Private dyslexia assessment

[TheNutmegofconsolation]

I have only just been told that our LA do not formally diagnose dyslexia, and that if I want a formal assessment and diagnosis, I will have to pay for a private assessment.

I have been continually fobbed off, despite raising my concerns in Year 1 and being told, it is early days, wait and see and we will provide some extra phonics sessions.
Year 2 - told DS is making too much progress to have dyslexia but I have never been given any details of his curriculum levels or attainment levels, now he is going into Year 3 and I have run out of patience with the school and the policy of the LA not to assess for dyslexia, they just call it literacy and numeracy difficulties.

Is it even lawful for the LA to flatly refuse to assess dyslexia?

I would be grateful of any recommendations for a private assessment in London or Home Counties. Thank you.

You can find details of private assessors on the PATOSS website - be prepared that the cost will be £300-£450 for a FULL diagnostic report.

www.patoss-dyslexia.org/

Arwww.facebook.com/groups/dyslexiasupportUK/. Are you on Facebook? If so there is a FAB group in there and they have private assessors who will give discounted prices for group members -

Will the school do anything different if you do have a private diagnosis?

full yes there is that!

I had a private assessment for DD (year 2) earlier this year, with an ed psych - £500.

School (which is brilliant in most ways) would not have paid for it as she was just about meeting expectations. The assessment showed a tremendous mismatch between her high ability in most areas and her poor performance in writing (spelling specifically).

The diagnosis is 'dyslexia'. School haven't acted on it much yet (apart from giving her a 'word mat') but the report advised that she should not be held back from enrichment activities commensurate with her high ability, as a consequence of her inability to spell. I will be expecting this to be acted on in year 3.

Most of the support will have to come from home in our case, I think.

My DD is 17 and we have always suspected she had dyslexic tendencies. She is very bright (passed the 11+ and at one of the top Grammar schools in the country.) However she has never quite performed as predicted and achieved the way a pupils who works as hard as she does should. (Was predicted A*s and acheived As and Bs)

She was starting to struggle with her A level studies so we finally relented and paid for a dyslexia assessment in February. It turns out she isn't dyslexic but has a condition that is often mistaken for it (Meares Irlens.)

Her processing for reading is ridiculously slow and on the basis of the EP report she got 25% extra time in her AS exams which made a tremendous difference to her confidence in the exams. Her school have put in all sorts of extra support for her (who knew a Grammar school would have a SENco!) and she is feeling so much better about her difficulties.

The point I am trying to make is that all pupils deserve to be the best they can be. Just because a child copes doesn't mean that's what they deserve.

Making too much progress for a dyslexia assessment

What a crock of shit. If he could excel with the right support then he should have it. And the extra time in exams and tests that a positive diagnosis could provide is so worth it. I wish we had done it years ago.

The dyslexia assessment we had was £550 (including the form 8 she filled in for the exam board application.) Worth every penny!

Having a diagnosis is helpful to the child. Also there are many ways of being dyslexic and detailed information can help a teacher choose the most effective methods of helping.

I would always pay for a diagnosis if you cannot get the LEA to diagnose.

Placemarking

My DD at age 14 was dx with Irlens - visual processing disorder and phonological and visual stress via a private assessment. Up to this point she was achieving high grades but her work rate was very slow and her spelling was shocking and still is! She is very intelligent and with the right help and her hard work she has achieved 4 a levels at very high grades. Whilst I appreciate not everyone who has 'classic' dyslexia will achieve high grades I do think that having a dx so you know how to help your child achieve their full potential is the best thing

Thank you for your replies. It is helpful to hear of other people's experiences. I'll get in touch with PATOSS and look for someone to carry out a private assessment and then use that to put pressure on the school for proper support.

Even though the LA doesn't diagnose Dyslexia surely they assess for specific learning difficulties? That's what mine does. My son had a thorough assessment from the LA and the school act on the recommendations with support from the spLd teacher who assessed. I would ask the school for an assessment again.

Are private assessments carried out within the school or at an assessors home/place of work during school hours? Or are they carried out outside the school day? Just wondering if the school would give permission to take a child out for this or if it's more common to be done within the school by a private assessor?

Where I am the assessments are sometimes done in school hours and sometimes at the weekend. We always ‘give permission’ for the assessments.

Thanks so much, that's reassuring, I was worrying