My ds is almost 7 and can barley read and write - help!

[Slippersmum]

I am so worried. He has not hit any of his literacy targets. I just don't know what to. He has had a number of interventions at school, at home we read, write and practice numeracy everyday in bite sized chunks and always have but nothing is helping. He has had eye test to rule that out as an issue. School do not know what to do anymore. Has anyone had any experience of this? What should I be saying to school? Anything more I can be doing to help him more. I have even considered home educating him??

School don't know what to do?

What interventions have they tried? Has your ds's hearing also been tested?

Do they have a SEN coordinator? Sounds like they should be involved, and they should have plenty of ideas.

Sorry, the was at school being pathetic, not you! Hope you can get some answers soon.

HE won't necessarily be any easier unless you can identify the problem.

Does he have trouble drawing and holding a pencil? Does he know his alphabet and letter sounds/phonics?

How is he with numbers/basic maths?

The school should have some ideas coming from the SENCO, and its considerably less expensive accessing ed psychs etc. through school than it would be trying to chase them up privately while home educating.

I'd really put the pressure on the school to come up with ideas.

All is not lost though, plenty of children don't read or write until later and do just fine.

Agree with all the above re asking SENCO etc but as a parent a great step would be getting vision and hearing checked. Vision problems at this age can go unrecognised for ages and a child with poor hearing can often cover it very well - in both cases the kids just don't realise they are any different from anyone else so don't complain .

DH had glasses at 10 and realised grass had blades for the 1st time and wasn't smooth like material !

OP said ds has had an eye test...

Read the op has already had eye test done. Hate it when people don't bother to read the op

I would suggest a meeting with the school SENCO and the child's class teacher to express your concerns and put in place a coherent plan to help your child. Saying they don't know what to do is not good enough

If the school don't know what to do they need to ask for outside help from Ed Psych or from a specific learning difficulties base.

Have these issues only be raised now?

Agree with others about getting his sight and hearing checked.

What exactly is he struggling with? With writing, is it knowing what to write, or actually writing it -spelling, letter formation, motor skills that are a problem? With his reading is he adding, or leaving out words, substituting words for words that look similar? What does he do when he gets to a new word, does he try and sound it out or does he just guess at it?

It might be that the interventions the school tried were the wrong interventions. Do you know what he has already had?

Thanks so much for all the ideas and feedback!

The problems were picked up at the start of year one. He has been through a number of interventions whereby he is taken out of the classroom and works on a 1;1 basis with a TA, the latest being NESSIE if anyone knows it. There has been a lot of involvement from the SENCO and I have had multiple meetings with her when we discussed his progress on the reading recovery scheme. I help in the class three times a week to ensure I understand how they are being taught so I can replicate this at home.

In terms of what he is struggling with I would say firstly his reading. He does not retain words so for example he will read 'she' on one page then not recognise it on the very next page. Initially he will guess and when asked to sound it out he really struggles. He is just not progressing we are still in the same place we were last year which is one of the things that worries me. If there was just a slight improvement but there is none. The SENCO who worked with him said his work ethic is second to none and she has never had a student who tries so very hard, which almost made me cry in the meeting! Infact I could cry now thinking about it! Writing - completely illegible. He has wonderful, creative ideas puts them down on paper then no one can read what he has written. Sometimes he cannot even read it.

His spoken vocabulary is excellent and school report slightly above average for what they would expect and he is full of wonderful ideas. He is quite shy and does not like attention so questions on carpet time can be tricky for him.

He has had a full eye test including the test where they overlay colours to see if that made a difference but it didn't. I have not noticed any issues with his hearing but I will book him in for a test just to rule that out.

If my post came across an negative toward school I didn't mean it to. They have done lots to protect his self esteem; he has been entered in competitions, receives lots of praise, won an award for reading every night at home but it seemed from my meeting this morning they are just about out of ideas.

I hope I have answered everyone's questions and given more detail to the situation. I can tell from the questions you asked there is alot of experience and great advice out there. So, after all that what are your thoughts? Thanks so much for the advice. I am crying again now because you have all been so nice and I am very worried for him he tries so, so hard and looks so disappointed when he can't do the work.

He sounds like he needs to be assessed by an educational pschologist, it might also be worthwhile getting him referred to a developmental paediatrician. Between the two of them they will be able to check for things like dyslexia, processing difficulties, working memory, etc. Some of these might not be diagnosed yet (may need to be little older) but they will flag up suspicions. How is his language? I mean his understanding rather than expressive. If you have any worries about that ask for a referral to SALT. Handwriting can also be affected by dyspraxia which an OT and paediatrician can diagnose.

The above may all sound scary but it is about finding out exactly what your ds difficulties are and then you will able to address them or work around them.

One last thing. Develop a paper trial. Keep notes of your meetings with the school and SENCO, email them or if you speak on the phone or in a meeting email them a summary of what you understood was agreed. It may sound a bit much now but if you need to push the school or LA for additional support then it can be very helpful.

On that basis, Dancing Bears from sound foundations is what I think will probably help most. You might need to do this at home, because I think the school might be tempted to not do it properly.

It only needs about 10 minutes a day, so if you are already doing bite sized chunks, then you could probably replace one of those.

Asking for him to be seen by th Ed Psych might not be a bad idea either. If nothing else, it will as Bilberry says flag up any potential issues, so you know what you are dealing with. That could take a while though.

He has been through a number of interventions whereby he is taken out of the classroom and works on a 1;1 basis with a TA, the latest being NESSIE if anyone knows it.

Nessie is a computer based programme and, in my opinion, is not a great deal of use for children who really struggle. They need a human to work with them. The computer cannot monitor incorrect reading techniques (e.g not sounding out and blending) nor can it monitor oral segmentation of words for spelling. The programme relies a great deal on copying words for spelling, which is just about the worst technique going! However, lots of SENCos absolutely love it!

If I were working with your DS I would be looking to do lots of practice at remembering letter/sound correspondences and using them for sounding out and blending words for reading. This cannot be done by a computer. I'd also do lots of practising spelling dictated words & sentences. I would encourage handwriting because handwriting words promotes muscle memory of how they 'feel' to write, which is a contributory factor to correct spelling. 'Hunt & peck' on a keyboard (as with Nessie)won't promote the same effect.

He does not retain words so for example he will read 'she' on one page then not recognise it on the very next page.

It is sounding out and blending words which gets them into long term memory. Some children only need to do it once or twice, other children need more repetitions and some children need loads. If your DS is one of the latter it is hard for him, but there is no other way to learn to 'read' a word which will be easier for him. If he learns all the letter/sound correspondences to automaticity he will always be able to work out what a word 'says' even though it may be a labourious process. I think that this is infinitely better than not being able to read at all.

But in all probability I am painting a very extreme picture and he will learn to read perfectly well with good phonics, albeit more slowly than other children.

Sounds familiar
I would recommend the following;
Engagingeyes.co.uk
Dancing bears by sound foundations

OP, aspects of how you describe your DS sound like my DD. She did not really read at all until Y2 and only after quite a bit of intervention in school using a program called Lexia. Her Y1 and Y2 teachers both agreed she was probably dyslexic - what I wish I had done differently was to have had a private dyslexia assessment done at the and of Y2 or early Y3 instead of waiting until almost the end of Y3. She was assessed at level 2 at the end of KS1 but actually pretty far down the cohort. The assessment we had done showed she had some pretty marked specific difficulties - we asked for a meeting with her class teacher, deputy head and SEN CO, asking why we had been waiting nearly six months for a LA assessment. Surprise surprise the LA assessment came through a couple of weeks later and confirmed the conclusions of the private assessment. She's now having regular sessions with a TA in school and also with a PATOSS tutor outside school and the difference in her self esteem and attitude to learning is amazing.

and only after quite a bit of intervention in school using a program called Lexia. Her Y1 and Y2 teachers both agreed she was probably dyslexic

Lexia is another computer based programme. Not good. Children need to be taught reading and spelling by a person, not a computer. Preferably by a person trained in systematic synthetic phonics.

Thanks everyone. Lexia sounds familiar. I am sure he has had that one. He is definitely currently on a computer based intervention as they said 'he likes working on the computer'??? They are adamant he does not have dyslexia. Maybe I should have a private assessment undertaken? Which assessments should I look for? Want as much covering as possible. Thanks again. Going into school today to talk about him again.

Does he struggle with other things?
Is he clumsy?
Was he late to toilet train?
Did he speak late?
If so I would check out retained reflex therapy...I used INPP at Chester...there is a questionnaire in their website.
Good luck x

"They are adamant he does not have dyslexia"

They cannot and actually should not make such pronouncements; they are simply not qualified enough to state this whoever they are.

You are his best - and only - advocate here. I would certainly speak to the SENCO again re getting an EP in along with establishing a proper paper trail.

I would also suggest you post on the SN:Children part of this website as you should get further responses there too.

DD2 had - and still has - terrible problems with recognising words. She wasn't diagnosed as dyslexic until P6 (Scotland) when i changed her primary school. The original school refused to believe she had dyslexia and refused to test for it. The waiting list for private testing was over 2 years. the second primary school (same LA) had her tested and getting help at once. She has never grasped sounding; while she knows the 'sh' and 'ow' sounds, she could never manage to blend them into words. She did find the coloured overlay, and now coloured glasses, helps. Dyxlexics often find that working on the computer or with text on phones etc easier. DD2 is now at university doing history and politics. She has a huge package of help, including the DRAGON software, but quite often there is no substitution for asking a person, especially if you are unable to pronounce the word and it isn't in the software database.

Good luck. I would suggest that 1 to 1 is much better at your DS's age than a computer, but if it helps, then use it as well.

In all honesty, given what you've said about what the school have said about not knowing what to do, giving him intervention on the computer because he likes being on the computer (what child doesn't) and some of the interventions they have used I think you need to rule out the fact he just hasn't been taught properly. It might not iron out all the issues, but it should go some way to at least uncreasing them a bit.

Dancing bears should be effective at sorting the reading out. If the problem with his writing is handwriting then he needs a structured fine motor control/handwriting intervention. If it's spelling Apples and pears will help. In terms of numeracy, I've heard very good things about power of 2. Certainly some schools round here are getting very good results using it as an intervention. I wouldn't tackle all of those at once.

MaizieD , to clarify - I wasn't necessarily recommending Lexia, merely noting what intervention DD had and where it got us to. I wholeheartedly agree that 1-2-1 human help is far better. Part of what had me so worried this time last year was not knowing how to help DD and seeing a child who was putting her considerable will power into avoiding failure. I now realise that she found Y3 so difficult because of things like finding it hard to remember number bonds and multiplication tables and reading clocks, months of the year. All due in part to difficulties with working memory, not underlying ability.

the school sounds rubbish
'the school do not know what to do anymore'?
really so they are not set up for pupils with learning difficulties ? I find that alarming.
who is 'adamant' that he does not have dyslexia? what are their qualifications to make such pronouncements?

BTW my dd was similar at that age and she is fine now.

You can self refer to your local Speech and Language Therapy Team for a dyslexia assessment. The school should have already done that.

I think you need to rule out the fact he just hasn't been taught properly.

I don't often disagree with you, Rafa, but in this instance I do! I really think that ICT based 'interventions' are not very good, for reasons I gave earlier, and that for a child who is having extreme difficulty they are particularly unhelpful as they are completely insensitive to the particular needs of that child.

@eltee. It's alright, I didn't think you were recommending Lexia! Sorry if it came over that way.