Dyslexic testing?

[cupoftea1]

Have recently had a meeting with my son's (who is nearly 7) teacher who believes he may have dyslexia. I have always believed that he has had a learning difficulty as I have always had to support him and reinforce his learning at home. The teacher has indicated that the school will not have him assessed and when questioned about having him assessed privately, they stated that the school would not accept any private assessment and it would just sit on the file.
Has anyone had any similar experience and is assessment down to individual schools , local authorities or assembly government?
Thank you for reading.

You don't need a diagnosis of dyslexia, you need help for your son's learning difficulties.

School can and should put him on the SEN register if he is struggling and they should provide him appropriate help and support.

In a good school a diagnosis means nothing because they are already doing everything they should be.

And in a bad school (which your school is sounding like) a diagnosis won't help because they still won't do anything differently.

So what does your son struggle with? What help / support do you think he needs? And what help / support does he get?

Don't worry about whether or not he has dyslexia - do very much worry about what help he needs which he isn't getting.

Getting a diagnosis privately, while staying at this school, will be a waste of £400.

Thank you Indigobell.
He is on the SEN register and has an IEP with goals to try to accomplish. He has finally grasped his phonics (after lots of reinforcement) and tries to decode every word with phonics. He doesn't retain sight words easily. He has difficulty with structuring sentences for his language work.
With maths, he struggles to recognise the digits from 10 upwards. He is able to do simple calculations but struggles to write the correct answer. He does a lot of number/letter reversals which I know is still common at this age.
He is bright and very creative but it just concerns me that it takes so long to grasp things and I don't want him to be left behind and lose confidence.
I am happy with the school he attends, they are providing him with extra support but from reading around it seems everywhere says early diagnosis is vital. Thank you again for your reply.

Everyone says early diagnosis is vital - but it's not true.

If he has a dx of dyslexia, all the school will do for him is extra phonics. If they're already doing that then there is not a lot else they will or should do for him.

I repeat, there is nothing you would do for a child who has dyslexia and is struggling that is any different at all to a child who didn't have dyslexia and is struggling. Synthetic Phonics is recommended for all kids, whether or not they have dyslexia.

Basically, assume he does have dyslexia, research the topic and come to your own conclusions about what will and won't help him, keep talking to school....

But unfortunately a dx of dyslexia buys you absolutely nothing. They are not going to be able to help him anymore than they already can.

He will be left behind if you don't fight and fight and fight for him. But he will be left behind whether or not he has a dx.

Search some of my old threads to see the struggles I am going through with DD......

Just researched some of your old threads in between my husband hijacking the computer! I can totally understand how chuffed you were when your daughter made a breakthrough with her spelling of "it" etc. I hope she continues to make good progress.
I will continue to keep in contact with the school and ensure that he is making progress with his learning. Thank you for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it.

I have a dyslexic ds. The hassle we went through with him encouraged me to do a PG dyslexia teaching certificate.

I totally second the view that properly taught phonics are a big feature for all children, including dyslexics. It really is a big part of learning IF DONE PROPERLY. There's lots of research to back this up/

I'm now at the other side - ds is 14. BUT he's in a grammar school, and holding his own within his year group. So if Kent takes top 25% for grammar and he's in the middle, he's doing pretty well.

1.Never confuse ability with learning difficulty

2.Never give in - you are the best weapon your child has!

1. Love them lots but don't be soft on them. Dyslexia's a bugger. Life's shit. Get on with it. Be nice but don't compormise too much!!

1. Show them how much you appreciate all the hard work. IT REALLY IS HARDER FOR THEM THAN FOR MOST OTHER CHILDREN

1. Embrace technology. Learning to type is great. My ds uses Dragon voice activated software for note taking too.

IT'S NOT THAT BAD - MAY FEEL IT NOW BOT THERE REALLY ARE WAYS OUT

Hi goingmadinthecountry, glad to hear your son is now holding his own and doing well. I admire you for going back to do a post grad in dyslexia. In fact, I joked to my husband last night about doing the same before seeing your post! At least that way you can ensure he is having the best possible support.

He has learnt his phonics through the jolly phonics scheme, but now they are moving onto a new scheme called Read, Write, Ink. I have never heard of it before.
He is progressing quite well now, however I do a lot of extra work with him at home. It seems that "over learning" is the way to go with him until one day something suddenly "clicks".

My concern is how he will cope in Key Stage 2, where they tend to do whole class teaching and not the little groups he is used to. I know they will continue to provide him with extra support out of the classroom.

As a dyslexic teacher, do you think that a dyslexic diagnosis is important or not? I don't want to come across as a pushy mother but I also want the best possible support for him.

Read, Write, Inc is a far better scheme than Jolly Phonics, and he should do very well on it.

My DD is in KS2, and there are loads of ways the teacher and TA copes with the 4 kids in her class who can't read. I'm not sure they do any more or less whole class teaching than in KS1.

Teachers have to. That is the good thing about the UK system. They have to teach every kid in their class, and can't just leave them to flounder.

It's not idea. In fact it's bloody awful. But you're on the road to getting there, and you will get there - as long as you never give up or believe or accept that because he has dyslexia therefore he'll always struggle.....

There are loads of diff ways and therapies and strategies to help him. And you have to go through every one of them until he's fine. Never listen to anyone who tells you this is a life long condition that he'll have to learn to live with.

I'm glad your daughter has had positive experience with the Read, Write, Ink scheme. It gives me hope that he will continue progressing. It's also hopeful to see that the people I know who have suffered with dyslexia have gone on to do well and have successful careers so I understand where you are coming from that he won't always struggle. My sister in law has dyslexia and my husband (although never diagnosed) has always had issues with language and spelling, however both now are doing well. You must feel the same way as me when it's seeing this initial struggle to grasp the basics the most frustrating x

Hi cupoftea1, Just wanted to add my opinion. I had my DD assessed and it was the best thing I ever did. I agree that it doesn't matter whether or not you get a dx as long as help is provided, but getting a dx meant that DH and I were aware of exactly what DD's difficulties were. The report we were given also gave us some ideas how we could support her at home. It was also pointed out to us that the school had to act on the report because of the Disability Discrimination Act and they have now put her on the Special Educational Needs register and she is getting extra help. The assessment we had done cost £325 and was worth every penny. Hope this helps. :)

Thanks mummyoftwogirls77, I'm of the opinion too that it would be best to get him assessed for the reasons you had stated above for your own daughter. I know it wouldn't make a difference to him as he is on the SEN register and getting extra help but I feel it would put an end to the wondering whether he has/hasn't got dyslexia. I'm glad your daughter is now having the extra help she needs x

But there isn't even one defn of dyslexia. Each EP uses their own criteria to dx.

Have you considered moving to a more supportive school?