Can I pick someone's brains about dyslexia please?

[librarycard]

Hi there,

If you know anything about dyslexia, would you mind having a look at this please :)

DS3 is 7 (July born, left-hander)
On SEN register at school since YR1, now YR3. Originally put on register for 'failure to progress', 'failure to reach age related expectations' (using the word 'failure' about a five year old distressed me at the time and still niggles me now!) At that point dyslexia was mentioned by his year one teacher.
Since then he has had phonics booster groups, daily one-to-one reading with an adult, T.A. help in class and differentiated work.

His levels as of now, spring term, year 3 are :
Reading 2A
Writing 1A
Maths 2A

In spelling, he can learn the 10 spellings for that week, get them all right, but cannot use them in his writing, even if he were to try immediately after the test.
In his writing he spells phonetically and misses out most of the vowels.
He reverses b,d,p,f,t in writing and when trying to decode reading (but with reading, he self-corrects to make it make sense). He also misses out short words (like 'on', 'up' etc) when reading.
He regularly reverses numbers, both the numbers themselves (e.g.3 backwards) and the number order (e.g. 21 instead of 12)

He had early speech and language therapy and has been dsicharged, but still struggles with certain words. He still says 'b'sketti' instead of spaghetti, he has been going to tae kwon do for a year but still says 'twae kon do'. There are a lot of words like this. He also struggles to remember names and new long words that are names of things. He still uses the 'ed' suffix' on words inappropriately (e.g. bite-ed instead of bit, cut-ed instead of cut)

School will no longer talk about dyslexia with me, despite it being them who originally mentioned it to me! They say that DS3 is already getting support that is individually tailored to his needs so the cause of his difficulties is irrelevent... I feel though, that if DS3 has a condition that could impact his learning throughout his life, the sooner we all know about it, the better!

So, I suppose my questions are: Does this sound like dyslexia or something else you are familiar with? If so, what do I do next? Do I have to do what the school says and just watch and wait? Or is there anything else I can do?

He is happy and loves school, btw :)

Thanks, I'msosorryalan I will google that.
I'm definitely going to have a chat with the SENCO. I have realised, through the comments on this thread, that I am clueless about the whole process :(

I'm afraid Librarycard if your son is on school action he doesn't have an EHC plan

You dont need a diagnosis to get extra time. My ds got extra time until they changed the criteria last year. Ds is average at his lowest levels (which is why he no longer gets extra time) but high for maths and science

My DD who is in Year 4 has similar issues, I decided to have a private assessment done a couple of months ago by a dyslexia teacher, however we didn't do a full formal diagnosis, just a preliminary one which confirmed which sort of interventions would help. School were already providing a lot of support (she's not on the SEN register) however the results of the assessment have helped them tailor it better to her needs. She also has a private tutor who is now working under the guidance of the dyslexia teacher. Her confidence and attitude have improved since she had the assessment and she is making good progress. I may go for the full diagnostic assessment prior to starting secondary school but will probably talk to both SENCOs before deciding, also see how DD feels about it. Even if it makes no difference to school provision it may well be worth it if it helps her understand the cause of her difficulties.

mrz thank you. I'll speak to school about his speech again.

I would also rule out hearing problems

You would know about it if your DC had an EHC plan, it is a lengthy process and the school cannot just create one. It has to be applied for to the local authority and involves assessments by various professionals etc and there are no guarantees that it will be agreed to.

Yes to checking for hearing problems, DD is undergoing assessments for that on the NHS too (via GP referral).

My ds presented just like this and is the same re spellings. Although his spelling is still generally quite poor he's not at risk for dyslexia.

His physiotherapist has said it's probably dysgraphia - which is worth a read up about. Basically it's a disability to write rather than disability with words.

DS is on the Sen register as he has SN as well as writing difficulties. He's year 6 and writing independently he's a 3B despite constant intervention and provision teaching.
He uses a scribe now for a lot of his work - assessed pieces etc and for SATS. (They do practice atm)

With a scribe he's a level 5 for reading and 4 for writing (as in criteria they can Mark as independent). He's a whole level lower if he has to write for himself. He'll be doing level 6 maths paper but they will transcribe any explanations he has to write - basically translate it to legible!

I would ask formed psych and /or OT assessment. Sometime it's low muscle tone or hypermobility (my DS has both) which can be the root of some of the difficulties.

Oh and start at page 91 of SENDCOP! That's the mainstream school bit!

True bruffin, getting a diagnosis doesn't automatically get you extra time, and you don't need a diagnosis to get extra time. In that respect, I don't think the school are entirely wrong in suggesting that a diagnosis isn't important if they are already supporting the issues he has and providing the correct provision. Question is whether they've identified all the issues.

I think I'd be looking at speech and hearing first. I'm not sure it quite fits with verbal dyspraxia but there might be a number of other similar diagnoses that a SALT could help with.

OP you could be describing my DS 8. Also one of the youngest, misses out vowels when writing, reverses numbers, uses ed suffix all the time, immature speech when he started school. TBH I suspected dyslexia as in other areas he's very capable.

He was recently provided with coloured overlays which IMO is making a big difference to his reading. Coming on leaps and bounds. Looking into progressing to coloured glasses if overlay continues to make a difference. His written spelling is still awful (he can spell his words OK verbally though) and he's a slow writer but do notice that no-one in school ever mentions the word dyslexia. I'm planning to try to meet with the school again before he moves up year groups to try to find out more.

Hope you get some answers too.

Does sound like he has dyslexia. Does he ever talk about the letters 'moving' on the page? As mrz says it is a scale and he certainly doesn't sound like he's severely dyslexic with those levels. That doesn't however mean he doesn't need support. I teach in a school that has a specialist dyslexia unit. The children in this unit are severely dyslexic and have statements/EHC plans. They have severe phonological issues among other things. However there are many many more children in the school who at dyslexic but don't have severe dyslexia. They still have their needs met in different ways - coloured paper or overlays, additional phonics, using a computer or scribe to take the pressure off. If I were you I'd try to get the school to look into overlays and maybe think about an Irlen Syndrome test.

Oh blimey, I feel so rubbish. I am genuinely a very supportive parent who has been lucky enough to have her first two children cruise through primary school. I am so absolutely clueless about all of this, I really am :(

Thank you for all of your ideas:

I'll definitely speak to school and arrange a meeting soon after Easter. I'll mention his speech, his hearing and his vision and will try to arrange to have them all assessed again. I'll ask school to explain the process that they are going through with DS3 and I'll ask them if there is anything more that I can do to help... I'll ask them about dyslexia and their thoughts about it too.

Thanks again. You've opened my eyes!

youarekiddingme Page 91, thanks !

It's always best to rule out physical difficulties first.

Your not rubbish. There's no reason you'd know this stuff unless you had to.
The point is you're supportin your DS and willing to read up,on things for him. You can't change the past but you can influence his future.

wombat a friend of mine (teacher) also mentioned overlays so will ask about those. He has never mentioned moving letters but you have reminded me that he regularly covers one eye when he is reading...

If you were rubbish you wouldn't be here asking for help.

If you have an iPad then you can save it to iBooks. Along with any other information sheets you want to, efer to or show senco when you meet.

If he's covering one eye when he's reading, I think you might need to get his sight checked again.

I hadn't even considered that there were physical difficulties, mrz but through the process of talking to you all tonight, I feel that there could well be.
And thanks youarekiddingme, I am definitely on the case now!

You're not rubbish at all, the only reason I know so much is that I have an older child with autism and dyspraxia and have been dealing with all this stuff on his behalf for years.

A very very brief view of the changes under the new SEN code of practice-

A school used to have an SEN register made up of school action (children needing extra support but needs are met by school), school action plus (children who need support from outside agencies and have higher needs) and children with a statement of SEN (children with high level needs who cannot be supported from the schools normal budget). Most children on the register would have been given an IEP explaining their needs and how the school would support them.

Under the new code school action and school action plus labels have gone. Children are now just on the SEN register as SEN needing support. If they have high level needs whereby the school has to spend more than £6000 to meet them then the school can ask for an Education, health and care plan. This is a long process that parents are heavily involved in as an EHCP is a legal document that sets out how the school, and other agencies including health if needed, have to meet the child's needs.

Under the new code there is no requirement for children to have an IEP and so many schools have done away with them and replaced them with their own model for monitoring progress.

Hope that all makes sense!

Thanks snowberry, that does make sense :) I'll get the school to share with me what they have in place for DS3.