Dyslexia - would an educational psychologist be best

[Dechap]

My son's (10) school believe he has dyslexia after a screening test.

They sent me an email of dyslexia assessors in our local area who can help with formal assessment, and that is it. TBH, I am slightly disappointed because they're not doing anything until i get an assessment.

The school says he has issues with him phonological processing.

However, would it be better to get an educational psychologist to give him a full assessment? I do have some minor concerns about his behavior - for example, he is very defeatist; he has a tendency to fib or exaggerate things, and he is very, very sensitive and scared about things - won't climb a ladder because he think he'll fall. I was just wondering that is there were some other issues an educational psychologist might be able to find them.
Thanks for any thoughts / suggestions.

my understanding is that an ed psych will cost more, but the assessment will be more comprehensive and look at broader strengths and challenges. Not sure that would encompass some of the mindsets you observe, so before engaging an ed psych I would align on reasonable expectations / what is and isn’t covered.

another element to consider might be timing and availability- ed psychs and (maybe to a lesser degree?) dyslexia assessors are in very high demand and wait times can be significant. If you are 90% sure there is dyslexia (even if that is not the whole picture) it might be good to get him assessed sooner depending on wait times so that the school can initiate interventions.

we had dc assessed by an ed psych recently and they spent time observing dc in the classroom, during play time and then a morning of 1:1 assessments. A friend just had their child assessed for dyslexia specifically and it was a couple of hours (??) in the assessors home studio. I had to wait longer for our assessment and paid about 2x. Our decision to use an ed psych was driven by lack of certainty that it is dyslexia- she was borderline on the screener, but is clearly struggling with several aspects of schoolwork and emotional fallout from that.

It very much depends on what your hope is from the assessment - if the main aim is a dyslexia diagnosis, then a dyslexia assessor will likely be cheaper than an EP. If you'd want to develop a more holistic understanding of his profile of needs then an EP is probably a better bet. Do also check that, if you'd go down the EP route, that they would be happy making a diagnosis if the profile fits it and that's what you'd want. Dyslexia is fairly controversial within the EP profession and many won't make a diagnosis - some local authorities also have policies for their EPs not to formally diagnose (less likely with a private EP but worth being aware of).

Also important to point out though, that school are totally in the wrong saying they won't provide support or make adaptations until an assessment has been carried out - support in school is needs-led not diagnosis led and if they've identified that he has some specific literacy difficulties then they should absolutely be putting measures in place to help with that. If school are difficult about that, it could be worth contacting your local SENDIASS who should be able to advise and are a free service.

Is there anything in particular you think the the school could do that would help him? Have they got a set of overlays they could try him with to see if any help? Support should be based on need rather than assessment.

When it comes to fibbing and exaggerating I would put those down to low self esteem. Being defeatist and very sensitive again could be low self esteem, and being scared of everything could be low self esteem/anxiety. These could be part of his Dyslexia 'NDness' and linked to struggling at school perhaps or they could be part of something more ie ASD.

There would need to be more to it though for it to suggest ASD, for example is he very literal, black and white in thinking or struggle with transitions. Does he have subjects he is obsessed with and talk at you about them, does he stand too close to people when he talks to them or does he struggle with friendships at school.

Personally if he doesn't have any social issues then I'd see someone who specialises in dyslexia but also talk to them about your other concerns as they may say they're not unusual in kids struggling with dyslexia. If you think he has several red flags for ASD then I'd go for the ed psych and get a bigger picture. Good luck, I h9pe your son gets the help he needs.

Hi OP, I am an EP and would agree with pp that you are probably better going with a specialist dyslexia assessor unless you have concerns about other aspects of your DS' development. There are some EPs that specialise in dyslexia, but most are 'generalists' and oftentimes a specialist dyslexia teacher will have more relevant assessment equipment and more knowledge and experience than an EP. They are also more reasonably priced!

The school are being totally unreasonable not putting in any support without a diagnosis though. Support should be based entirely on need, not diagnosis!

Thanks - useful to know.
The results of the screening came as a total shock. We didn't have any indication - he was doing well with his school work, was engaged etc. IHis year 6 teacher noticed problems with his handwriting which prompted her concern.

I don't believe there are any other concerns - its just if there are issues with ASD or anything like that (although i don't think there are) it might be worth the expense of getting an EP.... but from reading these posts i think an assessor would be best, and it would be best to get one asap and start the journey.

Sorry to jump on board here with my own son's case, by my 10 year old has been having 11+ tutoring for a term with a very experienced specialist primary teacher with 40 years experience. She told us today that despite being very bright he has a slow processing speed and that she is very confident he has dyslexia. I have dyslexia as do my three sisters and my husbands's sister. We don't have a huge amount of spare cash and so ideally we wouldn't spend a fortune on getting him diagnosed. But he has been on a waiting list for two years for an ADHD assessment with CAMHS and I'm wondering if it is a possible processing issue, would be better seen by an EP rather than a specialist dyslexia teacher. He was also assessed at 3 for sensory processing disorder /autism by the local CAMHS after concerns raised by his very experienced childminder. They were in two minds about whether he was but then the symptoms lessened and so they said to keep an eye on it. But then COVID happened and the rest is history. Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks