Dyslexia assessment for 7 year old

[Plant2628]

Not sure if to do this now or hang fire a bit longer. School have done a screening and he passed but I'm not sure it's that reliable to be honest, from what I've heard. It wasn't carried out by a specialist.
Has anyone been through the process, the signs are there and he is behind expectations in everything but I don't know, part of me wonders if I should hold off a bit longer to be sure but then again that's not going to change the result I would have thought? He's no other issues and well behaved in class.
Experiences welcome. Conscious I'll be paying private. Any screening tools anyone has used themselves?
Thank you

I paid for a private test.
The school used the report (apparently not all will, something to consider)
My child was about 9 was in the midst of covid etc.
I felt it was the right decision for us. I wasnt expecting anything to change just wanted my own clarification.
He heads up to secondary this September and we had a metting with the new school (a handover if you like....this is due to the fact he is on the additional needs register). I should add we are Wales (just for relevance).

Thanks

Ask school which screening system they used and for the full results (they can print them in a meaningful way for you if they use the app that comes with the screening test). 7 is a difficult age as some screening tests go up to 7 (so he'd be the top of the range and therefore more likely to pass) whereas others start at 7 (so he'd be lower and more likely to indicate dyslexia). If there is a spikey profile then it may indicate dyslexia even if he's within the cutoffs for either test. Also, the screening is only a brief indicator and is not a guarantee either way, so if you want to be sure, best to use someone who has the full level 7 qualification to test fully.

I paid for a private assessment and it was the best money I have ever spent my then 7 year old got a full diagnosis and it has opened so many doors for him.
He also passed all the screening tests at school.

Iv 2 severly dyslexic children. Paid for private assessment for the 1st, didn't bother with second as we used the same resources anyway. School diagnosed 2nd one at age 9.

Iv used Word Hornet book and then Word Wasp with my kids. You can buy books in shop or online then work though them about 10mins a day. They are great as they have to read and spell. They are a bit of a slog but I give mine a prize every 10pgs. Brilliant for teaching decoding. If u go into the FAQ section on website there's a test you can download to see if word hornet or wasp is more suitable to start. My oldest is now moving onto toe by toe to help improve fluency.

www.wordwasp.com/

Friends have found Nessy helpful.

Super helpful

I paid for a private assessment and it turned out she was 95% probable of dyslexia so the school have accepted those results and put in loads of interventions for her. Within three months, we’ve seen a HUGE difference in her, so definitely push for a private assessment if you can.

How old was your child when assessed? Thanks

We paid for Dyslexia testing at the start of year 6, so age 10. It was definitely worth it. In DS's case he had already had a similar assessment focused around writing and dyspraxia before, so he was fully engaged with the testing and had a good idea what to expect. He had passed the basic screening at school and even passed the statutory phonics assessment - after intensive coaching by the school he achieved the pass mark which in their view meant his phonetic understanding was fine. Anyway. If the school are putting in place support, then hold off, as the advice is likely to be more meaningful if he is a bit older and he will understand more about why he is doing it and what it means. (But latest would be start of year 6 to have adjustments in place for SATS and secondary transition.) If the school aren't doing anything, then get one done now.

We had a private assessment in good time for secondary. It didn't make a huge difference as the school had limited resources and the annual change of subject teachers was too fast for meaningful help. But it helped him understand and maintain self esteem and us to help him. He got special glasses in year 9.

Want I want to do though is share the good news. He banked a row of C grades at GCSE (and the odd E grade). He's cleverer than that but it is what it is. He followed the path of least resistance (computing) and scored a triple distinction star at BTEC Level 3. A degree apprenticeship in software programming. And at 24 still can't spell very well, takes months to read book 5 pages at a time, but is earning an excellent wage and more importantly is doing a job he loves with a free first class degree.

Please believe and allow your child to believe they are special and have a gift but they have to negotiate a tricky path to get to where they want to be as the educational set up is patchy at best.

Good luck!

She was 7. I suspected it in the summer holidays and got an assessment booked for start of last sept.

Thank you all. He passed the phonics screen following a lot of extra help. He's so keen that's what's sad as it just doesn't come easy. I'm not sure if to keep holding off till he's a bit older like the post above. Is there any risk of mis diagnosis, anyone know?

My child also passed the phonics check but it was a real struggle for her.

The assessor told us that she's essentially 'phonics colour blind' and that phonics only actually works for 60% of kids. Which if true seems staggering.

Having her diagnosis has helped her in so many ways. Firstly, we know that she learns in different ways. So, the cover/write/check way of learning spellings worked in that she could remember it for the test, but when it came to actual writing, none of it sunk in. We've learned with her, if she has an acronym for the word and draws a picture of that acronym, she can remember the spelling - so for example, YOU is now Yellow Orange Umbrella, and she remembers it 100% of the time. Brefore she kept spelling it yuo

But the biggest thing for us was her confidence. She now knows WHY she finds it so much harder to do things compared to her friends, so shes no longer thinking that she's 'thick' or anything like that. Instead, she's happy to go at her own pace because she knows that she WILL get there.

@Plant2628 happy to chat via PM if you have any questions?

Hi op during COVID I realised how behind my dd was and once some work was set it seemed incredibly hard for her.

She also seemed to be on a very low ort levels ( after doing some research). Previously we had already been told to wait and see?

However this was taking a toll on her self esteem and she hated school.

I realised she wasn't getting phonics and researched other ways to get children reading.
I got first 100 high frequency flashcards.
She really enjoyed doing this because it's "fast".
It was immediately satisfying and withing weeks she was whipping through all the cards . Initially we did a few a day.
That gave her an enormous boost and feeling of satisfifaction.
I also joined reading chest which had her school scheme but also others.

She was on level 5 so I got loads 9f level 6 which was still very basic, a few simple sentences per page.

I got her to read the pages in different ways eg super fast. Very slow. Backwards!
I would sometimes read it and then get her to speed read it.
We did loads of level 6 books .
By the end of that stage she was reading very well on her own and reading two books back to back.
So I moved her up to level 7. That was more challenging.
She did very well and obviously understood the questions in the book.
Because she had suddenly gone up from 5 to 7 and now knew the first 100 hfw this gave her a new enthusiasm for reading...she was seeing results and she knew she was doing well and it was working!

I was able to chose level 7 book's from the vast choices at reading chest and get a good amount of book's per week that I knew would interest her.

Alongside this we did spelling by looking at root words and pre fixes and suffixes.
This made so much more sense to her than phonics.

By the time she returned to school her confidence was up, she could read , engage in lessons, spell much better and she had a solid understanding of how words work and what they mean.
She also did well with mnemonics on spelling.

At school she was moved up to ort 9. And that was much more aligned with where the rest of the class were.

She still isn't an amazing reader but she has started to read novels albeit slowly.

Sorry for the long post but I'm amazed at where my daughter is now considering she was struggling so so much a few year's ago and to be honest how we helped during COVID wasn't that much really.

Ps my dd failed the phonics check and I'm not sure she would pass it now!

Watching this thread with interest. My DS (just about to turn 8) is very behind too. School don’t do a screening check & our LEA don’t believe in dyslexia assessments. I get conflicting advice on the usefulness of the assessments so good to see other’s experiences. Those who’ve paid for assessments did you use an Educational Psychologist or a specialist teacher? EPs seem to charge a lot more (one locally charges £950).

Yes interested in the above too. Thank you all for your experiences

We paid for a private educational psychologist’s report. DD was 6y 10m. Dyslexia and severe memory difficulties were diagnosed. It was worth every penny. No LA ed psy ever disagreed. The difference was, they made plenty of recommendations about objectives and class based interventions (DD was already in an additional resourced unit); but no recommendations that cost money like specialist teaching or placement.

My DS has been assessed by
both specialist teachers and Ed psychs.

If your DSs difficulties are just dyslexia then I would just pay for a specialist teacher assessment.

If your DSs difficulties are just dyslexia then I would just pay for a specialist teacher assessment.

No lay parent knows that until after the assessment. There could be working or short term or long term memory problems, poor attention, a developmental language disorder, slow processing, low IQ or who knows what co-morbid difficulties?

My parents paid privately at that age for me to be tested by an educational psychologist. Worth every penny in my opinion - it opened doors for support all through my life, extra support in school, extra time at exams, special equipment for university, allowance on online job applications.

If your child is dyslexic the earlier they get teaching support the better.

There's a screening assessment on the Nessy app (you can probably get a free trial), I'm always slightly suspicious of a screening provided by a company who will want you to buy their services though! DD had private testing age 9 which diagnosed dyslexia and some memory and processing issues. It was done by a former teacher with additional training so was cheaper than an ed psyc, still very thorough though (took two days in school). Just check that the professional has the appropriate qualifications that mean the diagnosis will be accepted by exam boards.

I'd check if the LA will accept the diagnosis, though sometimes it's good to have for peace of mind also. DS was dx with dyslexia via a private assessment at age 7. Last year, at age 15, LA EP told us she doesn't think he is dyslexic and now we're going through a wait for theirs... DS is clearly dyslexic and LA are just trying to pick a fight to avoid doing anything more. So, just be wary that the LA may not accept a private dx.

My daughter was showing signs of dyslexia when she was 7 (and earlier) the school did their assessment which they needed to do before the local authority could the do a formal assessment.
She passed it, school then did a complete u turn and suggested it was a confidence thing?!
So I paid and had a private assessment done which was amazing.
She wasnt dyslexic but has visual processing disorder.
The report also told us what we needed to do and what school should do to support her.
She's 12 now and doing brilliantly.