Private Dyslexia Assessment

[ZanyFawn]

Hi,

My 10yo DD is really struggling at school with reading and writing.

I first noticed it in year 2 and have spoken to all her teachers since then about the possibility of her being dyslexic. They’ve all said she isnt.

She was graded as not being where she needs to be for Reading/Writing and maths in year 2 & 3. I got her a tutor just over a year ago and she’s not only caught up with maths, she’s now doing year 6 work. Her end of year 4 report showed her as ok for maths and reading, but behind with writing.

She was finally signed off as a free reader towards the end of last year, but she struggles massively. She mixes words up, skips them, adds words and spends a lot of time de-coding bigger words. I don’t think she’s absorbing what she’s reading because she’s spending so long just trying to read the sentences.

She asked her current year 5 teacher to put her down a level in comprehension as she was only scoring 50-60% in tests, which her teacher has agreed to do. She says that she feels embarrassed because aside from a few kids with obvious/severe needs, everyone in her class is doing the harder work.

At home, she has meltdowns with her homework and finds it overwhelming. I’ve explained this to her previous teachers as she’s clearly masking this when at school.

She is generally a worrier and can be very anxious. She’s super hard on herself when she can’t understand the work and can’t cope with not getting things 100% correct.

Day to day she is very well behaved, polite and kind. She’s super creative and loves arts and crafts. Her teachers say the most lovely things about her behaviour, manners and effort in parent consultations so I know she is absolutely trying her best.

I can’t understand why the teachers keep dismissing any kind of learning disability when she’s clearly struggling so much. I feel fobbed off and am at the point now where I don’t feel I can let it go on anymore.

Has anyone been in a similar situation where a private diagnosis has uncovered a learning disability missed by school?

I agree with previous replies. My daughter had problems with writing, spelling and comprehension all through school. Through a helpful paediatrician she was diagnosed as dyspraxic but school dismissed all talk of dyslexia. With a lot of support she got to university and there she was assessed as being severely dyslexic, dyspraxic and dysgraphic. This came as a severe shock to her - if not to me. It made her very unsure of her own abilities. I would advise you to go for a private assessment if you can afford it.

It is frustrating, isn’t it? Especially when support in school isn’t even based on diagnosis. Schools (and LAs) must not refuse to accept independent assessments purely because they are independent, yet some try to and can be disapproving when parents go private.

No, but don’t expect everything all the recommendations in the report to be followed. Schools have to make reasonable adjustments, not provide specialist teaching. Also be aware that a diagnosis of dyslexia doesn’t qualify any student for extra time, a reader, a scribe etc. in GCSEs or A-levels.

Is your daughter in year 5 or 6. You've got no chance of getting a dyslexia assessment from the school if your child is in year 6. However I'd still push for extra support.
If she's in year 5 id push it with the school.
I basically stalked the SENCO to get additional support fir my daughter.

You need to talk this through with your schools sendco. However to busy some myths : if you purchase a dyslexia diagnosis, absolutely nothing changes at school. You may have a little more ‘social validity’ in saying she has something ‘real’ but in terms of what schools can and will put into place,
nothing at all changes. Schools have their own internal processes for exam access arrangements (eg extra time or breaks in exams) and these are not dependent on any labels. There is NOT some extra amazing package of support that is only available to those who are diagnosed.
Your daughter probably would ‘get’ a diagnosis if assessed based on your description. This will not ‘get’ her anything at school. Please be aware of this (a long time in the future she will probably ‘get’ a laptop at uni tho- would this cost more or less than the assessment?!)
The only benefit I can see is it might help her social identity to know ‘I’m not stupid I’m dyslexic’ that’s what lots of people say after getting a diagnosis, they feel very validated. However, you could give her this validation for free by explaining that lots of people who are very clever find reading and writing is a bit harder for them than others and takes more practice, these people are dyslexic and it sounds like that’s you, show her celebrities talking about it etc.
if you have a few thousand spare, this would be SO much better spent on specialist literacy teacher tutoring than pursuing a diagnosis .
be reassured - you are NOT a neglectful mum (and the school is a not a neglectful school) if you do not pursue a formal diagnosis and prioritize using your resources on actual teaching and learning activities (which are what evidence shows DOES make a difference).
Please listen to me I don’t want to be outing but I’m very qualified!

This is absolutely right.

pages of expensive recommendations - the school does not ‘have ‘ to follow, and the diagnosis opens no doors at all (until uni age)

This is nonsense, there are no NICE guidelines for dyslexia assessment and ed psychs are not healthcare workers and are usually not employed by the nhs

Although if specialist teaching is reasonably required, an EHCNA should be requested because that is clearly beyond reasonable adjustments (and for state schools, the best endeavours duty). Applies whether there is a diagnosis or not. Same if there is other provision that is reasonably required but cannot be provided at a SEN support level.

Ask school if they know a way for her to access the Lexia intervention

@Unexpectedlysinglemum is correct, dyslexia is not a medical diagnosis.

How did your daughter benefit from these diagnoses?
At uni level they get some free resources I believe? But not at school

Op you will have lots of people telling you it’s a good idea to spend thousands on a private assessment as that’s what they felt they had to do, but honestly this money would be so much better spend on specialist tutor and nice things for your child like horse riding or art classes or holidays etc

The likelihood of getting an EHCNA for dyslexia alone is vanishingly small.

That’s right - at university she would be able to access specialist software and specialist tutoring in addition to the reasonable adjustment of 25% extra time for exams and presentations.

It isn’t necessarily about diagnosis. An independent EP assessment will help OP and others understand DD’s needs and the support she requires. There may well be hidden needs. Not all needs are obvious or fully understood without a comprehensive assessment. Thus support required may not be obvious. A good, comprehensive EP assessment absolutely is worth it, IMO.

LAs would like parents to believe it isn’t possible to get an EHCP for dyslexia, but EHCPs are based on needs, not diagnosis, and the law is the same whether DC have a diagnosis of dyslexia or not. Parents may have to appeal, some at each step, but if their DC reasonably requires provision in excess of what school can (and will) typically provide, it is possible to get an EHCP.

It is possible - I have seen one child with an EHCP for very severe dyslexia in 28 years of working in schools. It was a Statement of SEN converted to an EHCP.

I had supported some parents whose DC ‘only’ had dyslexia to get EHCPs. According to the latest government statistics, more young people with EHCPs had SpLD as their primary need than they did HI, VI, PMLD or MSI. Obviously they won’t all have dyslexia, but my point was it is possible and a child who needs specialist teaching needs an EHCP and parents shouldn’t be put off by LAs/schools/others saying it isn’t possible to get an EHCP for dyslexia or that it isn’t vanishingly unlikely.

She is year five.

I have booked an assessment because it is affecting her confidence and I don’t know how else to help her. She knows that my only expectation of her is that she tries her best, which she absolutely does. She is so hard on herself and gets really upset and negative that she can’t keep up with the rest of her class, because she can’t understand why.

I just don’t get how I can have several conversations with a teacher throughout the year being reassured that she is fine, not to worry about getting her a tutor, I don’t need to be doing anything extra for/with her etc to then be handed an end of year report saying that she’s not meeting expectations.

I don’t expect the school to make drastic changes, but if they aren’t even acknowledging that she is struggling, they are failing her. I hope that the report will make them reevaluate that stance. If not and it only provides validation and comfort for my DD with some guidance on how I can support her, I’ll still consider it money well spent.

Ok. Still push it with the school. If she is raising specific concerns that she cannot keep up the school need to address this. How will they support her? How do they suggest you support her?

This is what I hope the report will help me with. I accept that the school may not be able to implement everything, but anything would help at this point.

Thanks for everyone’s advice, I really appreciate all the different points of view and suggestions.

To those saying you don’t ‘get’ anything from a diagnosis - our assessor specified that our child would need a dyslexia tutor x times/week, in a specialist setting and all sorts of other recommendations that were then incorporated into their EHCP and fully funded.

I've given up on the school helping.

I now have a tutor, at huge cost, twice a week. I also take DD out of school and take her to external educational provision. I'm hoping to extend the one afternoon currently in place to two.

Just for some solidarity, this sounds just like my daughter who has now just started in Y7.

We got her a private dyslexia assessment just before she started Y6 as her confidence was getting quite impacted by the fact she was finding some things harder than others in her class. It has been helpful as she now knows why she finds some things difficult, and the report contained some valuable advice around reasonable expectations and how we could support her. It also meant that she got extra time in her SAT’s. Her primary school had always been excellent at support and interventions even without a diagnosis, but had never made any suggestion that she might have a learning difficulty.

Not sure how secondary school might change things yet as it’s early days, but we’ll consider a tutor at some point to consolidate knowledge if necessary.

Good luck!

I haven't read the full thread, but in a nutshell: yes. My child's story is very similar to yours. Child is now diagnosed as severely dyslexic. I don't think schools are the last word in understanding and recognising dyslexia. Child is now in receipt of some adaptations and accommodations.