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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

We think my 9 year old ds has dyslexia

95 replies

LT76 · 31/08/2011 15:18

we are really concerned about our ds. he is going into year 5 this year and following contact with the school at the end of the last term as we had concerns regarding how he has coped that year. We have been having private tuition during the holidays to help prepare him for this term. The feedback from the teacher helping him is that he is a clever child but struggles to convey his thought to writting and feels that he has dyslexia. we already feel let down by the school who have never recognised any problems until we spoke to them. does anyone know where we go from here i just want the best for my ds.

OP posts:

ASByatt · 01/09/2011 18:25

I agree that the Rose review is interesting reading and contains some good points, but the definition is a bit meh in my opinion.

cornsilksi · 01/09/2011 18:27

A specialist dyslexia teacher can assess for dyslexia and can devise a bespoke learning programme.

A2363 · 01/09/2011 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mrz · 01/09/2011 18:31

Most children can be supported in school by good classroom teaching but some children like Indigo's daughter need access to therapy that isn't widely available and schools are unlike to be able to access.

rubbarbandcustard · 01/09/2011 18:33

Thanks everyone. I feel I have learnt more on mumsnet in 24hrs than I have off my local authority in 6 weeks.

dreadbacktoschool · 03/09/2011 22:20

I think it is very useful to have an ed psych report and would recommend it. We were lucky to get one on the NHS and we found the WISC IQ results very informative and they have forced school to start to give some help as they cannot ignore IQ in top 1% but unable to form any letters and with poor auditory short term memory. This is without an assessment for dyslexia as yet.

Without this report I think no help would have been forthcoming for years as there would have been no proof that he should have been achieving better just parents saying he was not backward! The earlier the help starts the less risk of the child becoming totally disengaged. Just hope my son can be re engaged next year.

IndigoBell · 04/09/2011 06:41

DreadBackToSchool - please don't rely on the extra help you're going to receive.

School can't fix your child's poor auditory short term memory, or any of his other underlying problems.

(Auditory Integration Training will fix it.)

School will not be able to teach him to read and write as well as he should - because he has an underlying physical problem why he struggles.

With that report your DC will be let down just as badly, except that school will implement more compensating strategies, and he'll always be told he's not dumb, just dyslexic :(

mrz · 04/09/2011 07:49

dreadbacktoschool they can ignore FIVE Ed Psych reports if there isn't a statement detailing what they must do... ask my son

GloriaVanderbilt · 04/09/2011 08:11

Interestng reading. I'm fairly sure my 8yo has dyslexia - we had a private assessment done by the teacher who takes children from local schools during school time, and has helped them tremendously according to everyone who knows her.

I'm just not sure how they get referred to her...she did it as a favour in return for something or other, a couple of years ago when he was 6. We never got a report though, just she said he could be dyslexic or just not quite there yet in terms of maturity.

The school refuses to test him or countenance dyslexia though he's had a small amount of extra help in a small group this year (I think - not sure what happens tbh)

I'm confused as his reading/writing has improved and he's now average/just above in certain aspects. BUT they have only just tested a child in his class, and think this child has dyslexia - why so late? I don't think they can afford to have another dyslexic child in the class.

Ds still cannot read a clock, has NO concept of today/tomorrow/last week etc and writes all his numbers backwards nearly all the time. He can read quite well, his writing is almost all phonetic (? I mean he spells things how he hears them) and incredibly messy.

I'm not sure if it's even worth speaking to the school about him again. Y4 is going to be harsh, he's very slow, often told off for not finishing work, cannot concentrate etc.

I think the kids who go to the specialist teacher must be privately funded by their parents or something.

GloriaVanderbilt · 04/09/2011 08:14

Oh and his IQ measured over 140 in the assessment...yet his work at school doesn't suggest that. I think he's being held back a lot by something. Just not sure what.

(ps Sarah - how is your book doing?)

mrz · 04/09/2011 08:40

We have a specialist SEN teacher working in school ONE day a week she actually spends about 15 mins a week with individual children or small groups of children. Many parents are desperate for their child to receive this "extra" teaching and at the end of the year attribute any progress to this 15 mins ... (less than 10 hours a year)

IndigoBell · 04/09/2011 10:16

I don't think they can afford to have another dyslexic child in the class. - aaaahrgghhhhhh. No. This is not the problem. It costs them nothing to have another dyslexic child in the class. Absolutely nothing.

They can't refer him to an EP to get him assessed for dyslexia because they have very, very, very limited time with an EP. And they can't tell you to go privately because it's a state school. (I think - mrz, can they advise you to go privately?)

But if you pay privately for an EP report that says he's dyslexic it costs the school nothing.

What will they do for him in class if you pay for an EP report? It varies from absolutely nothing. To a tiny bit of extra time with the class TA (doing toe by toe or something like that) - which doesn't cost them anything because they're already paying for the TA. Or maybe they'll laminate him something with reminders on it.

What on earth do you think they would do differently if they had a piece of paper saying he's dyslexic, got very poor memory skills, has no concept of time, writes his numbers backwards, and can only spell phonetically?

What would you want them to do?

Schools don't believe there is a cure for dyslexia. All schools do for dyslexia is get you a scribe in exams if you can't write, tell you it doesn't matter if you can't spell, get you extra time, allow you a computer.....

What they don't do is improve his dyslexia.

Only you can do that.

GloriaVanderbilt · 04/09/2011 10:22

Thanks, though I'm puzzled by the tone of frustration. my question was really how the children I know go to our local specialist actually end up there, because I know she really helps them enormously.

If there are things I ought to be doing with him then I wish the school would advise me instead of telling him off all the time for being slow.

What I do expect the school to do is make allowances for his being slow. That's the point. I know he will always struggle to some degree. But telling him off and punishing him for it? I don't think so.

IndigoBell · 04/09/2011 10:29

Well an EP report might encourage the school to make allowances for him being slow.

Although a good long talk to the SENCO about your concerns might well have the same effect.

The school will be able to send so many kids to the local specialist. It's very unlikely to be something the parents pay for (if it's done at school in school time). If you child doesn't fall into the worst X kids in the school, school can't give him this extra support. And given that he's in Y4 and can read and write, it seems unlikely he'll qualify.

It's also unlikely this specialist teacher will be able to help your child with the things he struggles with.

But, make an appointment with the SENCO and ask. You certainly are more likely to get the extra teaching if you ask the SENCO for it and explain all of your concerns than if you don't.

GloriaVanderbilt · 04/09/2011 10:34

Thankyou...will try and speak to the senco properly, she is very dotty and vague and I've tried a few times already.

The info about funding is helpful, thankyou.

ASByatt · 04/09/2011 13:24

Please be aware that funding mechanisms vary considerably between different Local Authorities, so processes in one MNetter's children's school could be quite different to another's.

However, of course it is helpful to ask school exactly how it does work (!?) there (and see if they even understand it properly......)

Sigh

mrz · 04/09/2011 15:40

We don't limit support to the worst X kids any child who is experiencing difficulty will be supported. I would think most of the pupils in our school will have had support at some time over the years.

IndigoBell · 04/09/2011 17:02

No, you don't limit support - but you do have a limit on the number of kids who can be taught by the specialist teacher who visits one day a week.

The other kids who need help will be supported some other way......

Gloria was specifically asking how she can get her DS taught by the specialist teacher.....

mrz · 04/09/2011 17:10

If I'm brutally honest Indigo she doesn't work with children who have significant difficulties certainly no one with a statement because she is totally ineffective (and expensive)

IndigoBell · 04/09/2011 17:17

Sorry, yes I guess I didn't mean the worst X in that way.

I meant the worst X who she was likely to be able to help :)

So if she's a specialist 'dyslexia' tutor then she'll be working with the kids who are slow to learn to read - but yes, not the kids with significant difficulties.

If it's being paid for out of the 1:1 budget the govt gave out last year - then it has to be spent on kids who aren't even on the SEN register......

But either way, Gloria's kid who is doing average, but should be doing better, is highly unlikely to receive this kind of 1:1 help. But again, this kind of 1:1 is not likely to be the right thing for him anyway.....

mrz · 04/09/2011 17:33

No it isn't being paid for out of the 1-1 budget.

Myself and the DH do extra sessions in reading and spelling with children like Gloria's before, after and at lunchtimes voluntarily

cornsilllk · 04/09/2011 18:18

but if she's ineffective why do you pay for her? Also the 15 mins per child is ridiculous. Was that her idea?
Not all 'specialist' teachers actually have any additional qualifications or they may have some kind of qualification but no appropriate experience. The specialist teacher that worked with my ds was excellent - her intervention was the only thing that worked for him after years of various school and LEA interventions failing. Classroom teaching was also vital. The key for him was an excellent class teacher who motivated him to actually have a go, in addition to effective intervention. However he then went on to have significant difficulties coping in secondary. The Ed Psych report was very useful at that stage.

mrz · 04/09/2011 18:25

She is provided by the LEA and yes the 15 minutes is her idea and she has appropriate qualifications and 30 years experience

cornsilllk · 04/09/2011 18:29

Well I suppose that qualifications and experience don't always equal a good teacher then.

cornsilllk · 04/09/2011 18:31

some LEA's ask schools to pay for their own intervention. I'm sure my ds's school pay for their specialist teacher. I suppose that's better as you can just get rid if they're crap!

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