Back in August I was panicking about DSs return to school for Year One after he'd struggled with reading in Reception - he was hating it, he was far behind the other kids which he felt very conscious of, and kids had teased him about his difficulty with reading and writing. I was so worried about him, hence this thread where I panicked. Just a tad.
... and you lovely people - those who posted and those who PMed me - were so very kind and helpful.
Most of all mrz - 
for you - I can't tell you how much those links and advice you posted have helped. DS and I worked on everything you sent through, a little bit every day, and something clicked. He no longer dreads doing his reading book after school. And he's made huge progress, he can tell the difference between 'b' and 'd' (that 'bed'/thumbs up trick from the handout you posted - AMAZING!). He was convinced it was impossible but he's gone from saying 'they just look the same to me, Mum, I can't see how they're different, I'll never be able to do this' to seeing a 'b' saying 'oh, hang on', looking at his thumb and saying 'b' with confidence and a smile on his face. It's given him a belief that he will be able to get there and he's coming on so well. I'm convinced that it was a mixture of development (being summer born and just not ready) and teaching. I hesitate to say 'poor teaching' as so many of my family are teachers in the state sector, and I know they just don't have the time to give extra support to a kid who doesn't have SN, but is just finding it a bit hard.
IndigoBell your advice that a diagnosis didn't matter, that I just needed to help him regardless, made a huge difference to how I looked at the problem - a much more empowering way to see it.
Can't send enough to you guys - everyone who posted or PMed me, it was really kind of you to offer such constructive advice and share your experiences. You rock.