Dyslexia

[Everythingsgroovy]

Would it be helpful for DS to be assessed for dyslexia prior to starting his degree and if so, what is the best way to do this?

DS qualified for extra time in GCSEs (2023) due to slow processing speed. He wasn’t happy about being assessed but wanted to pass English and was only achieving 2s and 3s in his mocks. He only used extra time for his English exam and passed with a 5.

DS is now doing A levels. CTEC Engineering is finished (A*) and he is also doing maths and computer science (predicted A A). He didn’t want to be assessed for access arrangements at 6th form. He probably won’t achieve A A and I think that is partly due to undiagnosed dyslexia.

DS has an offer to study Mechanical Engineering at Coventry University and should meet the grades required.

It wil get him ahead of the game if he is diagnosed and assessed for DSA before starting as there is often a gridlock in the first term otherwise, delaying any support he may be eligible for.

@LIZS Thank you. Is there a recommended way to be assessed for dyslexia? I had a quick look and it’s very expensive- about £650 I think.
I don’t think he’d need DSA as he already has a laptop. I was more thinking of finding out exactly what his difficulties are, ways to mitigate them and letting lecturers know.

Might be worth asking uni support team for advice. Ds had a post 16 assessment for dyspraxia from an Ed Psych. DSA may recommend specific recording software or mentoring for example and they liaise with department for extra time and extended deadlines .

@LIZSthank you. I’ll have a chat with DS after his exams are finished and see if he wants to contact the uni for advice once his place is confirmed.

DS had a dyslexia diagnosis for GCSEs and accepted the 25% extra time for exams. In reality he rarely used it all, but it helped with some of his panic and anxiety and enabled him to read and re-read questions properly (and slowly) before answering.

He submitted his same assessment for dyslexia to his university and for DSA. (They used to have to be updated for uni but I think this has changed so long as the assessor met certain professional criteria.)
The uni gave him an ILP - independent learning plan.
In reality it helped him very little at uni. He was meant to get weekly one-to-one support for 1 hour a week to help with navigating and planning his workload. Despite constantly following up this didn't happen in his first year.

When he finally got some sessions he said they were a waste of time and were just someone giving him a massive wall-planner and a set of coloured pens!

He didn't have any timed exams (creative humanities subject with practical and coursework) so this wasn't relevant. Perhaps the only time it might have been relevant was if he was under too much coursework and needed to ask for extensions, but most unis have a system where the students can self-refer for a limited number of extensions and late submissions a year anyway.

He did receive DSA. He already had a laptop and it was deemed he didn't need another. However he could claim for a printer and then for paper and inks each year which amounted to about £100 each time. Also had access to a suite of learning software (text to speech etc) and project planning, none of which he found particularly helpful or relevant.

Once confirmed the uni may contribute towards the cost of the dyslexia assessment. Some unis cover the full cost.

DSA offer a lot more than laptops. 1:1 specialist mentoring.

Uni should offer reasonable adjustments with the need for DSA. Extra time, extensions, extra lecture tutorials.

The real problem with it all is that the young person has to self-advocate and chase up what they are entitled to at the same time they have been thrown into a new, stressful and confusing environment, away from home. In my experience, talking to DS and about his friends (many also dyslexic/ with ADHD etc) hardly any of them found the services remotely easy to access.

I ended up helping him contact lecturers about his ILP to ask for access to materials 24 hours in advance and access to lecture recordings - most of which should have been standard anyway, but are particularly helpful for those with poor processing and recall of verbal lectures and slow note-taking. Slides in advance were really helpful as he could annotate those, rather than have to write it all out.