Dyslexia assessment

[poppincandy]

My ds is having a dyslexia assessment next week, has anyone else had one of these? What happens?

[smee]

Well the theory's great and in an ideal world yes, but for a centre to accept, the 'file supporting the need', they need evidence and most will only accept formal assessment, especially for exam boards at 16 and 18. So yes the local authority Ed Psych's report will cover that, but it's still a label of dyslexia, isn't it. Whether you pay for it or not, you need the label to access the help/ concessions/ way through for your child.

[smee]

Sorry that last was to mrz's last post.

Badvoc, that sounds horribly common. Thanks for stats on who gets help. I do know that it's that low. But if you're in that bracket, you need the 'label' to get the help. Sorry you've had such a tough time.

[Badvoc]

As an adult yes it would be different. I am glad you got the help.
Its been a rough road tbh, but ds1 is doing well :) but with little or no help from the very people paid to help him
Also almost impossible to get SA for a child with dyslexia...usually has to be co-morbidity to get SA.
Its so bloody wrong.

[mrz]

It isn't theory smee it's reality and it doesn't require an EP report or a label.
My LEA doesn't actually recognise "dyslexia" as I said earlier

[Badvoc]

You know what really freaks me out?
The amount of posts on here talking about kids 16 and over....how can that happen? How can a child go from reception to Y11 and not be dx?
My hairdressers daughter has just been dx at 17. It has badly affected her confidence and her career "choice" is one dictated by the fact she has no exam passes.
Deeply sad.
I dont care what my son ends up doing btw...but i am going to make damn sure he will have a choice. He wont have to pick a job/career because thats all he thinks he is "capable" of. No way.

[Badvoc]

Most dont mrz
Which makes one wonder why its used as a diagnostic label?
At least I know why my sons school has ignored his dx!
When I asked what provision my son would get now he had a dx the Ht said
"well, we are a dyslexia friendly school!"
I asked what that meant.
Awkward silence.......

[mrz]

it usually means they photocopy onto pastel paper rather than white Badvoc

[derekthehamster]

My son has problems with his spellings, his reading has come on in the last 2 years though. I suspect he has mild dyslexia, but I've decided that instead of paying for a private diagnosis (which we can't afford), we shall spend our money on the 'apples and pears' scheme and we're going down the private tutor route, for some one to one help.

My son has made no noticable improvement in his writing sats over the last couple of years, so hopefully this will help.

[Feenie]

I hope so, derek - but that's what the school should be doing!

[smee]

mrz, hate to bang on the same drum, but you're totally contradicting what 3 or 4 teacher friends have told me from various parts of the country at secondary level. All have said without a recognised diagnosis of dyslexia the Exam boards will not even begin to consider concessions.

Doesn't what Badvoc says about that teen who was diagnosed late say it all? 'badly affected her confidence and her career choice' and all due to not being 'labelled' before 17. I can see you could argue it's bad teachers not helping her and if they'd been better she wouldn't have needed a 'label', but it's a pretty persuasive argument for assessment and labels to me. Even if it ends up getting you diddly squat, as it has for Badvoc, I reckon it still means a lot to the individual to have a problem recognised.

Right, am off now. All v.interesting, so thanks for the debate.

[Badvoc]

a&p is the best spelling intervention out there derek.
I am doing it with ds1 atm too!

[mrz]

I've used Apples & Pears and Bear Necessities with small groups and individuals with excellent results derekthehamster

[derekthehamster]

I've kind of given up with the school, he's been on a couple of 6 week sessions, with a small group of children to help with his writing, but it doesn't seem to have any long term effect.

The work he does with his tutor is amazing (although she does scribe, with him copying it afterwards so he doesn't get hung up on spellings, and helps him with vocab etc) but a lot of his one to one, is helping with his confidence.

[mummytime]

You don't (at present) need a diagnosis to get exam concessions. You need proof that the pupil gets those concessions "to access the curriculum". My son has just sat GCSEs with an assessment done 9 years ago, he had extra time and used a computer. My DD doesn't have a diagnosis but should get extra time (if Gove doesn't change the rules).

[happychappy]

Having read through this it doesn't bode well for the future. Did you know that 70% of the prison popular are suspected as having reading and writing difficulties and/or dyslexia. The support available was alway inadequate and is now non existence for most young children. The money is better spent on the one to one support. With my DS we were lucky with his school, the school have someone who can do the assessment within the school and they are so small they managed to support him so far. My concern is and has always been after year 6 and secondary school.

For my DS he is so charming and loves being outside I don't really think he will ever be in a job where his experiences won't be valid. I would be very surprised if he didn't go into farming or land management. It is something he loves, animlas, nature, environment. But he is only small so who knows

[PeterPanandWendy]

It's a little bit scary that we have people here who are in some cases just beginning the journey of dyslexia- either through their own child or through work- and who are misinformed .

Badvoc you said this:Also, strategies put in place at school will not be availabe in the workplace so best not to rely on them at all IMHO

I don't quite know what you mean by strategies but I spent most of last year tutoring adults in the work place, including a rocket scientist and a police constable- all assessed as dyslexic in order to be able to have tuition.

Without assessment, they would not have been able to have this support. More critically, they had spent all their lives withou a label scratching their heads over what was wrong with them.

Feenies you said Often they are - teachers have the benefit of knowing children better. Often an EP will suggest very superficial strategies tried and discarded long ago

The whole point of an assessment is that it is objective. Knowing the child may help once teaching begins, but knowing the child should not influence the results of the assessment or it would not be objective..

mrz for a teacher, you seem to lack empathy. Both me and smee have tried to tell you how people with dyslexia value a label because it tells them why they are struggling. I've seen adults cry when they have been diagnosed- with relief.

I don't know why you find this so hard to take on board- maybe as I said it's because you have not seen the damage done to teenagers and adults who have never been diagnosed until later in life- and whose dyslexia has destroyed their self esteem.

Your school- if it's as good as it's cracked up to be by you- is very unusual, but even you admit that you have an SpLD teacher come into school to teach.

I spent part of my teaching career in a school for severely dyslexic children- it was a private school. The parents paid because there was no option- no state school could give them the support they needed. The children were aged 7 to 16. Every one had been assessed and assessment was on going.

I'm sorry but you are talking rubbish to say assessments are not worthwhile, and you seem to have some kind of issue with DA and anyone who offers assessments- which are not highly priced when you work out the fee per hour , materials used, and cost of premises. The EPs working for DA take half of that fee- the rest goes to DA for their overheads such as the building. If you then cost out the EPs portion per hour they are earning probably less than your local hairdresser.

[Badvoc]

Most workplaces will not pay for voice recognition software Peter.
Or give more time for projects to be done.
Big institutions like the police force and academia are more clued up but a run of the mill small company? Nope.
Yes I do have an issue with assessments tbh.
The EP report I paid nearly £700 for was dire. It was done by a person who spent 2 hours with my son, who spoke to his teachers who had already written him off at 7 and who had been telling me for months he was " making progress" even though he demonstrably wasn't and who did not complete questionnaires when asked to do so.
The recommendations this person suggested were a cut and paste job...not personalised for my son.
The EP suggested s&l intervention...even the TA laughed at that one!
Not all assessments are good/ useful/ helpful.
Some are.
I have just never seen one.

[Badvoc]

A label of dyslexia hasn't helped my sin one bit
He was 8 when he was dx.
He doesn't understand.
All he says is " it's not fair"
What can you say?
No it isn't fair.
Perhaps adults have the emotional and intellectual ability to process that sort of life changing info. Ime children struggle more to do so.

[CecilyP]

^I don't quite know what you mean by strategies but I spent most of last year tutoring adults in the work place, including a rocket scientist and a police constable- all assessed as dyslexic in order to be able to have tuition.

Without assessment, they would not have been able to have this support. More critically, they had spent all their lives withou a label scratching their heads over what was wrong with them.^

While wondering how someone who has qualified as a rocket scientist could possibly be thinking there was something wrong with him, I am puzzled that, once a need for support had been identified, it would need an assessment of dyslexia for this support to be put in place. What if the assessment had come back negative; would that mean, 'sorry not support for you'.

[poppiesmom]

Sorry to but in... My son Now 18... had a full statement from the age of 6... diagnosed as severely dyslexic The November before he left school... TOTALLY FAILED by the education system... By a supposedly outstanding school... I would do anything to give him the chance of his education without ignorance again!!!

[PeterPanandWendy]

CecilyP I don't feel it's right to discuss individual adults on a public forum- but without being too speicific let me say this:

someone can do very well academically as this person did- they had a masters in a science subject. Their work however involved report writing, taking notes in meetings, and using those notes to write up the reports. Because of the specific nature of their dyslexia, they found this very hard.

They were under-performing and this caused concern at work- their employers requested an assessment ( not by me) and support lasted for several months whilst the person was taught strategies to cope.

If the assessment had not shown dyslexia then yes, the funding by the government would not have been forthcoming. Funding is provided by Access to Work, which provides adults with a recognised disability- which dyslexia is- with support to enable them to continue in their work.

[23balloons]

I paid for an assessment for my son in April and it was worth every penny. It was a huge relief to know that he is in fact dyslexic. I have spend 6 years battling with him to read and buying books/taking him to the library and having his school tell me "he's not dyslexic". It was a great relief for him too.

He is starting secondary school in Sept and I have had to email the report to them myself, despite meeting with the Head and Senco of his primary who told me they would contact the secondary and then not doing it. ds's year 6 teacher criticised every one of his problems eg presentation, speed etc. in his end of year report and didn't mention his diagnosis at all.

mrz your school sounds very supportive & on the ball, unfortunately the majority of schools are not. I don't know how much help ds will receive in secondary as he is bright and not acually behind the national average (yet) but he is cetainly not meeting his potential. He is now listening to audio books and is really enjoying them although there isn't a lot of choice that I can find atm.

[smee]

CecilyP, that is so woefully daft that I laughed out loud! A Rocket Scientist can be hugely dyslexic, as can any professional. They've got there against the odds. I have a friend who's head of an NGO, who is profoundly dyslexic. He can't write legibly or spell, was labelled as educationally sub-normal as a child and only had a break through via diagnosis as an adult. Since then he's had all sorts of help and intervention to allow him to realise he's a) not thick and b) can be a high flier with a fantastic career. He has to use voice recognition software and relies on colleagues to proof read his articles/ letters to get by. He has to explain to them all patiently that he's dyslexic, and what that means.

If you're assessed and they find no evidence, then clearly you're not dyslexic. It's as simple as that.

I agree with all who say the Education System fails many - it's terrible how many people face that. We're only at the start of all of this, but at a Primary school who have a) identified my son as dyslexic, b) been hugely supportive and put him forward for assessment, then at the same time have been c) horribly honest and said he still won't get any specialised help regardless of assessment as there's no-one in the school qualified to do it, but they'll do their best to cobble something together!

[PeterPanandWendy]

Badvoc please read my post above.

You may not be aware of this, but under the Discrimination Act, employers are obliged to put into place support for anyone with dyslexia. It can be funded either by the company or Access to Work.

I don't want to detail all the individuals with whom I have worked on a public forum, but they have been employed by both huge international organisations and very small companies such as a local building firm.

Voice recognition software is just one tool- it's not one which any of my tutees used. Their needs on the whole were to improve reading speed, learn to scan and skim, take notes, develop thier personal " shorthand", have better time manangement, be taught phonics ( they were too old to have benefited from phonics at school) and more.

The fee you paid for your assessment sounds unusual. The going-rate is around £400- some EPs charge a little less. This covers at least 6 hrs work- 3 with the student and at least 3 to analyse and write up a 20 page report.

Given that most EPs have masters degrees, pay professional indemnity insurance, professional fees, fees for premises, materials used ( a single reading test is almost £100) then I fee it's a fair sum- and no, I'm not an EP!

And on that note, signing out of this debate as meed to get on with my own work.

[VicarGoingForGoldInKungFu]

reading with interest as the mother of a 15 yr old who has (only) just been picked up as having dyslexia.....

i am grappling with whether or not to have her formally assessed.....she is still doing ok, but we have been advised for her not to do A level......which she had wanted to do.....school have advised a BTEC instead as she has trouble with exams.....though she does not qualify for any special measures in exams.

im confused as to whether an assessment would help at this stage or not ?
we have employed a tutor to get her through the subjects she is struggling with.