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..!

You mocked "alternative cures" which indigo and I have/are doing.

We are seeing amazing results. As are others. I dont really see what we are doing as that "alternative" tbh

The children who repsond to VT are the children who need it, obv. Not all children do.

I think tuition has its place, shame it is so expensive as it is needed long term.

IME and mnay others on MN EP reports have been useless...in fact actually damaging!

I think the OP needs to know that there are other options than the standard refrain on MN of "see the Senco, see the HT, ask for an assessment, get an EP report, apply for SA....."

As you said, dyslexia will not get SA on its own and yet when I first posted in MN about my son this is what I was advised to do.

In case you are interested, this time last year (y3) my son was;
1a for reading
1b for writing (his teacher had to take his work to the y1 teacher to decode)
2c for maths

He is now:
3c for reading
2a for writing
3b for maths

The arguments are all pretty irrelevant to me now tbh :)

(and this does not even begin to describe the improvements in his sleep, anxiety and bowel issues....)

Well thank you everyone - I didn't realise what a can of worms I was opening. Still I am new to all of this,so it's all interesting.

So DS's teacher was fantastic when we met. I hadn't realised before but she's dyslexic herself. She was hugely passionate about how useless the system is for most dyslexics. She has basically got the head, SENCO, etc to agree he should be assessed. By which she means the full Ed Psych assessment. This should happen in September but is budget dependent. At which point we both sighed and she gave me the phone no for dyslexia action.

Reading through the thread and talking to dyslexic friends, his teacher I know that if he's even to have a chance of specialised help he needs to go through the Ed Psyc route, so that's what I will push for. If the school won't do it quickly we'll find the money somehow. I do get what a lot of you are saying in terms of where that will take us, but it's the obvious first step and daft not to push for it, so that's where we're up to. If we get that and he still doesn't get the help he needs well i might well be trying things you mention.

Having said that I just wanted to take issue with what some of you are saying, as I agree with Amelia, as I don't think you can cure dyslexia and actually friends who have it quite profoundly would a) laugh if I even suggested that and b) be hugely insulted. You can help with strategies and try and work on ways to help them navigate the system, but you can't change them, nor in my case would I want to. Happy to try things which might help Ds, but even the word 'cure' gets my back up. He's just wired differently and that makes him partly who he is. It's interesting and a bit of a sod in some ways as it'll undoubtedly make some bits of life harder, but if he knows why he'll get through. He's a hugely visual soul who's always looked at the world in a different way to me. Maybe the dyslexia's part of why. Have to say it explains a lot.

There, slight rant over. Genuine thanks to all though for giving me your views!

Ahem.

I am off in a minute but I need to put you straight on a couple of things...

I do not want to change my son. He is great. What I do want to do however if help him access the school curriculum, be less anxious and to be able to do things he wants to do which require greater gross motor skills than he has now.

Whether you believe dyslexia can be "cured" is irrelevant tbh.

After your sons EP assesssment (which might be in sept but dont hold your breath, frankly) I wonder what you think will happen? My sons assessment recomended 1-1 and specialist interventions - none of which has happened. An EP report is not legally binding and if they havent got the money/training/resouces then your son wont get what is recomended anyway.

I would suggest you at least look at "Is that my child?" by R Pauc....it may answer some of your questions wrt your son.

Badvoc, yes of course!! It goes without saying that's what we all want; to get our children the proper specialised help they deserve. I am not at all naive as to how hard that will be, nor do I think an EP report will be have a magic wand effect, but clearly that's the path I have to at least try first. After that, who knows.

Have to say, I'm quite amused by your tone. You need to 'put me straight on a couple of things'.. 'I would suggest you at least look at..." Seriously, is that a way to talk to people?!

If the inference was that I was saying you were trying to change your child, I apologise as there really wasn't anything personal about it.

For clarity then, let's face it if you're trying to help your child, you're also trying to change them. By which, I mean whatever tactics we employ to improve their reading/ writing/ spelling, etc is in effect changing them at a basic level. So do I want to change my child? Yes of course! I want to help him, who wouldn't.

The point I was trying to make (probably badly), is on whether Dyslexia can be cured or not. Again, this is just my personal perspective, but I'd rather see Dyslexia (if that is what he is even!), as an integral part of how my son's made up. So for me it will always be part of him. He can be helped to manage it/ find ways to cope academically, but even if his writing reaches degree standard, he will always be Dyslexic.

So personally I will never say to my DS that Dyslexia can be cured as a) I really don't think it can be and b) I actually think it will be unhelpful to him. My approach will be to work with him on strategies to help him through, just like you are with your son. Doesn't mean I'm right, it's just my way of thinking about it. Interesting to debate though. I think I'm signing off now though!

There is a great group of parents of children with dyslexia who want to support other parents. You'll find them at www.parentchampions.org.uk. Very active facebook group too. If you have a few minutes, can you complete this 3-question survey of parents of children with dyslexia. We would really appreciate it.

www.surveymonkey.com/s/ParentsOfChildrenWithDyslexia-StressSurvey2012