To think that some parents like to label their children as dyslexic/dyscalculic/dyspraxic or as kinaesthetic learners....

[MrsSchadenfreude]

...rather than accept the fact that their child might not be particularly bright/academic, and by so doing this detracts from children who genuinely are eg dyslexic?

ooh yes im thrilled that the teachers prompted me to get a dyspraxic assessment for ds1. i am too also thrilled that ds1 is dyspraxic, and quite badly so. he is only 5. I now feel like i belong in a club.

You are talking out of your arse.

Do you have a child that has one of these disorders?? Have you taken the time to speak to someone about these disorders and the parents day-to-day life??

YABU and talking crap quite frankly. Why dont we go back a few decades when some of these conditions were not known about and kids with them were labelled as stupid or indeed not particularly bright/academic and left to flounder? Nothing wrong with looking for a reason for your childs problems and therefore giving him/her maximum opportunity to achieve his/her potential.

IT is very hard to get extra funding for genuine dyslexics, even to get it acknowledged is an uphill struggle it is true

What a bizarre post and yes, IMO YABU.
I really don't see what difference it would make to you!
I'm probably one of those parents in your opinion who has labelled a child. Not because he's not particularly bright, because in my opinion, he is, brighter in fact than my other child who is doing well at school. But because the amount of effort he has to put in to write anything, and the constant shaking of his head whilst he tries to clear his mind/ form an idea does not correlate with some of the brilliant things he says. I don't really know how you can such make a sweeping statement, without knowing a childs background, medical history, and complete academic history. Small minded I would say.

However much some parents may want to, I would say it is impossible to secure a Statement of SEN if your child has no SEN and is just a bit thick. You have to jump through hoops to get a Statement and your child is assessed by what feels like every passing stranger. Ditto getting a diagnosis. Sooner or later one of those professionals would work out the child is actually just thick - they are, IME, highly trained and very competent.

And I would much rather that my DS2 and DS3 (both Dyspraxic, DS3 Statemented) were just a bit thick, but happy, than be like my DS2 who is relatively bright but immensely frustrated about his inability to put his thoughts on paper.

Scorpio, if you read my opening post, you'll see that I wasn't referring to children who actually are dyslexic/dyspraxic.

i did read it. just didn't like the way the thread had gone. it breaks my heart for ds1.

But the OP talked about parents labelling their children themselves, not getting a statement. If a child has a statement and has been officially, medically "labelled" then it's likely they do have that condition, and therefore are not the people the OP was referring to.

This is the thing Mrs S when you raise this issue, I think ypu are right but it does upset people who have been through getting a statement and so on, and they feel personally attacked. But the point is there are people who make this stuff up or latch onto it. That doesn't in any way detract from or belittle those whose DC really do have a condition, or suggest that they are charlatans. But it is a difficult topic to raise without the thread getting a bit heated.

Btw, my sister is dyslexic, diagnosed late in the days when there was no extra support anyway. She is very bright but letters jump around when she looks at the printed word. She's got a degree and professional qualifications - again, without being allowed any extra time in exams or any leniency on marking. And her job involves a lot of writing, as it happens.

I'm trying to understand what you are saying.

Are you saying that there is a currency amongst parents to jump for a label to explain their child's difficulty at say writing - but that actually there child is just a crap writer?

I don't really understand.

I don't know any parents who want their child to be SEN. I know a lot of parents with SEN children who wish they weren't.

their child - doh

There will eventually be some sort of backlash against all these labels see for example here:

angry students

can anyone confirm that is no clear, objective criteria for dyslexia diagnosis?

and can anyone explain why children with dyslexia should be entitled to more support than those who need help because they are not particularly bright?

Sometimes people are just not that good at writing and it may well be some form of dyslexia. Others are not good at maths. So what?

Snowleopard - exactly my point, and you have expressed it much more eloquently than I have. It really wasn't my intention to hurt or belittle anyone and I apologise unreservedly if I have done so.

It is a myth that dyslexic children are very bright. Less able children can also be dyslexic. Most teachers and SENCOS have not had training to spot dyslexia and only specialist teachers are qualified to assess a child as dyslexic.

Kinaesthetic learners:
Learn best by doing and practising.
Take in information through labs, field trips, excursions etc.
Learn from demonstrations.
Need to use examples of principles.
Need to have copies of visual material used in lectures.
Remember "real" things that happened.

So, to me, they sound like people who aren't very good at traditional academic work. Which, when I was little, was described as 'not very bright'.

As I said, probably unfair!

yeah, it's a piece of piss getting diagnoses and statements, DS has only been waiting over a year for a paediatrician appointment, with no guarantee he is actually going to get one, can see why anyone would want to go down the assessment route. I label my kid for fun. Nothing to do with the very real and massive language problems he has.

yeah, it's a piece of piss getting diagnoses and statements, DS has only been waiting over a year for a paediatrician appointment, with no guarantee he is actually going to get one, can see why anyone would want to go down the assessment route. I label my kid for fun. Nothing to do with the very real and massive language problems he has.

The reason that children with these dx are entitled to extra support is that their conditions are a recognised disability.

I also think it's an interesting point about getting a statement and getting special support if you have an identifiable condition, but not if you are, actually, what might be described as not academic, or more rudely, a bit thick, or whatever. I mean, you can't help it either way, and you need support either way. Being of average-low intelligence (as opposed to having a learning difficulty that can be labelled) seems to be the last group of people that it's fine to slag off and blame for what they can't do. We can hate people for being "stupid", but not if they have a statement for something like dyslexia. But people can't help being "stupid" either. Everyone needs help to guide them towards the best way to get the most out of their own life. I think parents who latch too eagerly onto labels might be being influenced by the fact that it does gain you a kind of prestige and understanding, whereas just not being, or not appearing to be, very bright lays you open to all kinds of rudeness.

Dyslexia is a neurological condition which is caused by cells migrating to the wrong place in the brain in the developing foetus. It is also thought to be genetic. It is common to both sexes and all ability levels.
Getting a statement for dyslexia is like passing a camel through the eye of a needle.

and while I'm a ranting - I'm a bit fed up of seeing MNetters describe kids as "thick" just because they struggle academically.

i think all dc are bright and excelm in there own way and maybe not as good as others in certain subjects maybe the parents feel that there is something more going on

i would never be embarrassed by my child and feel the need to lie and parents shouldnt be competitive over dc as what one can do another cant its not my child is better than yours

i think if you see a child struggling it shouldnt be that there child is not bright

as they probably are just not at that lesson

my ds 2.10 is awaiting assessments as something just isnt right with him but just because he cannot do what some other children his age can do doesnt make him not bright as he excells in other areas and is ahead of dc his age

but i'm not just giving him a diagnosis as there is something but some parents maybe feel the need to do so as other parents are so competitive and do go on about what there child can do boasting almost

i have had strange looks and oh he cant speak yet {speech delayed} and his behavipur can be bit off the wall at times and do get lots of comments and funny looks and although not diagnosed i do find myself having to explain he may be slightly different and is awaiting assessments

i do find now days it is very much about what your child can do and not who they are as a person even at my ds age

Personally I think that it was wore in decades past when these conditions were not recognised and potentially bright children were written off as "stupid" which probably affected them their entire lives.

I think most parents whose children do not meet expectations will be naturally concerned why that is and look for an answer.

Even then getting a diagnosis is hard (from my experience of working with children) and then there is the lack of support out there.

Prestige of a diagnosis. Well aren't I lucky having a child with possible ASD and/or learning difficulties. Won the jackpot there then, haven't I.

upwind - certain things specifically help people with dyslexia - my boyfriend was diagnosed at 21 and he was taught a new way of looking at words that is based around the way people with dyslexia think and it helped him loads.