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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Does anyone have experience of Specific Learning Difficulties being diagnosed quite late in the day, i.e. Y10/11??

32 replies

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 20:35

Ds has just been assessed as both needing to use a laptop for as much written work as possible going forward and also as qualifying for 25% extra time in exams. This has not come as a complete bolt from the blue but is quite a surprise (I thought his writing was just a bit rubbish but it is well beyond that ).

Is it quite unusual to get to this age and stage without something fairly major like this being discovered? The report did say it was quite common for coping strategies to get you so far but no further and working for GCSE's was clearly his tipping point.

We clearly need to spring into action, although I'm not quite sure what springing into action consists of (other than buying a laptop!) haven't yet been able to speak to his school, although this has been done via their preferred Ed Psych and I assume they will pick up the baton on this. But any advice on practical matters or other thoughts would be warmly received.

OP posts:

noblegiraffe · 23/08/2017 20:42

It's not unusual, we quite regularly have students diagnosed with dyslexia in sixth form who have managed to get through GCSEs by working their arses off, but can't quite cope with the much larger demands of A-level essay writing.

Get him to do an online touch-typing course to make his typing more efficient and get him to talk to his teachers about how best to make use of his extra time for their subjects. The SEN department at school should also have tips for him.

His mocks will be a good chance to put this into action and you should carefully review his performance afterwards. Usually any work done in extra time is done in a different colour so you can see how many extra marks he picks up and whether he is using his extra time effectively.

Original poster

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 21:35

That's very interesting, thanks. Really good idea around the extra time work in a different colour - I'll check whether the school do that. Ds says quite a few people use laptops and have extra time, so I'm assuming the school will have procedures. We are on the SENCO's radar as DS has been to her general "organisation clinics" in the past.

Interesting to hear that people get diagnosed in 6th form. Part of me is cross that we (the collective we) did not pick up on it before but at least we have the mocks as a genuine trial run, plus I suspect there will be plenty of controlled tests over the next year.

OP posts:

Changerofname987654321 · 23/08/2017 21:45

I was diagnosed a few weeks before A levels and I am now a secondary teacher so I have experienced it from both sides.

Make sure you k ow what his specific issues are e.g. Essay structure, organisation or revision and help him find ways to deal with this. Make sure he is getting his extra time in all assessments in lessons. He will need to check which computer program he will use for his exam (this is often not word) and he will need to use this for all his word to make sure he is familiar with it.

Finally dyslexically inpacts on lots of areas outside of formal education so he may need extra support and encouragement.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/08/2017 21:46

"It's not unusual, we quite regularly have students diagnosed with dyslexia in sixth form who have managed to get through GCSEs by working their arses off, but can't quite cope with the much larger demands of A-level essay writing."

This happened to my friend's daughter. She scraped through her GCSEs and was diagnosed at 6th form college. She struggled with her AS exams and is now going on to do something else.

TeenTimesTwo · 23/08/2017 21:48

End y9 DD was assessed as needing a laptop, which was a massive help for her CAs (now gone of course)
Then DD got a dyspraxia diagnosis December y11. In the Jan (after her mocks) I read on here re the possibility of extra time, so wrote to the SENCO, she did whatever she had to do, and DD got extra time just in time for second mocks in March and then the GCSEs.

In the end DD used laptop for writing heavy exams (i.e. English & History) and all her CAs, but did exams for maths, science and MFLs by hand.

DD2 going into y8 has already been told she qualifies for extra time, but I guess that will need to be re-confirmed end y9. It wasn't much help in y7 though as they did all their exams/tests in lesson time, so extra time not possible then ... She is also trying to use a laptop, but her typing isn't very good yet so it isn't much help.

goodbyestranger · 23/08/2017 21:49

Yes no idea whatsoever that DS4 had any issues until sixth form when one of his teachers said his performance in class was completely at odds with his performance in tests. The school then organised an assessment which proved the teacher completely correct. Very marked processing and working memory issues. Me, clueless. I just put DS's relative under performance in GCSEs down to the fact that he took them when he was 14 (summer born boy etc). Thank goodness some teachers are very alert to this stuff.

IDK · 23/08/2017 22:04

We had the totally opposite experience! I knew something wasn't right but the teachers took no notice and put it down to him being a typical boy. He didn't do as well as he should have done in GCSE but nobody seemed too bothered. He then crashed (relatively speaking) one of his best subjects at AS. I tried to talk to them again. They called my bluff and said that if I thought something was wrong then I should get him tested. So I did and was proved right. I re-read old school reports and realised that his performance in class was completely at odds with his performance in test but none of the teachers had joined the dots.
He was assessed in the autumn term of Y13, in time for the Head of Sixth Form to write a paragraph on his UCAS form to explain previous underperformance.
He has soared since the assessment and extra time.

Original poster

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 22:18

Ds has always massively underperformed in timed work and exams - every report at secondary says things like "I am disappointed in his exam result as it is not reflective of his class work" or some variant thereof. We have only just found out that a large part of this was because he wasn't actually finishing the exams, so was typically missing either some or all of the large 8/9/10 pointers at the end.

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goodbyestranger · 23/08/2017 22:33

Yes same Fernet. It was only when the techer called me that DS said he hadn't completed and GCSE papers at all. He's bright though, so his results were all still A/ A* and so no alarm bell rang.

goodbyestranger · 23/08/2017 22:33

techer isn't great :)

goodbyestranger · 23/08/2017 22:36

IDK what? The school didn't pay for the assessment?

Original poster

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 22:40

Goodbyestranger, that all sounds very similar. It is processing issues for ds mostly, with some dyspraxic traits. His writing speed was on the 2nd centile - eek!

OP posts:

IDK · 23/08/2017 22:41

But any advice on practical matters or other thoughts would be warmly received.

Not practical advice but don't underestimate the psychological effect. It made a huge difference to DS to realise that it wasn't so much a moral failing of his but a fault in the hardwiring of his brain. Once he understood the problem then he could come to terms with it.

Original poster

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 22:46

That is a good point and we are already seeing the upside of this. He is at an academically selective school and has been lagging a bit. I think this is going to really help ds understand that he has some extremely strong areas, and the accommodations should really help bring those to the fore a bit more.

OP posts:

Stopyourhavering · 23/08/2017 22:51

Dh was diagnosed as dyslexic aged 38!....didn't read properly until he was 11 , somehow got the grades at A level to go to uni to study medicine!(1981)... only finally assessed when he couldn't pass a professional multiple choice exam- (problems with short term memory processing)

goodbyestranger · 23/08/2017 22:56

I can see looking back at my other six DC that DS4 isn't unique in the family, he just happened to have a very astute teacher. Mine were all at an academically selective school and it's absolutely clear that at least one DS shares DS4's very significant dysgraphia - I had no experience of this stuff at all, so felt pretty remiss. DS4 still insists he's fine, doesn't need extra help etc despite the EdPsych reports (pre 16 and post 16/ Y11 and Y12) and I'd never previously said he's under performed at GCSE as it seemed a bit mean, despite him being the only DC not to get his predictions. Difficult, not sure he'll claim extra time at uni either and I can't really interfere.

IDK · 23/08/2017 22:58

IDK what? The school didn't pay for the assessment?
Why would they? There wasn't a problem.

Yikes FB. DS had one of his tests at 5th percentile and I thought that that was bad. You'd think that someone would spot 2nd percentile a bit sooner.

Can you imagine the frustration that these lads feel - above average IQ but cannot translate it to paper.

IDK · 23/08/2017 23:04

Difficult, not sure he'll claim extra time at uni either and I can't really interfere.

DS ticked the box for disability. I must admit that part of the reason why I was prepared to pay for the assessment was because I knew that a SpLD would get him a free laptop support at University. I don't know if this is still the case. In his dissertation they were instructed not to dock marks for SPAG errors.

Original poster

FernetBranca · 23/08/2017 23:15

Yes it was a bit of a lightbulb moment when we saw ds's writing speed test scores (there were two separate ones). They were literally on the floor. The lightbulb was that he hasn't actually been doing badly, he's actually been doing really well, considering.

Just have quite a short period to translate that into GCSE's...

OP posts:

Rosieposy4 · 23/08/2017 23:27

Ds2 was not diagnosed until he was at med school, and then given his extra time, laptop etc. Had managed to not hit the radar prior to that, and i though i was quite clued in as both ds1 and 3 are also dyslexic and were getting extra time etc in school exams

Dunlurking · 24/08/2017 06:42

Yes. Dd has always underperformed in exams, with spectacular discrepancies. We finally insisted something was a problem and the school did some limited testing and agreed but the SEN teacher hasn't followed it up the last 12 months so dd hasn't had any extra time, or laptop use, in the GCSEs just done. She refused to chase up the SEN teacher and dh hasn't backed me up in getting a psych assessment. I have just about persuaded him that an underperformance in her GCSEs (today)should make us pay for a assessment.

BasiliskStare · 24/08/2017 07:41

his performance in class was completely at odds with his performance in tests

Like Goodbye and you OP , this was a constant refrain with DS , albeit picked up earlier than Yr 11.
The DC has to think they will benefit from e.g. laptop / extra time. The problem is as many PPs have said that DCs create coping mechanisms. In DS's case they ran out earlier than GCSE - for which ( and I would not have said it then but I will now) I am grateful. It sort of made it something not to be ignored.

My only practical advice would be

find out what the exam board will accept - iirc when DS was going through this, use of a laptop had to be " a normal way of working" - i.e. you can't just use one in the exam if you have handwritten all other school essays / tests.
Again, if I remember rightly, any laptop used for exams will not be the pupil's own laptop , it is one provided (to make sure no information which could be helpful is accessible.)
if a laptop is helpful then yes , being proficient at touch typing is v helpful.

Looking forward, DS is at a well respected university doing an essay based subject and is dyslexic. Plenty are in the same boat as he is. So If your daughter can get through GCSE , then ( I believe it is still the case) you still have to have a post 16 assessment to be able to use laptop etc at university. In DS's case it was a private assessment but once confirmed his particular university refunded the cost of it. (But you would need to check with the particular university) I realise I am running before I can walk there.

Original poster

FernetBranca · 24/08/2017 09:47

I think it will be quite easy to show a laptop is his usual way of working in that they are all allowed to do a lot of their class work on it, just not exams. It actually feels that writing is definitely not his usual way of working, so I would hope with really clear slow writing speed and a recommendation for laptop use, we will be ok. The Ed Psych said that has typing was at a good speed and at this stage in the day learning touch typing is probably not worth it. I think I will have that up my sleeve as a little project for after GCSE's.

As I understand it, the assessment "lasts" for 3 years and he will need to be reassessed before university.

What was clear was that in the raw sense his comprehension and verbal "stuff" was excellent. I'm sort of hoping that just the fact of having extra time and a laptop will do a lot of the "unlocking": actually finishing exams, plus having time to check will make a huge difference. Apparently in the timed writing his spelling deteriorated and his vocabulary became very simplistic, so changing that is really going to help.

Really appreciate everyone's help and thoughts. I'll be on next year's GCSE threads for certain!

OP posts:

IDK · 24/08/2017 10:39

actually finishing exams, plus having time to check will make a huge difference.

Cart before horse! If he has processing issues with some dyspraxic traits then he needs to spend some of that extra time at the beginning of the exam to make sure that he fully understands the task being set unlike my DS who managed to misread the rubric in one exam.

Copperbeech33 · 24/08/2017 18:20

yes it is very common to be diagnosed around year 12.

A few points worth keeping in mind though.

firstly, it can be very difficult for a student to have public attention called to problems and difficulties they have preferred to hide before, it is not always a relief, it can feel like an invasion of privacy.

secondly, be very careful with use of laptops, as they can be a helpful tool, but not only can students become dependent on them, over use will make hand writing deteriorate, and interfere with the maturing of organisational processes in the brain.

thirdly, a diagnosis changes nothing about he student, they still have the same difficulties and they still need the attitude that the only way of compensating is to work harder. Unfair, but true!

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