Dyslexia assement : very expensive, is there any point if its mild but child is slow at exam?

[SnowdayYay]

It's so expensive, is there any point in this?
I'm guessing what I'm buying ( if she has it) is extra time in exams?

Eg sorry, unlike ehcp I couldn't get her into special school?

I was diagnosed at 8 by the school and it was worth its weight in gold then. However, when I started college last year (age 40) I found out I needed another because there was no longer a record of it as it was the school that did it. Not getting a new assessment would mean I could only access basic help/IT programs to assist my learning at college. It was pricy but I'm so glad I got another one as its made a huge difference to the support available.

You wouldn't necessarily be buying her extra time in exams. Schools do their own testing for this irrespective of diagnosis.

Your kid could get an extra 25% or 50% time in exams. Will make a big difference

You don’t need a dyslexia diagnosis to get extra time in exams, it’s based on need not diagnosis.

But without the testing it's difficult to know what other support she might need or be eligible for.

How is need assessed?

For extra time then?

In England the school need to assess you for exam arrangements. They don't accept a Dyslexia diagnosis.

Does it give any context though? Would there be any point me getting it done for her.

You want to be looking at slow processing, or at any rate an assessment that they are working slower than their ability. It isn't automatic as it used to be with dyslexia. Talk to the SENCO at school and ask for a test.

She's in primary now, is there any point getting her assessed so she gets what she needs for secondary even if it's a flag up that she has this sen?

Dyslexia or might not might get you extra time in exams, but there are also strategies peoplecan be taught to help with their learning.

I worked in an independent school where students had 2 lessons per week in the learning support department for this, in place of an extra language. Other schools may not be able to offer this, but you might find something helpful here.

My dd had testing in year 11 at school, it was free. Her previous dyslexia diagnosis was irrelevant

I’ve just seen your last post, @SnowdayYay .

The NHS link says “These interventions are generally most effective if they're started at a young age”
so there is a point in starting with their suggestions while she’s in primary school, even if you delay any assessment.

Access arrangements for exams such as GCSEs and A levels are based on needs and follow the JCQ guidance. You can see the rules here.

Support in schools is based on need, not diagnosis.

What I'm trying to understand is what triggers the flag for support.

Some dc will be at the bottom they can't go higher with or without support.
But some dc improve massively with slight changes and what guidance is there for changes without a diagnosis?

Eg breaking down instructions. Who would know this if its not documented somewhere?

How much have they said the assessment is?

Not just for gcse but all here school exams in secondary.
Do all children who don't do well automatically get et.

How do any teachers support dc with dyslexia in class?

If there is no ehcp?

@lunar1 minimum 600 more like 800

That's incredibly high, I paid £390 for my son's assessment. It was arranged by school and they got someone in to do it.

Even with a diagnosis the provision pupils need will differ. What support is given will be decided in discussion with the SENCO. It could be things like giving written instructions, allowing the use of a laptop and assistive technology, pre-teaching vocab, giving hand outs.

For access arrangements secondary schools tend to follow the same guidance for internal exam as they do for formal external exams.

I think it has value, notwithstanding that exam access arrangements are different.

What support comes from a diagnosis will depend on the results and what your school can offer. Also the quality of the report, and in this you often get what you pay for. Some will ignore it completely saying dyslexia isn't a real diagnosis anymore, others I imagine would be more helpful. One option for you would be paying for dyslexia specific tutoring. Having the assessment is a bit of a punt and the prices seem to vary wildly.

What there isn't, in most schools, is a massive pot of money reserved for loads of help that is given only to children with a diagnosis, and not to those without. In practice it can help you bump your child up the list a bit, advocate better for her, have specific recommendations you can share with the school. and target the help you buy in or give her yourself. Schools should be helping according to children's needs, and in practice spending money on better defining what her needs are can only help towards getting them met. But it's no magic bullet to free extras.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia as an adult, after my son was diagnosed. I’m very bright, high flier, but spent my childhood being told off for making “careless mistakes”, “not checking my work”, while being utterly diligent and hard working. It had a massive impact on my self-confidence. As an adult, in a professional job, I still get the same feeling when someone says something about typos or even “did you mean to write that?”

My DS is very similar and he was getting the same comments. He was saying how he wasn’t that good at English, despite being very bright. I didn’t want him to suffer the same issues with confidence as I did. Having a diagnosis has been empowering for him. He’s had an hour 1:1 for the last 3 years and he is so much more confident in English. He also knows far more rules about spelling and grammar which I wish I did.

As an adult it has helped as I’ve got specialist training abs equipment for my computer.

@FloatingBean

The use of a lap top would be amazing for her.