Dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, asd and NO SUPPORT at ALL at school?

[DopeyDawg]

Posted this in Primary Ed, then suddenly realised it would be sensible to put it here:

After a long battle my LEA have finally accepted that my 11 year old ds has Dyslexia. The private report also lists dysgraphia and dyspraxia.

We also have a 3 year old private ASD assessment which they do not accept (or rather, they simply ignore).

As they accept the Dyslexia assessment I thought we might finally get some support for his learning needs (he is also assessed as gifted in some areas).
Today I had confirmation from the LEA that he will not receive any formal support for learning this year (he has had less than 10 hours over the last 3 years).
The schools own figures show that he has 'gone backwards' over the last 3 years in terms of performance on some of their tests.

Apparently, he doesn't even need an individual learning plan.
Some of the 'strategies' they suggest are 'having a go' at spelling on pieces of scrap paper, marked by peers (there has been a lot of bullying).
Other suggestion have been that he struggles with his work due to his 'English accent' (!)

Can anyone who knows the Curriculum for Excellence tell me if this is acceptable, under this regime, please?

Erm... I feel like you are being a bit topsy turvy now.

I'm worried that your school or education setting is discriminating against students with special educational needs based on your or someone else's prejudice to specific learning difficulties. Could you possibly misunderstood? Jumping to conclusions and taking information literally is a very dyslexic/dyspraxic trait.

Yes, the label is not enough for support - its based on the strengths and weaknesses of the pupil. Perhaps you've heard that, and assumed this means specific learning difficulties are myths?

Us southerners should probably bugger off this thread anyway, Scotland are generally more enlightened than England about educational needs though so hope your DS gets the support he needs. An Individual learning plan is the bloody least they could do.

I was going try to argue with charis but I think there is no point - too much too wrong. I am worried that she sounds like she might be a position of dealing with children with ASN which would be concerning.

I hope no one ever tells my ds that he is brain damaged

I am back to the thread.
I namechanged etc after I was on 'the list' and then had pc probs too.
Sorry for delay.

The 'private assessments'.
The ASD one was done by a very senior NHS Paediatrician who sits on the Board of NICE and practices in St Georges Hosp, London.
The Dyslexia one was done by a senior Ed Psych who advises the Scottish Govt on Dyslexia policy and assesses many children from the Edinburgh public school system so knows her stuff.

The local Mediator has advised me to go straight to Independent Adjudication.
Enquire agree.
Mindroom (an Edinburgh charity) also agree.
Trouble is, IA decisions are not legally binding.

Scotland is not more enlightened about educational needs than England.
Like England it is patchy, but where it is bad there is FAR less framework for enforcing the correct support of a child with SEN.
Have a look at recent articles in The Scotsman about the differentials between teaching hours in diff local authorities for NT kids with no issues, then you can see how it is for SEN/SN kids...

Sorry - STUPID OF ME - should also have said that our local Council now ALSO AGREE that he is DYSLEXIC, although they refer to it as:
'a little trouble spelling' - so not merely a 'private report' any more.

Scotland is not more enlightened about educational needs than England.
Like England it is patchy, but where it is bad there is FAR less framework for enforcing the correct support of a child with SEN.
Have a look at recent articles in The Scotsman about the differentials between teaching hours in diff local authorities for NT kids with no issues, then you can see how it is for SEN/SN kids...

I think this needs to be more widely known.

Are there any legal charities that will help with fighting for SN children in Scotland; like SEN!SOS! or the Coram legal centre in England?

I agree clearbluewater, there is nothing like there is in England. A charity like IPSEA which spends so much of its time on EHCP/statements would not be busy because there is so little that can be enforced. Perhaps what is needed first is a lobbying organisation. Apparently when CSPs were being proposed LA argued against them saying 20% of kids would get one; the reality has been about 0.2%. We have one but it took a year of fighting. Ability to get one isn't even linked to level of support required/degree of ASN just type of support.

mummytime

According to Enquire:
A school MUST accept the findings of a private report, but has no obligation to put into practice any of the recommendations'.

However, it seems that, even when the LA itself acknowledges a condition such as dyslexia, there is no legal obligation, short of a CSP which is almost impossible to get, to make appropriate arrangements.

There is the Govan Law Centre, but they are no longer directly accessible by parents.

There is the Independent Adjudication system, but their findings are not legally binding.
Mindroom, the national charity for children with learning difficulites and differences says that they find the IA system 'immensely frustrating' as Councils simply ignore the findings of the IA should they wish to.

The Scotsman, on 13 August, ran an article showing that pupils in some regions of Scotland received a full 245 hours LESS teaching than pupils in other areas. That equates to 2 whole years of educational input. (this took a FoI request to find out). My local council, which provides 4.5 days education per week, is considering reducing that to 4 days.

That is shocking!

My DC is dyslexic and I struggled to get any support or even acknowledgement. The things I have found most helpful were a book called The Gift of Dyslexia and also an online learning programme called Easyread which has really helped to get my DC decoding efficiently, diagnosed eye tracking problems and how to 'fix' them myself for free. They also claim to be able to get a solid foundation for their spelling but that'll be after she's finished the stage we're at now. I'm having to pay for a maths tutor who recommended using Schofield and Sims Mental Arithmetic books at home, which I have found an excellent help for her. We started at the Introductory Book and worked from there.