, to help with spelling, this has helped with the writing.
Also, with the report the school has finally taken it all seriously and they now know she is very bright but has significant struggles and trying to help her with these struggles. She is responding really well to this extra help. Keep going you know your son the best. Xxx

I think it’s a bit unfair to say that schools aren’t much help. SOME schools might not be much help, others might be much better. The thresholds are so stringent that referrals are often refused. I said before that resources are so stretched these days. I used to have regular half term.y visits from the Ed Psych attached to my school. I doubt that happens now.

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/services/assessments/diagnostic-assessments/which-assessor

And this is part of the problem Turquoise - budget restrictions can lead to either no or mis diagnosis. Not everyone has access to £x for private assessment, especially when you factor in a MDT approach.

Teacher assessors are only trained to use some or part of diagnostic tests. And yet, this is the first port of call for most kids. These assessments cannot take into account any other co-morbidity that may be present and affect the results.

Teacher Assessors and Ed Psychs cannot assess or diagnose for ASD/ADHD and related conditions conditions.

Most parents are never made aware of the differences in types of assessor and what that can mean for the diagnostic outcome.

Would you (be allowed to) refer on Turquoise if you felt there were more factors in play? I’m assuming you’re an Ed Psych.

A teacher assessor with a current assessment practising certificate can assess for and diagnose dyslexia.

From our experiience with DS, the teacher assessor with practising cert struggled with diagnosis. She could identify there were issues but was not sure what they were. DS has high IQ and had masked them for years. He had got 10 good to very good GCSE ,and an IT BTec and started to struggle at AS level. She recommended we go to an Ed Psych who identified the processing and short term memory issues, as well as handwriting difficulties. She recommended use of a computer for exams but he was reluctant as it was too close to A2 mocks and he did not feel he was a competent enough typist.

DS was really similar, I posted on here a while back because I only started to notice how bad his reading and writing was during lockdown and then we had full on school refusal afterwards. broke my heart!

We tried a few different things, school wasn't that supportive when it came to diagnosing dyslexia etc so we went with a company call Easyread who have diagnosed him with eye tracking weakness and blending difficulties. We've done about 60 lessons now and the improvement is amazing - I've got my son back! Yesterday he read the word "concealed" and I nearly fell off my chair hahaha.

It's worth a shot to see if it works for you - they do a 10 lesson free trial which is what I started with.