Aibu to think a lot of teachers do not know how to teach dyslexic students

[Pantsfullofsmarties]

My ds is 14.
He has always struggled with learning maths and the written word.
His self esteem is suffering and he is behind but his teachers don't seem to take his difficulty into account. Often leaving him to stare in space and seemingly "refuse" to work.
He had an assessment with the education psychologist who stated he was severely dyslexic.
Aibu to think that secondary school teachers need more training in this area? or is ds being difficult

YANBU.

I have had this with dd1, she is clearly dyslexic just like me, her dad and her uncles. But because she is a level 6 in reading and maths I keep getting told she can't be although she is only just a level 4 in writing with lots of interventions this year (solely because of SATS).

It is impossible because it's not just dyslexia, it's also ASD, ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and many more conditions, lots of which many people haven't even heard of.

Teachers cannot be an expert in every kind of disorder which might affect a child's learning or ability to take part in a class. I do agree that there should be better provision in schools, but I don't think it's fair to expect the teachers to know about every single thing. What there ought to be are some kind of plans for each student with a mentor (shared between several children) and a focus on encouraging the individual to access the most from their education with whatever tools or modifications are necessary.

It's a shame. I know the budget and training is not there but I don't think it would be that hard to implement. Just stuff like being able to bring a laptop in. A dictaphone to record the teacher rather than making notes? This is often encouraged at university level. Smartphones can be fantastically useful - homework assignments immediately input onto a calendar with automatic reminders set. Of course that's difficult because some children get distracted by them. With individual support this kind of thing could be sorted out. It wouldn't have to be one to one all the time. Students with additional needs could have notes against them in a register so that only the teachers can see that X is allowed a smartphone in class for Y purpose or another pupil uses a dictaphone rather than taking notes. Do schools use electronic registers yet?

YADNBU. When my son did his PGCE teaching qualification, the only mention of dyslexia was when HE did a 15-minute presentation on it himself after realising that it wouldn't be mentioned otherwise. He's severely dyslexic...

Teachers know very, very little about spotting/supporting students with dyslexia - we spent hours explaining to his teachers at every stage of his education, as nothing was ever passed on

I used to photocopy his assessment, highlight the relevant bits (e.g. problems with sequencing) and dish copies out at the first Parents Evening of every year - which did help a little.

On the other hand - he's now a very successful teacher, so there's light at the end of the tunnel (you just have to dig the bloody tunnel by hand...!)
Good luck

I haven't done a PGCE myself but the diploma in dyslexia I did was a year's worth of part time study, about 6 hours a week and two assignments of 8000 words each going into theory and practice. I regard that as the minimum you need to be able to cater for the needs of dyslexic students. I understand there is not enough on a PGCE for this but for this reason I think most class teachers don't have sufficient knowledge to properly help dyslexic pupils yet all the ones I worked with think they do. Most people I know who have dyslexic children have to get private tutoring which is a ridiculous situation.

I'm not dyslexic but I do have dyslexia. Sorry to be pedantic but I'm not a label

The problem I encountered was because I was classes as highly intelligent I was deemed to not need help because i was meeting all government targets. But I wasnt meeting my potential, nowhere near it. There also needs to be understanding you don't have to struggle to need support

My dyslexia training was three one hour sessions about a decade ago and that was it. My training on ASDs was one hour.
Wouldn't it be fabulous if the government could stop slinging a hundred new initiatives at us every year and give us time and space to have the training we need that would benefit so many students? Instead of learning yet another entirely different curriculum and 14 different ways to do maths?

YY Hag.

In schools every teacher can't be trained in every condition but this is where the SENCO should come in, advising and supporting the teacher with appropriate advice. Unfortunately this comes down to how good, and also how stretched, the SENCO at the school is. Often if a child is coping they are overlooked-it's so frustrating as a parent (and child).

I feel all your pain. For me the biggest heartache was finally accepting that my son's dyslexia would never go away. At 11 we moved and remorgaged our house to send him to a private school with a dyslexic unit. It changed his life.