Going to talk to DS's teacher. She thinks he's just not very bright, I think he's dyslexic. Help me present my case.

[LynetteScavo]

I've already been in to see her twice this year (apart from parents evenings)regarding his reading and writing and have always been fobbed off.

But this weekend, when DH asked DS to finish reading to the end of the chapter and they both nearly ended up in tears, I thought something has to be done.

DS starts off reading really well, but becomes very tired, very quickly. I think this is because he is exhausted from the sheer effort it has taken his to read one or two pages.

His writing is very, very slow. It's as if he can't get the information from his brain, down his arm and on to paper. His teacher last year understood this, his teacher this year seems to think he is slow because he wants his writing to be perfect.(He has good fine motor skills, so his writing is very neat)

He scored 5 on the Bangor test, carried out by a friend of the family, but when I showed the report to his teacher she wouldn't even look at it.

He doesn't reverse letters. This is why his teacher thinks he is definitely not dyslexic.

I recently bought some coloured reading rulers, and the blue one seems to really help. I will mention this to his teacher, but suspect she will think it a load of bunkum.

He got a 2c last year in the SATs (I was pleasantly surprised he didn't get the 1a he was predicted at the parents evening a couple of months before), but he now hasn't met his targets.

If he answers a comprehension question verbally,(after having the text read to him) he gives text book answers, but if he has to write the answer he will try to get away with a couple of words.

After the last meeting with his teacher, she was going to raise my concerns with the SEN teacher in school, who happens to be my DS1's Y6 class teacher from last year. DS1 is bright, and this teacher seemed to think he was stunningly bright. I suspect the school think I have too high expectations of DS2, after having a bright DS1. I know DS2 will never be "academic" like DS1, but I don't think he should be exhausted so quickly after reading/writing a short amount either. I think his exhaustion is due to a processing difficulty. When I mentioned this to his teacher she thought I was talking about autism. DS2 is the least autistic person on the planet.

I have an average DD in Y1, and while her reading and writing leave a lot to be desired, I don't worry about her, as she is able concentrate on reading and writing for as long as she wants to, without the sheer exhaustion DS2 experiences.

I would have a private dyslexic assessment if I could afford it, and am saving up, but I'm about telling the school I can't afford it. And if I could would the school take any notice of it?

I don't think a formal diagnoses, even through the school would change the way he is taught? Would it?

Sorry this is so long, and I'm grateful for any comments.

Sorry, your DS I mean - note to self, do not play wii while MNing!

I use these www.specialdirect.com/Product.aspx?cref=TTSPR1103359&rid=172&cid=17

ooh , I've made a note of that site, thanks

Thanks mrz am I right in understanding that pack has 10 different colours so we can see what one works best? And then she could take that one to school?

While I'm on that site is there anything else worth looking at for dyslexia-type tendencies?

Yes there are different colours so try them all to see if they help, because they are a ruler they also help to keep the child reading the correct line.

It really depends on what aspects individual children experience difficulties with when choosing resources.

Haven't read the whole thread but PLEASE PLEASE get him tested. I have finally had my DS (yr 5) tested after telling the school since Y2 something was wrong. He has gone from a happy little boy to an angry, frustrated and probably depressed child who thinks that he is stupid.

He is very dyslexic and I am finally vindicated (but slightly poorer). I have a meeting arranged to see what can be done to help him.

I am really angry that the school haven't picked this up. IMO most teachers know nothing about special needs even the SENCOs sometimes.

Go with your instinct.

mrz ... how can one work out the root cause of the problem and then help?? My DD2 is in Yr2 and just doing Level 1C for reading/writing and I think about the same for Math (although I'm not sure if they've really assessed her for that properly because they are focusing on her reading/writing.)

She's had an eye test (fine)
And hearing - she had lower than normal and the ENT did a gromit in left ear.

She has FFT intervention everyday for 30 min and is improving (she is now reading Level 7).

I was thinking of paying for an Ed Psych cause she is not bad enough to be Statemented ... I think she is on School Action or School Action Plus?? And in our poor LEA only those at Statemented levels would get any kind of assessment. Wouldn't an ED psych be able to shed some light on what is going on?? Ta

The fact that dyslexia is an umbrella term is why it's really important to get a specialsit assessment; not for the 'label' though the extra 25% in some exams is hugely helpful, but more because a proper assessment will pinpoint your child's areas that need addressing whether it be visual processing, short-term memory etc.

I am a primary teacher and now Headteacher: I massively revised my earlier view of 'dyslexia' when my DD failed to learn to read or write despite very good teaching, including rigorous synthetic phonics etc

OP find out what your counil's take on dyslexia is some will not accept it as a " real issue "until after a certain age. This can be why some of the teachers wont take it seriously. (not acceptable but can be why)

I don't disagree that it is important to understand the child's specific needs (and that dyslexia is an umbrella term), but I take issue with the assertion: "'Parents need to ask themselves if it really is a good idea to spend a great deal of time, effort, and often, money, to get their child professionally labeled as 'dyslexic' when there is no genuine science behind its identification" - since I interpreted this assertion ('no genuine science') as implying that dyslexia doesn't exist ....perhaps that wasn't what maverick intended to insinuate and it was just very poorly expressed?

Any self respecting Ed Psych doesn't just pronounce the child 'dyslexic' as it happens, but ime produces a precise, detailed and coherent report identifying the child's specific difficulties with suggested remedial action. Consequently I found pretty much all what maverick said to be a red herring

As a post script...

Since I obtained a detailed ed Psych report for my dd:

• the head teacher is undergoing some sort of Masters degree involving spLD and is working with my dd on one-to-one basis weekly
• other staff have undergone further training
• dd's self esteem has increased manifestly and she understands why certain things are a struggle ....and her difficulties in some areas doesn't mean that she is stupid
• I have identified the need to pay privately for a tutor
• We (dh and I) no longer get frustrated and irritable with dd (as we used to) - since we now appreciate she is not lazy/ uninterested or not paying attention

OP, a bit of light reading for you. Gives an idea of what can be done. Also re letter reversal,

^Some children with dyslexic difficulties may have additional
problems with the physical aspects of handwriting, with some
reversals and badly formed letters and omissions of words. For
others, handwriting may be neat, but slow (which can lead to
difficulties with note taking ? see Annex 6 for some guidance to
dyslexic students on note taking, note making and written work in
general).^

You can't diagnose the underlying cause without spending some money.

If you really want to cure your child's literacy problems you need to try all of the following:

An audiologist will do a basic hearing test and rule out hearing loss and glue ear etc. However they won't look for much else.

To rule out other auditory problems you need to do Auditory Integration Training. This has been absolutely magic for my DD (and DS) and I can't recommend it highly enough.

To dx vision problems you need to go to a Behaviour Optometrist. They vary in price. Vision Therapy cures a wide range of vision problems including problems with focussing, tracking and other technical things I don't understand. These types of problems are quite common.

They will also check if the child has Irlen syndrome and needs coloured glasses. This is a comparatively rare condition.

Letter reversal can be caused by visual perception problems which can also be helped by vision therapy.

To dx neuro development problems you need to get them assessed by a qualified OT like Hemispheres. If your child has retained reflexes they can make a programme for you which will cure that. (This has absolutely transformed DS).

Each of the above costs about £400. The same as an EP report. But each of them actually have a chance of curing the underlying problems. Where-as all an EP will give you as a report saying:

^Your child is very bright, but has dyslexia.

They need to do extra phonics.

I recommend Toe-by-toe and WordShark.

They also have memory problems.

I recommend memory games.^

None of which will make reading any easier for your DC.

Extra phonics may teach your child to read. But won't stop them struggling with it for the rest of their life.....

I've written this all up a bit better here

But my main advice is to never ever get a dx of dyslexia - but instead cure the problem that is causing it. No matter how many things you have to try....

a far better use of your money IMHO.

Appleforme a normal eye test may fail to show up the problem I'm afraid.

It sounds as if she is getting good support from the school but it may be worth investigating some of the avenues Indigo has mentioned.
An EP report is unlikely to result in a statement or additional support in school (additional to that she is getting now) and you will still be looking for the root cause.

ds1 showed virtually every sign of dyslexia listed on every website i looked at, but his teacher still refused to believe he was anything other than 'lazy and not very bright' until she was presented with a report from ed psych showing massive disparity between verbal iq/reading age/processing speeds/auditory memory. i think they already had enough dyslexics in the class and didn't particularly want another one.

the ed psych assessment was expensive but well worth it, as everything changed at school once we'd got it. ds1 started getting extra help, was treated with more respect/understanding by school (and by us as we were no longer so frustrated with him) and now 3 years on things are so much better.

MrsRavelStein - after all that extra help / respect / understanding have you now got a child without literacy difficulties?

and if it took a piece of paper for them to do their job properly it makes me wonder...

Indeed, mrz... It's like a lottery, the help available for SEN - or lack of it. That's why we've not scraped together the small fortune for a private test for my DSD. It wouldn't make any real difference to the non-help she gets at school :(

indigo no, he still has difficulties and obviously his brain will always be wired up differently, but he is doing way better than he was, is closing the gap between intelligence and achievement, is more motivated, and is developing strategies to make school work easier for him... just simple things like using a highlighter pen to highlight important words when he's doing a comprehension exercise for instance have made a huge difference.

MrsRavelStein - I don't know how much his literacy difficulties bother you, nor what lengths you are prepared to go to to help him. But you don't have to put up with them.

I'm a long way towards curing my DDs 'dyslexia', but it's still a work in progress, so I can't yet claim to have cured her.

However I can tell you I have cured my DSs 'dyslexia'. In Y2 he couldn't read or write, reversed letters etc, etc. Now in Y5 he is top of his class in reading, reads a wide variety of fiction and non fiction books in his free time, spends a lot of time writing 'novels', and recently won a short story competition. About as far from 'dyslexic' as can be now.

It can be done. It's not cheap, and it's not necessarily easy. But it's certainly possible.

indigo i've had a look at your links, thank you for putting those up, they're good for thought, and various people (including ds1's specialist tutor) have recommended all sorts of different programmes tackling some of these kind of underlying causes, so I'm certainly open to them.

For me, at the moment, the approach we are taking is working, and things have improved so much that we are happy to continue on this path... a friend is doing a programme i've now forgotten the name of but which involves regular assessments at a specialist centre in the north of england (we're in London) and commitment to 30 minutes of exercises every day etc., it's working for them which is great - but ds1 seems to be making progress without such drastic efforts, so there is a bit of a balancing act in terms of not making dyslexia the focus of ds1's/our life, if that makes sense.

sorry i meant 'food' for thought, not good for thought

Your friend is probably doing Dore, which is kind of similar to the retained reflexes therapy I rave about.

Some of the stuff I refer to requires a big commitment of time, some of it doesn't. None of it is guaranteed to work, all of it costs money.... (Although nothing I recommend actually happens to require more than 10 mins a day)

So, it really depends on how much it bothers you.....

In some ways I was lucky in that DDs and DSs problems were so bad I couldn't just ignore them. I can see how if your child is more or less coping it is harder to make the decisions I took.....

yes, dore, that's the one.

if things start slipping again for ds1 we would definitely look into alternatives, so i've bookmarked your links for future reference.