I think my DD might be dyslexic

[ggmom87]

I’m starting to suspect my DD is dyslexic. Reading has come slowly to her, and she’s only barely met reading expectations with a LOT of work at home and some 1:1 reading intervention at her old school. We’ve moved recently, and she’s now in year 3. Although fluency has improved, progress is painfully slow. She reads at a pace of about 60 words per minute, and jumbles up words often - especially small words like a, to, what, there, get, from etc. And she also guesses a lot of bigger words and so “already” becomes “always” and that sort of thing. She often has to read a sentence twice to get it right. I know she’s only been at her new school for a month but I feel badly that I’ve disrupted her education by moving schools (no choice). I feel like we’re starting all over again and I’m wondering if I should bring all this to the teacher’s attention right away. She went from a class of 17 to 31 and I’m just worried her struggles will be overlooked, or that it will take awhile for it to be noticed. What is the right way to go about getting her extra help?

Speak to the school’s SENCO and ask them to assess her reading ability. Schools really should be doing this at the start of the year anyway.
do you have any data or school reports from the old school that might be useful to show the SENCO?

Yes, it would be easy to obtain school reports to pass along. I guess I figured that she would have already been assessed and given support again but it hasn’t happened yet. I wasn’t sure if I could contact the SENCO directly, this is all new to me.

Schools tend not to pass on info which means the new school starts from scratch.
it depends how the school works but I’d either go straight to the senco or to the teacher first and explain what she was having at the last school. Say you suspect dyslexia.

also have a look at dyslexia screening. Ideally in school but if not then somewhere locally. It’s not a full assessment but gives you a clearer idea and won’t cost the earth.

I finally convinced my DSs school to assess him for dyslexia in Yr 2, having suspected it for 2 years by then. Having a reason for why he found d things so hard made every different to his confidence so if you suspect I would definitely raise it with her teacher and senco.

It could just be the disruption of the move of course. So be ready to explain whether its just reading or you've noticed other relevant things. With my DS it was frequent reversing of opposites ("I'm too cold!" while stripping his coat off; "Daddy's gone upstairs " pointing downstairs etc), and difficulty following more than 2 steps of instructions. If its dyslexia there are likely to be other signs.