Aaaaargh teacher says DD is thick and will never catch up ........

[tengreenbottles]

i posted on here a few weeks ago ,because my dd was struggling at school ,after being ignored for the whole of reception. When the new teacher started she flagged up that DD was behind and may be dyslexic ,she got her assessed by senco and when i went to speak to her last week ,she showed me the results and then basically said that DD will never catch up and that she will always struggle .I feel as though she has written off DD at just 6yrs old .When i asked if dd was getting any one on one support she said no ,she gets one half hour session in a group once a week and she is listened to read maybe once or twice a week . I just feel so sad for dd that her teacher thinks she is dim and cant even be bothered to get any of the multitude of teaching assistants to spend even 5 minutes a day with her . I have bought a hooked on phonics learn to read program and am going to do 15 to 20 minutes a day with her ,because she will catch up if it kills me

I don't have any personal experience of dyslexia, but wanted to come on and reassure all the Mums that have had truly horrible comments and predictions made by teachers.

My friend has dyslexia and struggled all the way through school with little help. She had only the basic sort of assistance (half hour sessions once a week etc). She and her parents, however, persevered and eventually she went on to college where she was able to access additional help.

She now has a First Class Degree and a Masters and considering going on to do a PHd. She has also got involved in helping dyslexic children in her area and in employed in education herself.

These people that write off dyslexic children are quite simply wrong. They have as much, and in some cases more, potential as any other child.

Here are 3 links, which I'm sure you probably all already know about, but just in case you don't, you may find useful:

The British Dyslexia Association

Dyslexia Action

Dyslexia UK/British Dyslexics

Sounds as if your child's teacher is being a bit lazy! trouble in learning to read is purely a teaching failure in my view (and I have been there). Most children learn to read without having intensive teaching but not all do. That certainly does not mean they can't learn. A good teacher will pick up on the need for extra input and organise it.

I taught 2 of my (undiagnosed but am pretty certain dyslexic) children to read using the Ruth Miskin books - one was seven when I realised the school were never going to do it for him. They are phonics based and I suspect any phonics based system would do the job, but her books are graded nicely and the stories are reasonably engaging.

The basis is to teach your child what has not come to them naturally not just the sounds that letters make but the pairings "th" "sh" etc. That means they can then have a really good crack at decoding words.

I began each reading session with running through the chart of sounds then moving on to reading the book.

The main thing is persistence even through the inevitable whinging that it is boring (and it will be boring for you too).

The one who required the most work is perfectly good reader now and when he is reading out loud and meets a new word you can still hear him breaking it up into the phonic chunks.

I'd say if you plug away at it your DD's reading skills will look very different in 3-6 months.

Tengreen - in DS's school the children needing extra attention to catch up are on a table with a permanent, dedicated, TA. DS's friend was / is on this table - he is bright as a button to talk to, great imagination etc, but did take a long time to read (though he is now fine) and is now catching upon maths. Your dd should be getting more attention!

Just wanted to add, make sure that problems don't come from hearing or vision, amount of kids at our school who start to struggle then they get their eyes tested and that is the problem. Also even if it isn't dyslexia and it is global learning difficulties the school and the teacher have a responsiblity to ensure every child is making progress, so they need to address any memory, motor skills, comprehension, numeracy issues, not just carry on and ignore them. Good luck, i'm sure that with you taking such interest she will do just fine.

My DD is 7 and mildly dyslexic - her school have been quite bad to be honest. We had to pay for her to have a private assessment even though her teacher said she was really struggling, etc. Cost us £400. So we went back to school with the assessment and they've done nothing. I complained to the LEA and got a meeting with the SENCO at school for the first time. They said they'd put her on class action, etc - that was last July and they've done bugger all.

I have given up any hope that the school will ever do anything "formal" about her dyslexia. Had a parent's evening last week and her new teacher seemed much more positive and doesn't think that she is struggling too much, that she's kind of middle of the road. I do think her new teacher is a good teacher and I'm a lot happier with him than the last one.

However I'm sad 'cos I think with mroe support she could be more than middle of the road. I read on here about techniques such as mind maps, etc and I have no idea what they are. I do think the SENCO should be giving more help - but while she's not falling behind they don't. We are paying for 90minutes private tuition in maths a week - not dyslexia specific but its helping. Her Ed Psych at the assessment said that she is very intelligent but that I would have to realise that she will probably never be the most academic of kids and that she will find school a struggle. Sadly I think he's right. She will struggle more than someone without dyslexia.

StipeyKnickers - your experience is exactly why I haven't paid to have DS assesed for dyslexia privately -even though I've suspected since he was 3, that he is dyslexic.

To all those with DC's struggling to read/write I just want to tell you about my nephew who could barely read when he was 11. He was diagnosed with dyslexia at 15, and is now at uni - funnily enough he actually gets help for his dyslexia at university.

No child should be written off just because they are not reading at the "expected" level at age 7. After all, not all daffoldils bloom on the same day.

We were told something similar about ds2 ,special school was mentioned but every assessment he ever had said that he was outperforming where they would expect him to be ,even if he was so far behind that sometimes we wondered what he was doing all day .Statements are just not avaliable here for dyslexics ,dyspraxics etc so we paid.

Guess what after one year at an independent school for children with specific learning difficulties he has made three years progress in one and they are telling me that although he will need a high level of support and understanding we should look for a school which will challenge him academically (his school only goes up to year 8).

I know we are very lucky to be able to access this special help but it makes my blood boil that this kind of support is not avalaible in every area for every child that needds it,most of the children at ds's school will after 2or 3 years go back into mainstream and succeed.At our local school of 2000 poupils he would by their own admission have gone into the bottom set for everything ,they effectively gave up on him.

Makes my blood boil too, we have large numbers of children in year 7 with reading age below 8, many below 7 what are the primaries doing? I remember seeing some documentry about one lea who didn't have any children leaving school illiterate, can't remember where but they had simply decided it wasn't acceptable.

My best friend (now 51) is dyslexic and had to struggle through school when dyslexia hadn't been heard of. I don't think any of us ever thought she was thick or a write off. In the last 15yrs she finally gained enough confidence in herself to start first on A-levels and then a whole load of Counselling courses. She qualified a few years ago, but has gone to university and is doing a related degree.

I am horrified to hear your kids' teachers saying things like this. I know so many adults who were crushed by school in the 'bad old days' and branded thick, when they were just dyslexic. I am really disgusted this is still going on.

It does seem to me from talking to those friends, that the worst thing for them was the lack of self-esteem; they grew up believing they couldn't do it and were therefore thick. I know my best friend had a lovely family, but they didn't question the school's assessment (basically she's a bit dim, much loved but dim). She isn't. Don't let your kids believe it.

Just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone who responded to this thread , i have to admit i felt a bit isolated ,as though it was only my child it was happening to. We have started the reading scheme ,at the beginning to help build her confidence and its going really well ,bit of bribery thrown in for good measure ! I am not giving up on her and if we keep going at this rate ,her reading should be up to standard by easter ,so yah boo sucks to her teacher .Im going to push for the dyselxia assessment as soon as she hits 7 ,i work part time so i have plenty of time to make a real pain of myself to the LEA! I think i might also volunteer to read with the children at school , from what i gather they only have 2 volunteers at the moment so i should be welcomed with open arms .I got the school nurse to come in and do sight /hearing tests with her at the end of last term as i knew she was being asessed at the start of this term ,they didnt flag up any problems ,although i will keep an eye on her sight (so to speak) as my husband has appalling eyesight .

Good for you! A primary school teacher told my mum I'd be lucky if I got a couple of GCSE's I had hoped things had improved in the last 20 years! I got a 2:1 at a good uni!