Support for dyslexic child

[Glittercandle]

My DS is in yr7, he has multiple special needs including ASD, dyspraxia and dyslexia. When tested by an Ed Psych he has average intelligence, his CATS scores on entering yr7 were 102-107.

I knew his writing was poor but didn’t realise how bad until this school year as I’m seeing his own independent work rather than the heavily supported typing work he produced at primary.

Can a child with significant dyslexia do well at mainstream secondary school or is specialist placement needed? I’m so worried that he will fall further and further behind his peers due to his poor literacy skills.
I have attached an example of his work to show what his writing.

It all depends on the support they're getting really. What sort of support is he currently receiving and does he have an EHCP?

The handwriting doesn't have to be an issue for exams as he can just type them

Exactly, and he is writing quite a lot there which is very promising.

He does have an EHCP but it’s totally woolly, will be reviewed beginning of Jan. He also has some 1-1 hours but am not sure how long that will last.

I just want to make sure I get the appropriate help written in. I live in a county which seem to make it particularly hard to get the help needed.

I mean really a specialist placement won't help either, if he has significant Dyslexia then frankly school can't and won't help. When it comes to SEN you have to take responsibility for your own child. On a note about how to help dyslexiagold.co.uk/ this has some quite good programs.

Has he got a handwriting programme written into his plan? My DD had magic link handwriting on her plan and that helped.
I disagree that a special dyslexia school won't help, it probably would help. How is he doing in his other subjects?
If his plan isnt well written I would look at that as you said and see what he is missing out on. He may need some OT intervention as aside from handwriting he needs his fine motor skills for other things too. Provision in secondary school is a lot harder to come by and often looks different than at primary.

Is touch typing an option?

Good support from a specialist teacher can work wonders. I work with dyslexic students most of whom go on to university. Unfortunately, some LAs have got rid of the specialist teachers and specialist support is only available privately. I would try to get his EHCP firmed up and made specific in his review. If you can afford it, I would consider a private specialist teacher (www.patoss-dyslexia.org) has lists of qualified dyslexia is teachers in different areas

Good to see that there are some who feel specialist help can work, it’s now a matter of accessing it.

LIZS touch typing is an option but he was recently screened as being on the 2nd percentile for typing speed - DS claims he was tired by the time they did that test but even with that in mind he scored very poorly. Unfortunately speak to text doesn’t really work for him due to a speech impediment.

I have to disagree with purpledragon. Both my sons are severely dyslexic and went to a specialist dyslexic school - both had the reading/spelling ages of 5yr/6yr olds when they started in year 8 and year 7. Both developed extremely well with the specialist teaching approaches and both left with 9 / 10 GCSEs. Had they not had the correct specialist provision neither would have made the progress they did as they were failing significantly in mainstream and it was affecting both of their mental health.

Touch typing takes practice and needs to be established as his default mode of working at school. but there is time before exams start in earnest to do so. Alternatively maybe he could have a scribe.