Dd2 is a poor speller. Dyslexia or just a poor speller?

[Trewser]

She's in year 12. She's very bright but her spelling is poor. She's just proudly sent me the end of an essay that she got 87% for and i the last para she spelt 'permanence' as 'permance', perhaps as 'prehaps', influence as 'influnce'. School mention it occasionally but nothing more. Her lowest gcse was a 6 in English Language.

I'm a really good speller so I really notice it, but am I overreacting? I don't mention it to her anymore.

Maybe ask the school? I would guess that this is not unusual. I couldn't spell at all until I got to uni. I now write for a living and can definitely spell!

What's her pronunciation like?

Does she say 'prehaps' perhaps maybe?

Those 3 examples looks to me more like saying it wrong and thus spelling it wrong too.

(My DD2 is a poor speller, she has poor clarity of speech and can't always hear all the syllables in a word if she's saying it to herself.)

Are there other signs like not enjoying reading, slow reader, found it hard to grasp time tables? My niece is super bright but her grades were average. Didn't add up. Turns out she has mild dyslexia.

She's very disorganised, likes reading but only on a kindle. Clumsy! Bright but panicky! Terrible handwriting.

Look at dyspraxia too. There is overlap.

DD1 - dyspraxia.

• disorganised, clumsy, poor handwriting

also

• sensitivity to taste & textures, and some other stuff too

You could always ask the school/college/6th form whether they would be able to do a dyslexia test. I’m not saying she is/isn’t dyslexic but it would give a definite answer and maybe point you both in the right direction for help to improve her spelling.

You could pay for an assessment but in all likelihood, nothing will change at school. Schools don't have any resources to help with dyslexia beyond basic arrangements. There is certain no help with learning strategies for spellings! I've also been told it doesn't count for anything in exams, e.g. no leeway is given for bad spelling if dyslexic. This is a change in recent years apparently. Given this, unless she is doing essay based A levels like English, I would not pursue it esp if you'd need to go privately for assessment (up to £700).

Just to add to above, the assessments done in schools are pretty basic. Only an Ed Pysch or trained dyslexic assessor can really give a response either way.

@FantasticMrMouse perhaps I should have said dyslexia screening rather than dyslexia test. This will provide an indication as to whether it is worth pursuing a full test from an educational psychologist.

Additionally I wasn’t stating the school would definitely provide help in the form learning support but they would possibly be able to point the OP in the right direction in finding some strategies for her DD whether that be the learning support department themselves or looking elsewhere such as dyslexia support groups/websites.

I do agree with you that schools provide very little support when it is not required and unless it will be useful for the OPs DDs A levels/further education a full assessment may be unnecessary.

I should have been more clear in what I said before.

Hi @Neim that's fine and largely I agree with you. The schools are sympathetic but their hands are tied. Gone are the days when they pushed for additional resources and formal assessments for children with dyslexia.
Our experience is that the teachers are supportive but don't know where to start. If another SENCo sends us a link to Nessy..
We have the money to self fund should we need it but it worries me that other DC are missing out on some strategies that could really help.

She sounds like my dd2 who is mildly dyslexic.

We paid for a private screening (£50) school are accepting that and give her support such as extra time for class tests, access to various types of software, additional literacy course etc

As MrMouse said, we've been told there's not much that can be done in the way of extra time for formal exams etc We can also afford a private diagnosis if it's needed in the future (I think it might be useful at University level?)

tbh, the main benefit for us has been the boost to dd's confidence. She now knows that she's not stupid, it's not her fault and there are strategies she can put into place to cope. She's only Yr 8 and at the moment it looks like she probably won't take a language at GCSE because she would struggle too much and it affects her anxiety/self esteem.

Given this, unless she is doing essay based A levels like English, I would not pursue it esp if you'd need to go privately for assessment (up to £700)

She's doing three essay based subjects! There aren't many A levels that don't have essays or long answers in them.

It's more her self esteem as a pp said. She's really hard on herself.

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/children/is-my-child-dyslexic/signs-of-dyslexia-secondary-school-age

Private assessments are worthless and schools don’t accept them for exams - best get a test via the school

A screening will help with understanding her weak points, organisation, spelling, memory, etc
She may be ale to use a laptop to help with spelling in her exams as long as that is her usually way of working - she needs to this now for exams in 18 months time as the school haven to show her method and apply to each exam board

That's interesting about the laptop, she did mention something about being asked if she wanted to use one the other day. Can you use spellcheck in exams then?

Interesting she's doing 3 essay subjects at A levels. Mine has an aversion to writing long passages and reading, so I strongly suspect it will be Maths, FM and Physics for mine!!

Well she enjoyed maths, got a 7, but certainly didn't want to take it further!

Nessy do an online dyslexia screener for £12 per student ( Dyslexia Quest) but it only goes up to age 16.

I have a 10 year old DD in a state primary school - they organised (and paid for) two sets of comprehensive testing with an Ed psych at age 7 when they suspected dyslexia and at the beginning of this term to confirm things. Very high VR and NVR, very low WM. Achieving well below potential.

She has had a lot of 1-2-1 help, school have suggested moving her to a laptop ASAP and she will qualify for an additional 25% of time in exams.

DD2 is very dyslexic and finds screens easier to read than printed text. Does your DD, when reading aloud, skip words, or add words in? It might be worth finding an optician who does Scotropic syndrome testing, as that was a complete game changer for DD2. The tailored coloured lenses helped her hugely (apart from when teachers made lovely coloured power points which DD could no longer read because of the glasses!). It is worth getting a diagnosis, as allowances are made for dyslexia in exams.

On the other hand, DM was a teacher and she always said there were people who could spell and people who couldn't and they weren't always dyslexic...

DD1 was finally screened at school - but it came back with memory issues but not worth perusing further.

Which leaves us with a child who is really struggling with spelling.

We have though dyspraxia fits - but as we can't afford private assessment and area we are we seem to be stuck getting anything further.

Despite the name Remedial-Spelling-Made-Easy has proven useful for spotting problems though we're still working through it its stalled under GCSE work.

Otherwise - TTRS which is mostly a typing program but teaches it looking at word and word groups might be helpful.

We keep having the problem spelling pointed out but no-one seems to have any suggestions of what we can do to support her.

We spent a lot of time through primary school doing spelling programs at home but she is still struggling.

She did have two years of one to one help at school in years 7 and 8, which taught her to touch type, but she doesn't seem to type any more. I will talk to her about it over xmas and also see what her report is like.

'Private assessments are worthless and schools don’t accept them for exams - best get a test via the school'

A private assessment isn't worthless if your dc is thinking of going to University - it will be necessary for dsa.

Schools can accept the scores from a private assessment for exam arrangements if the assessor follows the advised procedure, which is to contact the school before the assessment and ask for part A of form 8.

Private assessments are absolutely not worthless, but it's important to speak to the school's SENCo and get their advice about who to approach to conduct the assessment. We had our DS assessed for dyslexia last year by someone recommended by the school. The report she generated has been critical in getting him the support he needs and is the criteria by which he gets extra time, extra support and even entry to a specialist (albeit private) school for dyslexic DC.

One more thing - if you wait to get an NHS diagnosis of dyslexia these days in most areas you'll be waiting forever! We were told that the NHS no longer has the capacity to conduct these assessments, so if you wan to get your DC assessed then private is the only option.