What should a school do if they suspect dyslexia?

[gloo77]

I mean best practice really. I have a first meeting later about my 8 year old son (end Yr3). He's done well this year, but increasingly we've worried about his writing/ spelling.

In passing his teacher told me they agree he's got obvious patterns/ problems (spikes?!), which mean they want to 'assess' him as soon as he starts back in Yr4. Then measures will be put in place to help him, but I haven't a clue what they mean by this. Am meeting his teacher later so she can tell me more, but what should they be doing?? I know testing for Dyslexia's expensive and schools can be reluctant to pay for it, so I'm a bit concerned by what they might be planning. Do schools tend to do internal assessments first, or go straight for Ed Psych recognised testing?

Sorry for the ramble. Just trying to get my head round it all rather than let it drift..!

Will depend very much on the county that you're in. Our school does a dyslexia screener- an online thing that will indicate how likely it is that a child shows signs of dyslexic tendencies. We also have full dyslexia friendly status, so child won't necessarily need an Iep as needs can be met through normal classroom adjustments. I know that other counties operate in different ways. Where I am it really isn't such a big deal and we rarely get any outside agencies involved unless the situation is severe.

There are two options- if there is a teacher in school who is dyslexia- trained ( not very often) they will assess. Other than that they might call in a teacher from another school/dyslexia base in the county. Final option is to refer him to the LEA Ed Psych and then your child would be registered as School Action Plus- needing help from outside agencies.

Be aware that any screening from the LEA sometimes is not that detailed and they try not to find problems- because then the school has to sort it out.

I don't mean they actively lie= but they can sometimes exclude tests from the assessment which would give a more accurate picture.

Your last option is to pay for a private assessment which is around £400. These can be arranged through Dyslexia Action.

More relevant is - if he is dyslexic, what can the school offer to help? if it's just more of the same literacy via a TA you would be better off doing all you can to find a private specialist tutor.

and at the end of it you will know your child has some problems with reading and writing ... but you know that already

Hopefully it will be a diagnostic assessment which will identify exactly what problems he has - whether he can hear rhyme/blend individual sounds, etc, and will identify exactly where there are gaps in his learning so that they can teach him exactly what he needs to know next.

They wont do anything different for him if he has a piece of paper saying he's dyslexic.

Whether or not he has dyslexia they will do their best to help his writing and spelling. There is nothing magic they would do different if he had an EP report.

Sorry but I disagree. Indigo - are you a professional advertising here as your profile links you to a site offering help?

An EP will show which areas are strong and which are weak. This will help the teacher use the best learning style to suit the child. It will also show underlying ability and how much the child is underachieving.

Amelia Indigo is a parent who has worked very hard to help her own children and created her own website to help others by sharing her journey so I find your question insulting.

EP reports tell the school nothing they are merely a hoop we have to jump through if we want to apply for a statement.

I'm sorry mrz but I know nothing about the poster you are defending. It's not a case of being insulting. You appear to know the back story to her but not everyone here will.

I'm also very sorry that if you are a primary school teacher you cannot see the importance of an ed psych's assessment. A detailed report by an ed psych gives a huge amount of relevant information- including recommnedations for remediating the learning problems.

Have you read any of these, done by ed psych's from Dyslexia Action for instance?

Also- there are very few children who have dyslexia who are statemented now. Statements ae few and far between- most children will be on School Action Plus.

Amelia I am a SENCO and work closely with EPs I'm also the parent of a child with SEN and in both roles I've not found that reports helpful.

I especially love the recommendation to try things you've been doing for 3 years

and I wasn't suggesting that the EPs report would be towards a statement for a dyslexic child it was a general observation of the usefulness of a report.

The e p report for my son was a total waste of time...as mrz says, it told me everything I already knew!
It has also not helped him at school..he gets no 1-1 or specialist interventions.
So I am doing it myself, like indigo.

Amelia - I am not a professional. As mrz said I am a parent who has been researching dyslexia for the last 6 years.

As a parent I've only read 5 EP reports, not one of them had anything useful in them. But the one done by the SpLD EP on my DDs Dyslexia was particularly bad. It certainly didn't tell school anything they didn't know.

In fact it contained no recommendations as to how to teach her at all. It recommended the opposite, that seeing as school couldn't teach her to read or write she should use a reading pen and dictation software instead.

Why would you need an EP to say the child's underlying ability? I would expect teachers to realise that themselves. And why would the underlying ability be relevant? Is it any more a tragedy if a clever child can't read than if a not so clever one can't?

All children with dyslexia underachieve. You don't need a professional report to tell you that.

And why do you need an EP to tell the teacher about the child's learning styles? Why can't a teacher work out that for themselves?

EP reports are totally over rated. They won't contain any news to an experienced / good teacher. And they won't contain any recommendations that will be followed by a bad teacher.

BTW all 5 EP reports I have seen have pretty much made the same recommendations:

• Wordshark
• Read, Write, Inc
• Toe by toe.

Unfortunately it has therefore taken me 3 years to convince school that Apples & Pears is a far better spelling scheme than Wordshark.

School finally started doing A&P with DD 2 weeks ago. Already they like it so much they are planning to roll it out to lots of kids next year.

So the EP report has actually been really damaging to my DD.

The idea of learning styles has been revised as it is unlikely that any individual relies solely on one learning style or that it remains constant through their school life.

The idea of learning styles has been revised as it is unlikely that any individual relies solely on one learning style or that it remains constant through their school life.

And, if they exist at all, I've always understood that you should aim to develop the 'weaker' ones, not concentrate solely on the the 'strength'.

But there really isn't much evidence for 'learning styles' at all.

While I think the VAK model has well and truly been discredited, I do think an EP may find problems with auditory or visual memory etc, and therefore make recommendations to use the opposite.

But teachers already know that if children can't follow oral instructions you need to back it up with pictures and vice a versa. I don't think any teacher will be enlightened by an EP report that says 'Johnny struggles to follow oral instructions' or 'Johnny has problems with his short term memory'.

How could the teacher not know that?

Why would you need an EP to say the child's underlying ability? I would expect teachers to realise that themselves. And why would the underlying ability be relevant? Is it any more a tragedy if a clever child can't read than if a not so clever one can't?

Dyslexia is defined as a gap between underlying ability and achievement- when all other reasons for underachievement have been excluded. Without knowing someone's ability is it hard to know if their problems are because of general or specific learning difficulties.

And why do you need an EP to tell the teacher about the child's learning styles? Why can't a teacher work out that for themselves?

Because most teachers are not dyslexia trained. Dyslexia trained teachers use multi sensory methods.

An assessment tells you which channels the person learns through best.

mrz no disrespect, but even as a senco if you have not received training in dyslexia then you are not fully informed, or able to advise parents here of what to do.

Are you a "dyslexia trained teacher", Amelia?

Dyslexia is defined as a gap between underlying ability and achievement- when all other reasons for underachievement have been excluded.

That is one defn of dyslexia. There are plenty of others.

Dyslexia trained teachers use multi sensory methods.

Some do, some don't. Depends who trained them.

There is no consensus at all about what dyslexia is, or what best to do about it. BDA has one opinion. One opinion that recommends you spend lots of money with them for an EP report and then more money with them for tuition with their special expensive dyslexia tutors.

However even after years of expensive tuition with Dyslexia Action the child will still have dyslexia and still struggle in the classroom. They probably will have learnt to read though.

But as you know struggling with reading and spelling is only part of the problems dyslexics have.

Are you a parent currently spending lots of money with Dyslexia Action?

I have had dyslexia training Amelia but you asked specifically about Dyslexia Action mine was part of a MA model with university.

What can DA do that I can't?
I can use multi sensory approaches (and have)
I can use earobics (and have)
I can use other interventions (and have)
I just don't pay £30 per sesssion for it!!

To answer all those questions- yes. I am dyslexia trained, there is dyslexia in my family, I have taught dyslexics of all ages for decades,including children who were severely dyslexic, in a specialist dyslexia school, and I am rather concerned that quite a bit of mis-information is being written here which is not, sadly, helping the OP much I imagine.

However even after years of expensive tuition with Dyslexia Action the child will still have dyslexia and still struggle in the classroom. They probably will have learnt to read though.

Indigo- this is such a negative comment.

Dyslexia is not " curable" - you have it for life. Good teaching enables people with dyslexia not simply to learn to read, but to manage their lives. This involves teaching them study and organisational skills, strategies for higher or further ed, and in the workplace.

It is not true that children ( or adults) with dyslexia will still " struggle in the classroom" after specialist teaching. Many go on to achieve good GCSEs, A levels and degrees.

I sense there is an anti Dyslexia Action theme in this thread. They are not the only providers of assessments or tuition. The BDA has IMO a lot of impartial advice on its website and they discuss some of the other ways of helping dyslexics, many of which cost a huge amount of money eg the DAAT program which was shown to be pretty much a scam and folded.

Parents of dyslexic chidlren are vulnerable to many-making " alternative cures" ( no such thing) and if anyone wants advice then calling the BDA is the best first step.

I actually found my local DA to be very helpful and lady I spoke to was very nice HOWEVER as I said earlier I can do what DA do myself at home.
What really disturbs me is the fact that you make no mention of the fact that dyslexia is very rarely seen as an sen on its own...there are usually other issues for the child to contend with too...whether that be dyspraxia, OCD, asd, etc.
I really don't see what is so "alternative" about a good diet and supplements and a vision therapy programme?
But of course I am not an expert...just a mother of a 9 year old Severely
dyslexic child who, by doing the things mentioned above, has made 2 years academic progress in 2 terms.....
That's all I need to know.

Badvoc- I am trying to help the OP.

I have said nothing against diet and supplements. Why did you have to imply I had?

I provided information on this for parents years ago- I fully support it.

Yes, dyslexia can overlap with other conditions. If you want to discuss that, fine- but it's not in the OP's question.

Not all children need or respond to " vision therapy"- that in itself is a controversial area.

Also- not all parents have the time to teach their own child- and often the child does not want their mum to be their teacher- they respond better to someone else.

It's also a bit of a waste of time trying to argue- as some here are- that specialist tuition and assessments are worthless and mums can do the same. Both have their place.

I don't know why this has turned into a bun-fight really, but I have to go to work now anyway so I'm butting out.