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Primary education

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Original poster

attainments? dyslexia advise please

57 replies

chonie · 18/07/2011 22:53

hi, ive just come across this forum and wondered if anybody could help?
i have just had my sons school report, he is 6 in yr 1 and his attainments are
reading p8
writing p6
numeracy p8
All his teacher explained was that he was not yet reaching the targets of the national cirriculum... how far behind is he?
I have been concerned that he may be dyslexic since reception year, he has many of the charastic's and has speech difficulties. He has recently seen a educational psychologist and she has said he has many traits of being dyslexic and we now have another IEP in place and he will be reviewed by her again in december, she suggested more one to one work. He currently does some work in small groups, and he is making progress (although slow.
Im a little worried after meeting his new teacher for yr 2 as she has said their is less t.a help avalible, and she mentioned t.a hours? she said she would wait for him to settle in and then see if she thought he needed it.. (she made it sound like this would be hard to get?) so am i right in thinking i need to push them for this? at the moment he cant do much in school unless its one on one or in a small group. His hand writing has improved, but he is not yet reading or spelling cvc words.
obviously i have cut a long story short here, but hoping someone can help advise me x
thanks xxx

OP posts:
Fifis25StottieCakes · 20/07/2011 15:15

my dd's in yr2 and has

reading w (they have missed the p scale off)
maths 1
writing 1
science 2

I think she is dyslexic have referalls etc and have applied for an assessment for her to get a statment

Fifis25StottieCakes · 20/07/2011 15:20

there are some links on here which will help you. I have just sent my letter to the LEA. Get it sorted now as the school have arsed about since reception with my dd. Do it yourself this thread will help Smile

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1261453-What-do-you-think-the-problem-might-be-with-dd

ASByatt · 20/07/2011 17:19

'The OP's DS has seen a LA EP

  • who said bugger all of use, which isn't surprising because that's what she's paid to do.

A private EP has a different agenda and can be useful.'

A private EP could though write a report saying that the child is severely dyslexic, because that is what the parents feel they have paid for! - And please don't tell me that they wouldn't do that, they would be impartial because of their professional status etc, I could say the same about LA EPs.

We can play the my experience/your experience game as much as you like but that won't help the OP or her child.

What does seem clear is that this child needs proper, structured intervention. OP said that the LA EP said that her Ds needed more 1-to-1 input, and has said that they will be back in December to review, so the school ought to be planning for that additional intervention to take place in the Autumn term. If the new Y2 teacher is seeming vague and woolly about the support available, then take the report to the SENCo.

Good luck.

mrz · 20/07/2011 17:45

I'm a school SENCO and agree with indigobell an EP report doesn't solve anything.

mrz · 20/07/2011 17:49

If a private EP writes a report saying a child is severly dyslexic and the LA EP says mildly dyslexic or not dyslexic ...

KATTT · 20/07/2011 17:54

what would happen?

Ahojj · 20/07/2011 18:15

Hopefully the school would have sense and realise that the private assessment was indeed paid for, and therefore this can make them more likely to report an issue.

I'm not saying all private companies are out to just make money like this, but you can't rule it out (and I've seen enough disagreements between private reports and what the LEA, Ed Psych and School say).

I had one child who had a report written for her which was full of things that she couldn't do, and when I took her aside and asked her (knowing full well she does those things successfully and easily every day), she said that she just couldn't be bothered on that day. How many children feel pressured to make up what they can/can't read because they know it's being paid for?

Not trying to insult anyone / insinuate anyone's a con artist, but the fact that you've paid for a report does not mean it is true over what the school/LEA are saying.

IndigoBell · 20/07/2011 19:07

And I don't see why the LEA EP wouldn't dx dyslexia. A dx of dyslexia doesn't cost the LEA anything. You can't get a statement just for having dyslexia.

Certainly my DD and my friends DS got a dx of dyslexia through the LEA EP. But the EP reports were still fill of useless generic suggestions that I already knew were the recommended things for dyslexia - and that school were already doing.

ASByatt · 20/07/2011 19:21

I think that if I were the OP, I would push for proper intervention during the Autumn term. Then, if the LA EP returns in December and finds that the child hasn't made reasonable progress, that would be a sensible time to request Statutory Assessment - that may seem like waiting, but if it's waiting whilst the child receives appropriate intervention then the request is far more likely to go through without the parents having to appeal. If the parents request Statutory Assessment now, there is a good chance that the LA will say that the school needs to have the opportunity to follow the recommendations from the EPs report - OP says that the EP has seen the child recently.

I absolutely agree though that 'dyslexia' as a diagnosis is really neither here nor there, it's the analysis of this child's particular strengths/weaknesses and what needs to happen to address their difficulties that should be the priority.

Obviously that's just my opinion, though, and it's impossible on a forum such as this to be aware of all the facts.

mrz · 20/07/2011 20:06

Actually Ahojj schools are more likely to take notice of a LA EP than a private one.
Certainly in my LA a child is highly unlikely to get a statement for a diagnosis of dyslexia unless they were more than three years behind their peers and performing below the 1st percentile in all areas.

KATTT · 20/07/2011 20:48

mrz

As I said before these blanket policies, promulgated by local authorities, are illegal, they have no reference in law.

Original poster
chonie · 20/07/2011 22:23

i have spoken with the parent partnership today, they have requested a copy of his report from the EP, and are sending me some info, also said the IEP need to have in school targets rather than just at home ones.
Thanks for posting the link was an intresting read.
and Gooseyloosy, i have heard that before about the school not agreeing with a private assesment. At the moment im happy with what the EP reports says, but am worried there is not enough support for him at school :/
thanks again x

OP posts:
sugartongue · 20/07/2011 22:28

I'm not sure how you'd categorise DS's dyslexia - or rather the cause of his inability to learn to read. It seems to me that he has no problem "seeing" the words - as in his eyes can recognise the shapes of the letters and words, but it's like there's a processing block, because he then can't make the connection between the word he's "read" and the word he uses in speech. He's incredibly articulate, so it's not as though he's poor linguistically, it's as though there's a connection missing.

Original poster
chonie · 20/07/2011 22:34

i have only just realised there is a second page!
Asbyatt - i totally agree with you last post and those are my intentions. x

OP posts:
IndigoBell · 20/07/2011 22:50

Sugar tongue - do you mean your son says the word correctly, but then doesn't know what word he's said?

ASByatt · 20/07/2011 23:52

KATTT - with regard to your comments about 'blanket policies' by LAs, I think - although I wouldn't presume to speak for mrz! - that we are simply stating what is actually happening in our experience. - sorry if i've got that wrong, mrz.

Of course, Statements are not for all children with SEN, only those with the most significant needs, so isn't it inevitable that there will be some sort of criteria applied?

chonie - good luck to you and your ds!

mrz · 21/07/2011 07:25

I've applied for statements for children with LA EP diagnosed dyslexia SpLD/ ASD and because the children are making progress they are continually rejected it makes me frustrated.

Ahojj · 21/07/2011 07:29

@mrz that's what I'm saying. Any school worth its salt will ignore a privately paid for report if there's an LA one disagreeing with it.

mrz · 21/07/2011 07:47

At the moment I have a child - incontinent - non verbal - global delay -physical movement difficulties- mono vision - no gagging reflex - statement 40% support [grrr]

KATTT · 21/07/2011 07:51

Ahojj

Wow - Do you really mean to say that? Mrz do you agree with that?

This kind of proves what I've been saying, if you do mean what you've just said.

KATTT · 21/07/2011 07:57

ASByatt

Yes they do this, and they get away with it because people - parents and teachers - don't challenge it. If you keep repeating it without saying it's illegal you are becoming part of their mechanism to stop kids getting the help the need and deserve.

mrz
That's a different issue. If the child is progressing with the help they're being given; the help appears to be 'meeting their needs' and they probably won't be successful. But that's very different from a policy that says a child has to be performing in the bottom centile across the board to get a statement - this is illegal.

KATTT · 21/07/2011 08:37

As well as sencop, there's a very useful section here which gives 11 relevant legal decisions.

www.ipsea.org.uk/apps/content/html/?fid=50

sugartongue · 21/07/2011 09:58

yes, i think so indigo. He will read out a passage and have absorbed nothing at all in terms of meaning. It's as though his brains can't reconcile words in terms of how he speaks with words in terms of shapes on a page. Ironically his writing and spelling is better than his reading...just don't get it!

IndigoBell · 21/07/2011 10:03

Sugar - that sounds very unusual. Certainly not normal 'dysleixa'. Why don't you start a new thread about it.

There are a lot of experts on this board who might be able to offer you some insight into what's happening.

Malaleuca · 21/07/2011 10:35

He will read out a passage and have absorbed nothing at all in terms of meaning.
a few questions that spring to mind..
What sort of speed is he readng at? What sort of passage are you giving him to read? Is he guessing, or decoding extremely slowly? Does he understand if you read the same passage to him?