11+ exams and dyslexia

[flowerpowergirl]

Hi I am re-posting this from special needs as I haven't had any responses. Hoping for more luck here
Does anyone have experience of putting a dyslexic child through 11+ particularly verbal reasoning? DS is very bright (gifted) but due to dyslexia has difficulty spelling and his reading accuracy is not great. He is brilliant at compensating for this in class and I think most people would not notice the dyslexia. We have to put him through 11+ (long story I won't bore you all with the details, please just go with it) and obviously verbal reasoning will be a big problem. School are very supportive and he will get extra time. What I am looking for is tips on dealing with the questions. Eg find a word inside a word. Add a letter to make a new word. What's the next combination of letters in this sequence etc. I have looked online. All advice is general - practice lots, get a good nights sleep and all the obvious stuff. But if anyone has specific advice on tactics in dealing with these questions for a dyslexic I would really appreciate hearing them. Thanks.

I'm afraid I cannot offer any advice. My dyslexic DS has high G&T verbal IQ but he would really struggle with the kind of examples you have posted which seem to exemplify classic dyslexic weaknesses. No amount of practise would get him up into the top GS % required - they are what make him dyslexic. Good luck - the system is not fair. A bright all rounder will pass whereas a genuinely g&t student with weaknesses in some areas may fail.

Have you been on the elevenplus website? I've certainly seen posts about dyslexia and there are some really supportive people around. You can pm anyone as you can with mumsnet and I'm sure you'd get some good advice.

Thanks for the comments. I have now found some good apps which give tips on answering some of the questions. Aargh it's infuriating! I'll try the eleven plus website.

Yes, I've experience of exactly this difficulty and need. A pupil I tutored for the 11+ in September had a diagnosis and was granted 25% extra time in the exam because of specific, standardised scores warranting this.
His parents and I put a considerable amount of work into preparation for the VR questions that he struggled with and into how to make best use of the additional time. It was also very important for him to have strategies that'll allowed him to spot his own errors and return to questions that initially flummoxed him, demanded more time or left him unsure.