DS year 3 still not reading

[OldJoseph]

I've got a meeting with his teacher next week and I want some advice on how to approach this...
He can't read very well at all. We're already doing exactly what we did last year. He reads very slowly with lots of prompts. He practices his spellings most nights of the week but only gets one or two out of ten at the test. He doesn't recognise words from one page to another and it's becoming disheartening for him and for me. He had intervention last year but still failed his SATs. He is getting intervention again this year. He goes to a good school and has good attendance and behaviour. We are a supportive family and English is our only language at home. He has a good lifestyle; he eats and exercises and isn't poorly much.

I don't think what we (school and home) are doing is working. One (senior) member of staff I spoke to about him said 'he'll get there in the end'. I don't know what end she means though...the end of the school year, the end of KS2 or when he's about to collect his pension?

I suppose I want to know if there is some sort of road map for children like my DS? Is there another technique that could be used with him? We just seem to be on a hamster wheel of try and fail, try and fail. I can see it won't be long before the trying stops but the failing continues.

So advice on how to approach this with his teacher? In a way I'd like to have the confidence to not bother with his homework but I don't.

Our son didn't read until year 4. He is dyslexic, and the diagnosis helped him deal with his feelings about the difficulties he was having as phoolani says. School offered support all the way through irrespective of diagnosis. Toe by toe helped him, and made all the adults feel they were doing all they could to help, but to be honest it was time that did the trick. When he was ready, he started to read.

Ps. Children's encyclopaedias, Tin Tin, and Asterix were books that our son 'read' in year 3/4 which don't require fluency.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 sets out clear expectations for children who are not making expected progress.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-parents-and-carers

I would read the parents guide and then make an appointment with the SENCO to ask what interventions are in place and what their plan is to ensure he gets appropriate support. The earlier he receives appropriate support, the better the likely outcome.

No phoolani a diagnosis of dyslexia won't automatically mean TA time. The school needs to assess his needs and provide appropriate support.

A good school can't find out a child has dyslexia and do nothing. If they did you would absolutely have grounds to complain.

Dyslexia effects children in different ways and part if assesment should be finding out how then trying to improve or compensate for that difficult.

We're working on DD1s working memory with memory games. She also has trouble tracking (her eyes skip words/letters or flip them around)

To answer and address some of the issues:

He's had his eyes and ears tested and they are OK, although what you've said about ability to focus is interesting.
I expect the schools to have more answers than me about reading since teaching reading, writing and sums is what they do.
Thank you for the SEND link.
I think dyslexia is common enough in schools that no they don't necessarily get extra help with a diagnosis as my dsis experienced after shelling out ££. He may get extra time for tests with or without a diagnosis.
It is a well staffed school, there's plenty of people and experience around which is why I've followed their lead up to this point and not worried about it. However I don't think their lead is taking him anywhere other than a dead end.
I'm getting there with what I'm going to say next week, so thanks for all your input.

"A good school can't find out a child has dyslexia and do nothing." A good school doesn't wait for a diagnosis of dyslexia to do something (but that something might not be TA time).

OP did he pass the phonics screening check in Y1?

mrz- no he didn't, but he wasn't far off.

The Phonics Screening Check is a diluted version of the type of assessment an Educational Psychologist uses to screen for dyslexia so is quite a good indicator for reading difficulties. Just passing might suggest he does have some difficulties in this area.

whirlwind. the tracking difficulties your DD is having is probably due to visual stress that can co-occur with dyslexia. It may be worth getting a specialist eye test if you haven't already.

Schools generally use the Rose (2009) definition of dyslexia:(if they are using anything):

"Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. - Characteristic features of dyslexia are difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed."

As mrz says you shouldn't have to wait for a diagnosis to get support- the SEND Code of Practice makes that very clear. Any support should be phonics based and should also include activities to improve phonological awareness.

DS has had very different problems at school, but I think the words of his teacher for this year are still relevant:

"I'm not concerned with his handwriting at the moment, it's more important he gets his love of learning back."

I could wash her feet with tears of gratitude. Thinking of that, if I were you I would absolutely bin off the spelling homework, possibly the reading they are giving you and spend the time doing something completely different, and I would seek the school's support in doing that. If they didn't support, I don't think it would change my mind.

Yes she's supposed to be having more tests Curry - she has SPD too.

"In October 2007, the BDA Management Board approved the following definition:
“Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills. It is likely to be present at birth and to be life-long in its effects. It is characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual's other cognitive abilities."

mrz The full Rose (2009) definition is currently on the BDA websire
www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexic/definitions with an additional paragraph including visual difficulties. The full Rose definition states that dyslexia occurs across "an intellectual continuum" as most current thinking recognises that the discrepancy definition of dyslexia (suggested in BDA's 2007 definition) is not evidenced based and does a disservice to children with reading difficulties who do not have a high underlying ability.

I know but it is slightly different to the one adopted by the BDA. One of the many problems with a "dyslexia" label is that there isn't a universally accepted definition

I think the lack of a clear definition has been a problem in the past but the consensus now is "difficulties in phonological awareness, verbal memory and verbal processing speed" characterise dyslexia. The weighting of those difficulties will vary from individual to individual and a diagnosis can be useful to provide targeted intervention. High quality phonics teaching and timely, evidenced based targeted interventions delivered by suitably qualified individuals should mean that all children leave mainstream primary school being able to read at an appropriate level.

Given that there isn't even a consensus of opinion on the existence of dyslexia I don't think it's possible to say there's any agreement over definition.

How many threads have you read about coloured overlays and moving text?

I too recommend Paul Adler. Just fabulous. Making a huge difference to my DD.

Good luck to your son.