Help in school for child with dyslexia

[Laura0806]

Just wondering what your experiences are of this. My child in yr 3 has a diagnosis of dyslexia and a speech and language impairment. He is still however at the average level in the class, although could be doing better as illustarated by his general IQ which is above average (struggles with spelling, comprehension, story writing and sequencing in maths). The SENCO says that he is not entiteld to any help as the code of practice dictates than he is not actually struggling or something to that effect ( Im not au fait with the code of practice). However, I was just interested in other peoples experiences. if your child has dyslexia or another SEN but is still around the average level overall ( but with specific weaknesses), have they received any help?

Thefullcircle those don't apply to primary education.

So ,I'm now totally puzzled by these different opinions.Is there a guide to best practice for Dyslexia teachers?How do I know whether tuition will help?
I do agree that good teaching will make a difference.However my son has had a teacher this year who doesn't correct or mark much ( bar a tick at the end).So there has been no constant reinforcement of basic tenets.In a class of 35 - a child who has been 'coping' has has fallen by the radar.Its up to me to 'pay' to bring in best teaching practice.But what is best practice?
The links to the scientific journals are very useful - thank you!.I will bookmark them.

<a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/00659-2009DOM-EN.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151715/www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/00659-2009DOM-EN.pdf

I'm afraid there isn't a simple answer because the label dyslexia is an umbrella term and every child will have different needs so you can't just say this is what the school should do.

Canny1234, you are not going to find any answers as such, because there are none.

Dyslexia in itself has no actual meaning, it is a helpful word in that it communicates there is a problem, although it says very little about what the problem is.

To get specific help, you need specific information about the problem, and your sons teacher will be able to tell you his strengths and weaknesses.

As far as the exam boards are concerned, the teachers description of strength and weaknesses, and normal working practice is what is required.

Many SENCOs don't use the word dyslexia at all now, just give a description of strengths and weaknesses.

As I said, I am dyslexic. I can't recognise faces, I can't read maps, I have a range of specific areas I struggle with, but I am quite capable of reading and contributing to an internet forum!

www.interventionsforliteracy.org.uk/widgets_GregBrooks/What_works_for_children_fourth_ed.pdf

canny123 - this provides information on interventions and their efficacy - they obviously need to be age appropriate. I would also go on Dyslexia Action's website - it has lots of information for parents.

Whilst mrz makes some interesting theoretical points, they are just that. IMO she is arguing about a theoretical situation where every child receives good teaching, every year and every SENCo has the knowledge and budget to provide appropriate and timely interventions - it may happen in her school but IME, it is not happening in every school. Teacher training provides only sketchy knowledge of typical reading development and there is very little training on atypical development - hence the recommendations of the Rose Review (2009) which were sadly never acted upon. If your DC is "coping", they will be a long way back in the queue for extra help, but knowing that you are struggling to learn can be extremely detrimental to self esteem and to long term educational outcomes.

I don't think it's theoretical to say that the label "dyslexia" doesn't help to identify a child's difficulties or how to support the child to overcome those difficulties.
It isn't theoretical to say there isn't universal agreement what is meant by "dyslexia"
It isn't theoretical to say that good teaching is key to supporting every child regardless of diagnosis.
It isn't theoretical to say that children who are experiencing difficulties are most in need of teacher time yet they are often the ones sent off with a TA to follow a variety of interventions which Gregg Brooks research demonstrates provide varying success.

mrz - I agree completely with your last two points - best practise is not happening in far too many schools. So what are parents to do? Argue about what should be happening or go out and find appropriate support now for their child?

I also believe that the Rose Review provides a good working definition of dyslexia. I think we have discussed before, I don't think anyone actually cares about what their child's difficulties are called, they just want the appropriate support and help. Theoretically, they should be able to access this in school but the reality is that they often can't.

Sadly some children are being let down ... The most common cause of reading difficulties is poor teaching

There was a perfect example yesterday on MN - a poster who claimed they had to teach children how 'not to read' words.

Sadly some children are being let down ... The most common cause of reading difficulties is poor teaching

well, that can't really be the case, as with speaking, it is easy, inherent in the human brain, and largely taught unofficially at home by parents,

It is actually pretty much impossible to PREVENT a neurologically normal child learning to read.

So why are so many adults functionally illiterate?

Sadly some children are being let down ... The most common cause of reading difficulties is poor teaching

I agree.

If you then add in a child with poor verbal STM and difficulties with phonological processing and possibly co-occuring difficulties such as SLI etc etc - the outcomes for the individual child are not ideal.

As a parent, I would not be waiting around for the school to get their act together but would be pro-active in getting outside support or improving my own knowledge so that I could provide that support at home. That is what I think the original poster should be doing.

some are not neurologically normal, some were just never exposed to writing.

The statistics are misleading anyway. Some adults don't want to be literate. I also know some who can read absolutely fine, but have told the job centre they can't "because the job centre can't PROVE we can read" Also, I know people who have lost literacy skills, it happens sometimes with heavy cannabis use.

I'm not so sure whether its poor teaching ( dc1 has twin sister in the same class who's very bright - won scholarship to the local independent school) or just his brain works very differently and requires quite a different style of teaching.I do know he has a capacity to improve given specifically targeted teaching ( maths tutoring for example).
Adult functional illiteracy however must have a multitude of causes.Poor teaching will be only one of them.
Thank you Mitzi50 I've started reading my way through that book.It looks very informative!

There are only a tiny number of people who are unable to learn to read and write if taught well.

Some adults don't want to be literate

Yes, I know some, actually, within some communities it is not unheard of, and some don't want their children literate either.

Quite outside of those communities, yes there are still some.

And I know someone who cried when they could read a bedtime story to their grandchild for the first time and young men who asked why didn't they explain at school?

are you seriously suggesting they attended school regularly, and were prevented from learning to read?

No I'm not suggesting it I'm stating it as a fact.

It's not at all my experience that illiterate or subliterate adults don't want to learn to read. On the contrary, many are embarrased by their inability and go to considerable lengths to hide it. If my friend can go from unable to read not much more than his own name to functionally literate within 6 months then there is no reason he couldn't have been taught that in school rather than at 25.

Can you explain why some schools with intakes from disadvanteged areas, with parents with poor literacy skills in English and little exposure to text at home all learn to read and in other schools they don't? Why do these schools not seem to have the same numbers of children who are not 'neurologically normal' as others? Surely it can't just be a statistical anomaly? It's a fairly consistant one if it is.

It isn't my experience either, Rafa, but certainly some don't want to, and some can, but pretend they can't to get job seekers allowance more easily,

If a neurotypically normal child attends school regularly, and is exposed to text at home, they will read. NB, that text does not have to be in English, research has shown that languages used at home make no difference at all to learning to read in English. It is a transferable skill.

That isn't my experience Charis ... I've met desperate parents who just don't know how to help their child when school fails (plenty of posts on here)

I've met children who've had a helicopter TA do all the reading and writing for them and who are amazed to discover they don't need that suffocating support any longer

sorry, I just don't believe that any neurologically normal child who has parents who want them to read, and who have attended school and worked in lessons normally, over the last quarter century at least, would grow up unable to read.

I do know many students who don't have the capability, but that is completely different.

Reading is easy, and we are predisposed to it. It would take more to prevent someone learning to read.

What about 'neurotypically normal' children that aren't exposed to text in any language at home? Why do they learn to read to at least age related expectations in some schools and not others? I'm not sure I see how that has anything to do with the child or the parents.