Call from teacher to say they think my daughter is dyslexic but I'm not sure

[babytops]

My daughter is 6 in year 2 at school. Her school were non existent during lockdown and me and my husband both working from home, as well as having a toddler running round. So its safe to say we were not great on the homeschooling front. Second lockdown was better and they did assign some work on an app which we did most of when we could.
She has obviously missed half of year 1 and some of year 2 so is most definitely behind. I think most noticeably in her reading as she never got all the early phonics stuff. When they went back the school jumped straight into Year 2 work with a little bit of catch up from year 1.
She can read a fair bit but does struggle with some sounds. At home we are working on her reading and spellings (as she has a spellings test every friday - last weeks words were things like decision, treasure, leisure, vision) some weeks she gets 10 some weeks she gets 4/5.
I havent been overly concerned as obviously she missed so much school I was expecting it. However it seems the school have other ideas.
She is going to tutoring lessons before school 2 days a week that I assume the school were given funding for - this is for comprehension. Her teacher pulled aside my husband at pick up last week to say she is really struggling 'she is struggling the most out of everyone in the group' and my husband had to ask what it is she wants us to do, which is keep working on her reading. Ok fine, that's what we are doing. And I have noticed a considerable improvement at home and really proud of her.
So today, I have just had a call from her about an hour ago in which she mentioned speaking to my husband last week about her and then went on to say she thinks my daughter is dyslexic. She went on to say that she sometimes mixes up letters (which I haven't noticed at home bar the occasional b/d) and is really struggling. Then went on for 5 minutes about how its a really long process to get diagnosed through the senco at school and is really expensive for the school and that we can pay privately for an assessment.

Honestly the whole conversation knocked me for six. I asked her to email me everything she had just said and she replied that I am best speaking to the senco (who has never met my daughter!)

I'm looking for anyone with experience of dyslexia because most of the symptoms online dont apply to her but some do. And im wondering how much of that could just be the missed school ?

I am also unimpressed with the teacher to be honest. She ended the call saying 'now I could be completely wrong' !?
I also think something else is clouding my judgement. Another mum had a call last week about her daughter, in which the teacher said she thinks her daughter has adhd and her mum had the same WTF reaction as she really doesn't think she has it. Has since spoken to her gp who agreed.

I feel like I'm looking for an ulterior motive for this teacher to be diagnosing kids in her class with different things with the caveat that she's 'not an expert' and 'could be wrong'

I am considering paying for the assessment privately if I can get the funds together. But surely she could just be behind? and understandably so ?

As DrSpouse says the Phonics Screening Check can be a good indicator of underlying difficulties.

It's too early. I know a lot of parents of dyslexic children advocate for earlier testing but both of my summer born children in year 2 were behind with reading/spelling/writing and reversing a lot of letters still. Both had a huge leap in their abilities that summer and went from being the worst readers to the best. They aren't dyslexic. The reason a lot of countries don't teach reading until age 7 is because some kids just aren't ready until then, just like not all kids are walking at 12 months but that is the average.

@user64325 that's very true. But assessment will be able to tease out whether a year 2 child is "just" a later bloomer, or is dyslexic.

The thing is, waiting saves money as the "not yet ready" children make the big leap while the dyslexic ones struggle more and more obviously as curriculum demands increase into the middle and upper primary years, meaning fewer to assess.

But meanwhile, the dyslexic ones have missed opportunities for early intervention and to maintain their self-esteem. Parents see and try to mitigate the fallout of that daily. That's why we advocate for earlier testing.

No, neither me or DH are dyslexic, though my husband is horrendous at spelling.

Your DH probably does have a form of mild dyslexia

She has a list of 10 spellings to learn every week and a test on fridays, she does pretty good most of the time but most of them are spellings that you just have to remember - as in they cant be sounded out phonetically - so probably not that helpful.

Sounds just like the form of dyslexia my daughter has. One of her tools is that she has to learn to memorise words and scores well on tests like that. When presented with new words she can't take them.

I didn't realise until my daughter was diagnosed that there are many different types of dyslexia.

There is nothing wrong with dyslexia and the sooner you get a diagnose the sooner your daughter can learn tools to help her. After my daughter's diagnosis we noticed a significant improvement within weeks because she was been taught in a way that would help her.

But the school suggesting you need to pay privately is appalling. That would make me really angry. You should get on to your MP about that.

You sound quite defensive OP as if you think shes insulting your child rather than looking for potential reasons she is struggling in order to be able to access the right support. So does your friend .

Quite a common reaction from parents to be fair unfortunately. Shes suggested your child might have dyslexia. Not that theyre thick or a nightmare.
If I were you id ask for an appointment with the SENCo as suggested and ask what sort of provision and help they would usually give for dyslexia.

Im not sure you can get dyslexia diagnosed on NHS anymore so shes quite right to say it would be a private assessment, and there is often help available from charities if you cant afford to access it.
If you would rather wait longer to see if she catches up or has a breakthrough, then thats up to you, but I dont think you should disregard what she says after working so closely with your child and her experience of so many other children of this age group, and suggesting she has an ulterior motive for flagging up certain children as needing extra support is likely to do with your own insecurities rather than reality. What on earth would she get out of that?

@Branleuse
Not sure- maybe she would get a justifiable excuse as to why a large proportion of the class are struggling (because they have x,y,z diagnosis) and not because the school have failed both during lockdown and afterwards.

If she had called to discuss what my daughter is struggling with specifically, what she's noticed, and what she needs to work on I think I may feel differently. But she didn't. She barely mentioned the reasons she thinks this, and launched straight into a hard sell on me paying for a private assessment ASAP.

I have an appointment with the senco in June so we will see what they say.

Actually a good thing that has come from this is giving me a kick up the arse to do more work at home. I bought some phonics books online (read write inc) which are fantastic and my daughter loves them, is reading them and is reading and answering the comprehension questions in them so well.

It is my belief that she is not dyslexic, however I accept I am not an expert and rather than dismiss it I am willing to work with the senco. I am however not rushing to pay for a private assessment.

I’m an assessor for dyslexia and a primary teacher of many years. It takes a very long time to do the appropriate assessments and write a report for children with suspected dyslexia or dyslexic tendencies. I would always advocate early intervention if possible if these are suspected.

@babytops the £500 we spent on our private diagnosis was without doubt the best money we have ever spent.

Hi all, thought I would provide a quick update having finally spoken to the senco (who was lovely)
The conversation was immediately better when she used the phrase 'learning barriers'.

She explained that she has spoke to daughters teacher and looked through all her workbooks and doesn't think anything there suggests she is dyslexic. She said that it's not something anyone at school can diagnose anyway and if there were concerns it isn't something they would pursue until she is in yeah 3 and closer to 8.

So very reassuring phone call, however I'm left with a very bitter taste from the initial call with daughters teacher and I am considering contacting the head to make her aware.

I'm glad you got the reassurance you wanted. I just thought I would add though that I spoke to my son's senco and she said she'd spoken to his teacher and looked through his work and there was no evidence of dyslexia. However, he clearly was/is dyslexic which was confirmed at formal assessment. The senco has much more of an ulterior motive to deny a diagnosis (thereby avoiding sourcing an expensive ed psych assessment) than the teacher has to suggest a diagnosis (unless her friend is the local private ed psych).

Hopefully all your DD needs is the extra support you are now giving her at home, but I wouldn't complain to the head. As you said, it has given you the 'kick up the arse' you needed to do more work at home, so it has been a good result for your DD.

Leisure is too hard for year 2 spellings! They need to know the ure sound but without the difficult beginning.

What colour reading books is she on? A dyslexia screening test may be beneficial. Can you ask the teacher for some phonics card to practice at home and ask them to do the year 1 phonics screening test to see where she is.

@babytops I know this thread is over a year old but I do wonder how is your DD doing at school now x

Hi @Whatthedonkey
How coincidental that you have just responded to this thread. I've just read through my posts last year and how naive I was ha!

I have just recently (2 weeks ago in fact) paid for a private assessment. we haven't had the report yet but my daughter is definitely dyslexic. However she also has a very very high IQ, which was a bit of a shock to me and made me feel sad and guilty that she's probably been struggling and wondering why she can't do certain things.

The assessment cost £300 and I'm already glad I've done it, but probably glad we waited til now (shes 8)

All in all, I clearly have no clue and teachers know better lesson learned.

Just to say it looks like she's been masking in school pretty well, and isn't too far behind on most things.

Her spelling she just can't do but her reading is slowly improving.

@babytops your journey is pretty much what happened with my dd. She is 11 now but only diagnosed in year 6 after I paid for a private assessment. School kept saying she had ‘dyslexic tendencies’ or was just a bit behind. They weren’t keen to pursue anything as she was scoring average in testing.

The dyslexia screening showed she was most definitely dyslexic and also highly intelligent. She also has visual convergence issues, poor eyesight and visual stress so has tinted reading glasses (I would highly recommend paying for a specialist assessment).

We are now one term into high school and I’ve just received her first report. She is performing at or above expected levels in all subjects and outstandingly well in some. It is looking like she will be top set. For a child that started to hate school and thought she was stupid it’s a massive turn around.

My ds is extremely dyslexic. I'm a teacher and when I realised he would struggle, completed a dyslexia postgrad specialist teacher course.

Do remember, only a report from an Ed Pysch will be recognised in school and will need to be updated before public exams etc for extra time/scribe etc.

My ds is just 26 now, doing very well at work and owns his own house with his girlfriend. Went to grammar school (v v bright but struggled with exams), has lovely friends and most importantly, is happy. And very very lovely.

Bear in mind you may have to fight your dd's corner. It's worth it. Good luck!

@Mumwithbaggage
The assessment was done by and Ed Psych and we'll hopefully have it in next couple of weeks.

I have been thinking I'm going to have to fight for help with the school, but I'm a bit anxious about what that's going to be like. Will they try and push back on the help recommended?

@babytops Thank you for coming back with an update. I hope your DD will get the help she needs to succeed.

My DD is only 5 and in Reception but I have concerns as there is a strong genetic link to dyslexia from her father's side so I'm keeping an eye on all the signs. She seems bright and capable. She has great phonetic awareness and is very good at deconstructing words/sentences but reading is very slow, she rubs her eyes all the time and misreads very simple words.

I need to check her eyes definitely but I'm concerned it's more than that.

@babytops Can I ask you where did you pay £300 for an Ed Psychologist? In my area it's about £845 😳.

There was a thread about 3 days ago where people complained about teachers failing to diagnose dyslexia and adhd - not telling parents they'd seen the signs etc. The teacher isn't a medical professional; she can just see signs that it could be this and is suggesting you look into it. That's why she said she could be wrong. Honestly, it would be much easier for her to not phone you and not keep you updated on your child's progress - it is to benefit your child not her. Bear in mind all the children are in the same boat re lockdown and she is noticing your child isn't catching up in the same way other children are. She is right to suggest you speak to the SENCO - she's offering you the chance to speak with another professional who can offer further information and quite possibly reassurance which it sounds like you need. If the SENCO has seen your daughter's books and spoken to the teacher, it will be a useful conversation regardless of if the SENCO has met her. It can be difficult to hear your child is struggling but, to reiterate, the teacher is trying to help.

Obviously teachers are in the front line and best placed to notice. The earlier it’s picked up the better. I’m a secondary school English teacher and I’ve suggested testing for students at various times. It sounds to me like your DD s teacher is great. Try not to be defensive, keep an eye, talk to Senco and if you can get a private assessment in a year or so.

@babytops in theory all schools should be dyslexia friendly. Whether or not children have dyslexia, many struggle and there are things that happen in a good classroom that can support everyone's literacy, (Disclaimer: much as I'd like to do all the things all the time, as a class teacher I don't. I know teachers are often pulled apart on MN!)

A quick Google will show plenty of checklists
www.google.com/search?q=dyslexia+friendly+classroom+checklist&oq=dyslexia+friendly+classroom&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512l7j0i390l2.8474j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on

BUT doing everything all the time can be a bit of an overload for children. I think the best thing is not to have low expectations. What's that quote? Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't you're probably right.

Speeding up typing is a great move for everyone heading towards secondary anyway - plenty of free stuff. Is BBC Touch Mat typing still out there?

Around 10% of children will have a Specific Learning Difficulty with reading and writing. The additional support your daughter receives will probably already address her needs, as long as it includes phonics and targets her own weaknesses.
If school wants a diagnosis of dyslexia, it may be to access additional funding (or extra time for exams etc), but generally teacher assessment should enable that. They should pay for an Ed Psych for the assessment. If you go through a voluntary organisation, you will probably get a positive diagnosis (!)
There are a few practical things that can be helpful for SOME people with particular issues like scotopic syndrome. Coloured overlays or changing background colour for text can help. They are easy to try out and if they don't make a difference, then don't use them.

It's naive to suggest schools get extra funding for dyslexia. It is so, so far from what qualifies for funding.

If you contacted the Head to complain about the teacher who first raised this, I hope you went back to her to apologise.