Dyslexia (pic) & lack of school support

[Llamacorn]

I am really concerned with dds learning, and feel that not enough is being done to help her.

She will be 9 in Feb and is in primary 4 (Scotland). We deferred her school entry for a year as she has some health issues (still in nappies) and we didn't feel she was ready, which was the right decision.

In particular, she really struggles with her writing (I have attached pic) but she definitely struggles in many other areas too. I was always fobbed off to begin with, being told she would catch up, she was young etc, but I knew she was really struggling. We had a review at school last year in regards to dyslexia, and we were told they don't formally diagnose anymore - if we wanted that we would have to pay privately. However they are supposed to be helping her as if she has it (if that makes any sense).
I was at an open evening this week, and I noticed she doesn't have half of the equipment we were told she is using. She does have a writing slope and alphabet letters on her desk but that was it, she doesn't have any pencil grips, finger spacers etc. She didn't even have her toilet pass and I found out that her helper is no longer taking her for toilet checks either - that's possibly another post though.

I brought it up with a teacher as her normal teacher has been off for a while. All I keep getting told is they'll get her this or that, she'll be introduced to a 'clicker' system but like I say, they have began to help since last year but nothing seems to be going any further forward and it feels like empty promises at this stage. Yet again I am promised a "call back".

Dd is being assessed for autism, through OT & paeds - however this is a very slow process taking years too. She is also very different at school to anywhere else so it's very hard for them to see the whole picture, I have taken to videoing a lot of behaviours and hopefully we may be getting somewhere on this front.

I have noticed her writing and reading are getting significantly worse since her work back in March/April - I used to be able to pick up on what she was writing about but I'm at a loss now only really recognising a few words. Dd has a lot of anxiety around this, cries every night and morning not wanting to go to school.

I'm sorry this is long, but I was just wondering if anyone has been through similar and could offer any advice? I really don't feel the school are listening to my concerns, and have yet to follow through on many of the aids and support i was told she would have.
My biggest fear is for when she gets to high school, if we don't have a support strategy in place in order to help her I really don't know how she will be able to cope.

Thanks for reading if you managed this far!

English teacher in Scotland here.

One thing we have done at my High School is buy Amazon Kindles for some pupils. We load them up with books, and audio accompaniments. It means they can "read" and get the pleasure and improved vocabulary that comes with reading. You need the basic (£50) Kindle Fire and a link to an Amazon account (we lick them so pupils can't download themselves). It means that they keep up with peers and often read voraciously.

It doesn't immediately help with writing, but it gives books for pleasure back to those who struggle.

As for writing, we are having some limited success with teaching fast typing and really limiting writing with a pen. Even yo giving pupils Chrome books for most lessons.

Both of these options really help with motivation.

Looking at her letters, has she been assessed for her fine motor skills? Dyspraxia? Often goes alongside other things. Because there are words, ideas and sentences there, it is just letter formation.

If that barrier is removed, she might take heart. Also, using a scribe (dictating) will be an option for future SQA exams and practising this will get her speed up. Get her to tell you stories and write them down for her. Or get her to start and do 1 sentence, you do the next, then her. And son on.

She needs to feel good about herself and see progress. That matters a lot.

" It uses something called the <a class="break-all" href="http://go.mumsnet.com/?xs=1&id=470X1554755&url=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wechsler_Intelligence_Scale_for_Children" target="_blank">Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children " it measures cognitive ability (IQ if you prefer) which is why I'm confused.
"Current research evidence suggests that dyslexia can occur in children/young people of all abilities. The definition does not rely on identifying a supposed discrepancy between a child’s abilities in one area and his/her abilities in other areas. Most investigators agree that severe reading problems arise due to the failure to read words out of context. Research clearly indicates that discrepancy defined “dyslexics” and non-discrepancy defined (i.e. low IQ readers) do not differ in the cognitive sub skills that underlie the development of word recognition ability. Moreover there is no evidence suggesting that discrepancy defined and non-discrepancy defined poor readers respond differently to educational interventions. (Stanovich and Siegel, 1994). Educational Psychologists in Highland no longer use IQ tests to assess for dyslexia. Educational Psychologists’ practice should be evidence based. "

The Highland Council Psychological Service Persistent Literacy Difficulties Guidance on Identification, Assessment and Intervention.| January 2016



"although it's a great strategy - is amazingly hard work and a recipe for stripping the fun out of reading." Harder work than memorising hundreds of thousands of words? Nothing strips the fun more than not being able to read because you've been taught ineffective strategies.

http://www.mq.edu.au/data/assets/pdff_file/0005/193028/MUSEC-Briefing-41-Davis-Program-5-.pdf
What does the research say? What is the evidence for its efficacy?
Whilst there have been some reported studies utilizing the Symbol Mastery component of the Davis Program which were single case studies or very small group studies, there were no long term follow up reports. One larger study of 48 first graders examined the beneficial effects of integrating Davis Learning Strategies on sight word recognition. The study reported beneficial effects for both the control group and the test group. Retesting at Grade 3 showed that students had maintained the benefits initially gained in Grade 1. It should be noted that one of the authors of this study was Ron Davis. While a number of anecdotal reports exist, no independent research on the efficacy of the Davis program could be found, nor any randomised clinical trials. No studies on the claimed effects of the Davis Program on other learning problems such as dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADD, auditory perception deficits or motor coordination difficulties could be found. It appears, then, that there is no reliable scientific evidence to support the efficacy of the Davis Program.
Macquarie University Special Education Centre Verdict: Not Recommended.

Phonics were a closed book to DD2, who has quite severe, complex and unusual dyslexia. Is there another primary school nearby that you could transfer your daughter to? I moved DD2 to another school at the beginning of P5 and it was like night and day. The same local authority, but a smaller school, and they were giving her the help she required, which the first school said didn't exist. It might be worth finding out if any opticians around you screen for Scotropic Syndrome. This is where coloured overlays can help with reading, but they test for the exact colour that helps. Lizars and Blacks in Lothian Road in Edinburgh do it, but I'm not sure if there are others as well. This helped DD2 a huge amount!

It is very hard until you get the help you need. I appreciate that it costs to have all this testing done, but I agree with another poster who says you need to become 'that' parent. Bug the school endlessly, because otherwise they will do nothing. Not that I am cynical I wish you and your DD all the best.

" you want to turn this from a support thread into a point-scoring exercise about phonics."

That is a sad comment to see. All those teachers on MN, they are just offering expert opinions from their experience. A lot people can benefit from that. So just because your dc's case doesn't fit, attacking people who is just trying to help is counter-productive attitude.
Everybody is different. It may not work for your dc, but it may work a miracle for others. Having different opinions would help more people than telling them certain things doesn't work.

I also meant to say that DD2 finds reading electronic text easier than printed text. this is quite often the case. And to reassure you, DD2 has just started a Master's course at university. Once you have a diagnosis, there is a lot of help out there. Keep fighting.

Phonics is the most effective method of teaching reading for 96% of children - that leaves 4% who would benefit from a different approach.

As a specialist teacher/assessor working with individuals from 6-adult, my interventions for early readers are always based on a systematic synthetic phonics approach coupled with phonological awareness training. However, in rare circumstances a different approach is required. My own daughter (now adult) has particularly poor phonological awareness and auditory processing (both 2nd percentile) - although she has "normal" hearing, she struggles to hear the individual sounds in words, even at the syllable level. These difficulties, coupled with a very poor verbal short-term memory, make blending and segmenting extremely difficult. Despite this, from secondary onwards, she has been a high academic achiever and, once she learnt to read, a voracious reader. She tells me she now uses analogy to read unfamiliar words. If it is subject vocabulary that she needs to be able to spell for exams, she will re-write the word over and over - her general spelling is poor.

The older children and adults I work with have all developed a range of strategies to cope with their difficulties. At this stage, phonics still plays an important part of improving their reading and spelling, but I also work with any positive strategies that they have developed.

The overlays that LittleCandle mentions are for visual stress which often co-occurs with dyslexia. This is not picked up in a standard sight test, but your optician will know where you can have a specialist eye test. If this is too expensive, it might be worth buying a pack of coloured overlay reader rulers (£5.99) from Crossbow Education to see if they help (they also list contact details of specialist opticians).

www.crossboweducation.com/duo-window-eye-level-reading-rulers-for-visual-stress/shop-now/visual-stress-resources/reading-rulers.

For poor handwriting, you could try Write from the Start which is available from Amazon.

The original poster's daughter's needs appear to be more complex than dyslexia. I would recommend looking at the IPSEA website so you are aware of the school's duty.

www.ipsea.org.uk/home