To Ask School If They'll Test For Dyslexia?

[SheDoneAlreadyDoneHadHerses]

My son's handwriting has always been abysmal. His yr1 teacher said it was the worst she'd ever seen in her career, and he was very prone to not being able to read his own handwriting 5mins after finishing a piece of work.

He's now in year 9 and he's really really struggling with English, especially comprehension. It's taken him 1.5hrs to write 8 sentences based on a passage from a book. The teacher's allowed 20mins for the work.

I've been doing some reading about bad handwriting, and found the following with relation to dyslexia:

Has slow, dysfluent and/or illegible handwriting.
Has better oral skills than written skills.
Has difficulty planning, sequencing and organising written text.
Has difficulty with written syntax or punctuation.
Has difficulty skimming, scanning and/or proof reading written text.
Has trouble summarising or outlining.
Has problems in taking notes and copying from the board.
Procrastinates and/or avoids reading and writing tasks.
Does not complete assignments or class work or does not hand them in.

And that's DS all over. He's struggling with the presentation in ALL his subjects bar computers (as that's typed), is receiving more detentions for not handing in work, and I wonder if I'm clutching at straws or if I'm on to something?

I just want him to have the best support at home and at school, and not have a crying teen like I did tonight :(

As an English teacher, talk to the school about your concerns in general and ask for some sort of plan to help him in all his subjects. You could mention dyslexia and see what their opinion is. Your son's education is important and if he is struggling the school should be able to put a plan in place. Also better to do it now before he starts GCSEs next year.

Yes, you absolutely should push to get him assessed for dyslexia/ dysgraphia.

I'm astonished that there was no assessment in primary if his teacher had never before seen a student with such severe difficulties.

Is it reading and writing he has a problem with or just the writing? It could be dyspraxic type difficulties rather than dyslexia if it is more writing. In any case it does sound like you should ask for advice from the teacher/senco. Check out the website from the dyspraxia foundation maybe? My ds is dyspraxic and the school allow him to word process instead of writing, and he has support to organise himself and his homework. In exams he will get extra time and other support. He does need them to help him, and this will help his confidence and self esteem. Good luck

Definitely discuss it with his teacher and/or the SENCO but be aware that the school will probably not have staff who are able to do the assessment (very specific qualifications needed) and that buying in an assessment from an Educational Psychologist will cost money they may not have.

if the school can't/won't do it, you might want to look at getting a private assessment done as the diagnosis does open doors to all sorts of extra support.