If I think my DD has a learning difficulty how do I get her diagnosed?

[SocialButterfly]

DD has struggled from before she started school, she had speech delay and saw a speech therapist for a couple of years. She is now in yr 2 and is quite behind, she was referred by her teacher last year to the language and learning support team. An independant teacher came and assessed her and said she had some memory issues and should be assessed for Dyslexia when she turns 7. She did a term of ELS and her teaching assistant keeps an eye on her but she is not actually given any additional help.

Now I know searching the internet is a bad move but thats what I have done and it seems to me she either has some form of Auditory Processing Disorder or is Dyslexic. How do I get her disgnosed/ who does she need to be referred to and by whom? I am getting her eyes tested next week incase that is part of the problem and would like her to have a hearing test but again am unsure how I would arrange this.

Thanks

To get tested for Auditory Processing Disorder you need the GP to refer her to an Audiologist.

To get her eyes tested go to a behaviour optometrist not an optician.

GP is your starting point for both.

hi mother of three sen children here! Look if you have conerns and you think there is a problem trust in your instincts! you need to act now, the longer its left the more they will fall behind and struggle . LEA's dont have much money around and trying to get an educational phycogist in is going to be diffiucult as ther will also be a long waiting list. If you can afford to go private the do so now. a dyslexia assment costs around £350 if you go for a independant pycologists report it will be around £1500! but once you have the reports the school will have to act on them. go to your Gp and push for the hearing test. hope this helps

the GP should be able to refer to community paedeatrician who can start the ball rolling for hearing and dyslexia assessments.

My DD was diagnosed with auditory processing disorder by an audiologist on referral via paedeatrician.I don't think they will definitively diagnose it though until around 8/9 for some reason.

dyslexia Action will do a dyslexia screening test for free, then official test for around £90. Their ed psychologist assessment is around £400. TBH we paid for one for DD and it has since turned out to be wrong - did spot dyslexia but wrongly suggested attention deficit when in fact it's a hearing issue not a behavioural one. Report has had to be changed and I wonder now why we bothered paying!

Good luck it's sounds like you have time on your side and are doing all you can to help your child.

Thank you all, it looks like a trip to the GP is my first port of call then. Much as I would do anything to help her I dont really have lots of cash to spend on assesments, hopefully if I start the ball rolling now even if it takes a while she should still be of an age where they can help her.

If they have concerns school should refer her to an Ed Psych - but you will need to keep shouting loudly for this to happen.

I personally would not pay for a private Ed Psych report.

Hi SocialButterfly

Currently Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) is only diagnosed at Great Ormond Street Hospital, or the Nuffield Hospital.
As IndogoBell has stated you need a GP referral and before you are referred you need a hearing test to be done so that any hearing problems can be calibrated with regard to the APD assessment.
APD is a cause of the dyslexic symptom, and is is a cognitive problem when trying to use phonics.

You may findthat if you download the Medical Research Councils APD pamphlet of 2004 it may help explain some of the issues, and may help your GP understand the issues.

The age of maturity is between 7 - 8 years old and that is when children stop growing out of cognitive problems such as APD, (we all develop different cognitive skills at different rates and ages)

for more information about APD you could have a look at Auditory Processing Disorder in the UK (APDUK)
APD tends to be a genetic issue so you may find that soem other members your family may also have some degree of APD, there is an adult APD forum, many of the members of this forum only found out about their own APD when trying to get help for their own children, just like me.

Hi SocialButterfly

If you can get a referral to Great Ormond Street Hospital for an APD assessment and diagnosis they are now providing a full Multi - Disciple Assessment, which is recommended as part of Any APD assessment which includes follow up Speech and Language, and Psychology assessments so that you have one multi discipline professional report, all done by the NHS.

You might also find the APDUK newsletters worth downloading as a source of information. Especially Newsletters Nos 1 and 2 which have two articles *Controlling the Chaos" and "The Trouble with Strangers" which resulted from a 2 year online research program "How APD Affects Adults"

The best online description of APD is APD Evaluation to Therapy: The Buffalo Model