Can anyone help - ds 2 years behind.

[WheresMaHairyToe]

Long, sorry!

DS2 has above average IQ, but terrible difficulty with reading/ phonics.
He has SEN but is only going on the assessment pathway now as he enters P4 (y3) So not sure what the actual problems are. There are definitely auditory processing difficulties - he can't hear the difference between the vowels, hears "th" as "f" for example.
Can anyone recommend a good reading scheme that doesn't use phonics? He's very visual and I think he may be better off learning this way. The school uses a very one -size-fits-all linguistic phonic programme, and it is not working for him.
As an example, he made a sign for our garden independently:
"Nt alwdo on graase." (not allowed on the grass.)
He says he can't read, and his self esteem is in tatters. Our house is coming down with books and he has been read to most days of his life, although he always chooses the same two or three books (mostly Dr. Seuss or other rhyming stories.)
His attention in school is poor, so I plan to request more differentiation - clearly structured work, a visual schedule and possibly a work station to reduce distractions.
Professionals are suggesting ADD or ASD. But diagnosis (and hence support) could be 2 years off. (His older brother has HFA and taught himself to read independently of school from the Guinness book of records - phonics wasn't great for him either! At 11 he never stops reading! dd is 13 and phonics worked beautifully for her, I don't have an issue with the system per se.)
Any suggestions? Ty

Hi, I am a tutor who teaches children like your son for a living. It's the summer so I am not busy. I would be happy to provide some free help via the Internet. If you would like some advice, PM me. There are a range of possible reasons for these problems - it is important to identify at least the broad areas of difficulty so you can tailor what you are doing accordingly.

Sounds like dyslexia. You can get him assessed privately if you can afford it, otherwise it's a year or two waiting list after the school has admitted/acknowledged there's a problem.

UPDATE
DS dropped out the bottom of his class according to scores, putting him in the bottom 0.8% for literacy and numeracy.
This was A Good Thing, because the school panicked and finally listened. He was assessed by Ed Psych. High average IQ. (118).
Her assessment led to a diagnosis of severe dyslexia. Thankfully, this year's teacher is very clued in. She has used lots of different strategies, and he has gone from being functionally a non-reader to having a reading age of 7.1 - so now only 18 months behind, rather than the four years previously!
Ed Psych also referred us on for more assessment. He has just been diagnosed with ADD.
He isn't hyperactive, so it is often misseen, but the tests used demonstrated that to all appearances, he is attending - but information is not being processed.
I'm a bit gutted that he has things so stacked against him - he is going to be so much more dependent on good teaching than my other kids (DD is a worker, DS1 is very clever and does a lot independently)
And the knock on effect on his confidence and self esteem has been huge.
Anyway. Onward and upward, he starts P5 in September but will be getting withdrawal and external support.
Thanks for all the advice last year!