Daughter. Age 7. Learning challenges.

[Hurstlandshome]

Hi,

I wonder if any parents have experience of this, or teachers can chip in...

My daughter is in Year 2. At the last parents evening I was told that she is not meeting expectations for her age. She, and around 5 others in her class have teacher support with tasks. It was never made into a big deal and I was told 'children develop at different speeds'. Now that I am home-schooling her, it's pretty clear that she really does struggle.
The extent has come as quite a shock, because she seems such a 'bright' kid, grown up for her age, good sense of humour, sharp and a good practical problem solver. The issues are that she is still mixing up her 2's and 5's (something I was told she'd grow out of), she also sometimes starts to write from right - left; she has huge problems with spelling (she can't grasp the 'e' on the end of common words: there, here etc.). She also sounds out words correctly but then when she says the word it's jumbled. It also occurred to me that she doesn't seem to remember the words to any songs, even basic songs, yet has an amazing memory for details of our lives. I don’t know if any of this is linked. Her father is dyslexic - could she be too?

She is my only child and I am really upset that I'm only just understanding the extent of her problems. In normal times I do her homework and reading with her and support her through it, thinking that it's normal to give that level of support! Now I see how she struggles with basic day-to-day work, I feel terrible.

Is this a development thing i.e. she'll catch up at some stage? At what age can you determine a childs academic potential? How would I find out if she needs more support?

I reached out to her teacher (who hadn't personally been in touch since lockdown), and she, again, sounded unconcerned and said my daughter can be tested for Dyslexia when we return...

Thank you for any help.

Sounds a bit like my son - we were going to go for dyslexia diagnosis this summer, but Covid 19 got in the way.
schools gives hime specialist support (toe by toe reading program etc), and its going really well now.
my son is also very noise sensitive, so there is a bit more going on

Please don't despair but do get her assessed asap. My DS had immense problems at that age but as soon as he was assessed with dyspraxia, we could start helping him and it turned out fine in the end.

Hi, your daughter sounds like mine. It got worse in year 3 For her and she started falling behind (I gather this is a common age for problems to start to show up as the work gets harder and they can’t mask it anymore). The not learning songs and mixing up letters and numbers sounds like dyslexia, but best to get an assessment.
I would ask around for a well regarded educational psychologist and then you can have an assessment when things start to relax post lockdown.
When we saw an Educational psychologist for my dd8 she ran tests that cover IQ, processing, literacy, maths, working memory amongst others. Turned out she was very high IQ but low working memory and processing, literacy development and executive function. Wasn’t specifically told dyslexia but instead specific learning difficulties. Probably also dyspraxia too.
I would look at Facebook groups, dyslexia UK website.
Good luck and feel free to PM me.

Sounds like my daughter too, it's very clear since home schooling that there is something going on, I suspect dyslexia/ADHD/dyspraxia all mixed in. I too was told they all develop at different speeds but it's patently obvious to me that there is a SEN going on. She has a twin sister who is the polar opposite and appears to be 2 school years ahead of her in terms of reading/writing/maths. I had already been in touch with the SENCo at school before lockdown but unfortunately no observations had taken place. Maybe email the SENCo at your school and get the ball rolling? Good luck!

Hi OP. It certainly sounds like dyslexia is a possibility, especially as it is in the family. It’s very frustrating to hear they may grow out of it etc but with things like dyslexia, children are rarely assessed before the age of 8 as a lot of the difficulties they are showing could be developmental and will improve with time. The PP is right that year three is a key year. That’s when most children will be put forward for an assessment as we would really expect to see them making progress by then.
Make contact with your school senco and ask for a chat. Depending on the school they may be able to screen her to give a better indication before going for a full assessment. Be prepared to be told that you need to wait until your daughter is 8 though as I say as the screeners can be considered inaccurate before this age.

If it calms your nerves and you have probably seen through your husband, dyslexia is no longer a big deal. As the posters above have said get the school to support, or if you can afford to have some additional support at home post covid once a week. I am dyslexia and currently a CEO at a well known company, in the age of computers it is not a big deal but it will make your daughter feel supported if she can get that additional help she may need now. REMEMBER she may not even be dyslexia but just going at her own learning speed. Plenty of encouragement to your child is the biggest help.

Thank you for all your messages. I'll reach out to the school again.
:)

Sounds a lot like my dyslexic son. With dyslexia in your family it is really important to get her tested. Getting early intervention that teaches her in ways she can learn is so very important.