DS15 Y(YR11) just been assesses as dyslexic What can I expect from school?

[TwigTheWonderKid]

DS went for a private Ed PSych appointment Monday. I'd had nagging doubts there was something a bit "off" with him since primary but both primary and secondary schools had reassured me nothing was wrong.

Finally decide to trust my gut and it turns out I was right which is great because he's really been suffering from anxiety and hopefully we can get all the stuff in place he'll needot help with A levels. However, he's obviously got 6 weeks left of his GCSE course and I am wondering what, if anything, school can or should do at this stage with this new information? Obviously if they'd know at the beginnning of Year 10 he would have had a laptop all the way through and extra time. The next 6 weeks are all about mini assessments to " fine tune" the teacher's CAGs but I kind of feel like his need a total overhaul rather than "fine tuning" but I'm not sure what's reasonable to expect?

Ok, firstly, you need to understand that a private assessment carried no weight in a school. That is because there is no quality control. There may be excellent independent assessors around, but there are also those that diagnose whatever the parents pay them to diagnose

Secondly, dyslexia is a very broad term, with no specific definition, and most students who carry the label do not receive or require much in the way of additional support or consideration. Although, of course, it is useful to some extent that teachers are aware, but in reality, a quarter of a class may have the label, whereas a completely different subset of students may actually be showing the traits.

Laptops are not recommended, students with difficulties like this should be encouraged to write by hand. It strengthens and improves coordination, and developed neurological organisation in a way that laptops just don’t. It can seriously disadvantage a student to become reliant on laptops

Your son will be assessed according to his normal way of working. Neither an official, or private diagnosis of dyslexia, or anything else is relevant to this. School records are used, and evidence of how the student is normally supported is the basis for assessing what support is required in assessment.

So what has he had in the last few years? That is what he gets in assessment. Has he needed a TA to prompt him to continue to work, for example? If so, then that should be supplied during exams too.

Having said that, the time for collecting and collating evidence of normal way of working is long past.

I’m not really sure what you are expecting of the school, to be honest. I suggest you contact his head of year and explain what it is you want. Leaving aside the word ‘dyslexic’ , what specific recommendations for support were made in the assessment? Even if the school is unlikely to accept the assessment itself, they might be able to consider any specific recommendations separately

With 6 weeks to go I would expect very little. It feels like a last minute clutching at straws to get a boost as the course comes to an end.

To have exam access arrangements for examined assessments, it needs to be the candidate's usual way of working, which usually involves assessments that are ok-ed by school, a SEN plan that is implemented in all their assessments over a period time, and this evidence is used to justify the access arrangements.

You could discuss the recommendations from the report with the SENco and see what can be implemented in lessons to support DC's learning, but it's well past the time to affect the exam arrangements.

@dane8 his spelling is awful but his reading is good. But it is really all about his processing speed (plus other things like tracking). He's basically in the bottom 13% for processing and in the top 10% + for cognitive ability so he's been able to compensate but it's got harder as his courses have become more text heavy.

Essentially we've always been fobbed off. One of his English teachers recently expressed surprise at the mismatch in his oral work/ideas compared to his writtten work and his lack of ability to understand what he was reading, but clearly wasn't qualified to join the dots.

Am not expecting any help related to funding. I am a school governor and I am fully aware that he will not attract any funding. But I am interested to know what levels of emotional support and help with coping strategies he might be able to expect.

@Wingdefender, do you work in a school? I find what you say really depressing, especially as it is a world away from what he can expect, or will be entitled to, when he goes to university. If what you say is true of all secondary schools then that is a tragic state of affairs.

@LolaSmiles we had the assessment because I have seen my usually happy, bright boy become increasingly withdrawn and anxious and watched him vomit with fear every time he has to do a test or knows he'll have to read in front of hs class. I was clutching at straws, but not in the way you are insinuating.

Can you please explain to me what the phrase " usual way of working" means?

You have completely misunderstood the situation. The English teacher is spot on. She has named his issues. You say she is ‘not qualified to join the dots’ but she IS qualified, and there are no fits to join, not in the way you mean. The first begin and end with what she said.

You are looking for something which doesn’t exist. He has some specific areas of weakness. That is what the teacher identified. That is the data the school have. That is the data your son has. That is the data that will be used in assessments. You refer to ‘new information’ in your OP, but fundamentally there isn’t any, other than one private assessors gave one particular, vague, subjective label, which is irrelevant.

(And will still be irrelevant at university)

I don’t think you have really grasped what SEND actually means. You seem to think your son has crossed some dirt if boundary from one group of students into another. That’s not what’s happened. You have just said the school was already aware of his weaknesses. The ‘assessment’ doesn’t add or change anything. It’s us the weaknesses that are important, not the vague, subjective label, particularly when it has been bought and paid for

I hope this clarifies the situation for you.

Just contact his year head, like I said. Discuss what problems he had, how you can support him, any recommendations suggested in your private assessment, etc

@Wingdefender, I must be really thick but no, I am finding it hard to grasp what you mean.

When you say I am "looking for something that doesn't exist" and refer to "vague, subjective labels" are you suggesing that SLDs, like dyslexia do not exist?

Absolute rubbish that 1/4 of the students in a class have a ‘diagnosis’ of dyslexia, the estimate is that 1 in 10 may have it, far fewer are diagnosed. It’s a very standard assessment which is in depth and takes a few hours and can only be performed by a qualified Ed psych or qualified teacher with an additional assessor qualification. These people are professionals with integrity it doesn’t matter whether it’s paid for or not.
I think for GCSE it is really too late but I would suggest you pay for some sessions with a trained specialist teacher to assess access requirements going forward. If the school provide nothing their ‘normal way of working’ will be doing them a disservice. If you have a bright child who works hard you’ll get fobbed off because although your child will not be totally failing or disrupting the class but they will probably be far below their potential. SEN doesn’t feature much in teaching training, if you have the money pay for help from a qualified professional. The whole rhetoric of not using labels seems mainly to exist to avoid the need to put resource into giving additional help. There’s huge value in having a proper diagnosis of dyslexia for the individual self esteem and because it is recognised by name in the DDA which provides protection from discrimination.

Dyslexia and the diagnosis you have written are two different things, I’m dyslexic but my daughter has slow processing, above average ability, it just takes her her a long time to process the info she is reading, for example she needs to read something several times before she ‘gets it’ once she has got it she retains it, it just takes a lot longer, she has an extra 20 minutes in exams. Dyslexia is completely different.

Also mind maps help my daughter, she has to write a minimum of three types of maps for it to ‘stick’,her homework takes hours!

There are many causes of slow processing speed, however it is characteristic of dyslexia. Of course it’s not the only deficit

@LolaSmiles we had the assessment because I have seen my usually happy, bright boy become increasingly withdrawn and anxious and watched him vomit with fear every time he has to do a test or knows he'll have to read in front of hs class. I was clutching at straws, but not in the way you are insinuating.

Can you please explain to me what the phrase " usual way of working" means?
I'm not insinuating anything, just that it's getting to the end of the course and now there's a push to see what can be done. Usually substantial concerns about learning needs would have come up long before the end of Year 11.

Usual way of working is exactly that, that a student has a range of access arrangements that are their typical way of working.
For example, some of my students have used laptops or had access to a scribe from year 8 or 9. Some sit their exams in a separate room due to mental health issues and they're unable to cope in the main exam hall. Some students have rest breaks due to medical issues or physical disabilities. These students will have had these arrangements in place in their mock exams, and often during in class assessments, often with their papers annotated by staff to show where the arrangement was applied. We then have a body of evidence to show the child's SEN/medical needs, usually we keep a sample of work before the access arrangements were implemented, then we keep copies of assessments with the arrangements. When it comes to submitting access arrangements to the exam board, we have proof that the arrangements we are implementing for their GCSEs are typical of the adjustments already in place.
There is a deadline to submit these arrangements to the exam boards.

Our school don’t facilitate anything apart from extra time (presumably plus anything in an EHCP but they don’t have many children with those). They did assess everyone for that though I think. Did he have any assessments? You could ask the school. If his processing is on the 13th centile he may not have qualified in the test. As above there is a cut off date to apply so not much you can do now for gcse. They’re not full exams so would it help him much anyway?

I opened this thread as my DD is y11 and I am thinking of trying to arrange a formal assessment as she has a collection of varied difficulties.

However, I suspect the previous posters are right, there is not much chance of anything being put in place for GCSEs. The best you can probably hope for is for access arrangements for A levels.

DD has slow processing. This was assessed in y7 and re-confirmed in y9. She qualified for extra time, but then lost it for some subjects as she wasn't making good enough use for it. There are tests the SENCO can run, they have to score below a certain level to qualify for extra time, and then it has to become their usual way of working, with benefit shown (eg moving to a different coloured pen).

You are right that his high cognitive ability will have helped mask slower processing but as the work gets harder it causes more issues. I honestly have no idea whether bottom 13% for processing would be 'slow enough' to qualify for extra time.

I would
a) contact SENCO / HoY to inform them of results (and why you organised the test) and enquire whether it is too late for them to assess for extra time for GCSEs
b) if he is staying on for A levels, ask them to assess anyway for A levels

Unfortunately, if this is the first they have heard from you my guess is you won't get very far for the GCSEs, but it may still be beneficial for the A levels.

I am myself in the process of reviewing the info I have had on DD over the years to then ask the school & college SENCOs about further assessments for my DD as there is still more going on than we understand.

Hindsight is a marvellous thing.

As a teacher and a parent of a son with dyslexia I'd ignore Wingdefender! No idea what she is going on about. My son uses a laptop and it has helped him enormously with his writing, hand writing things hinders him and his SENDCO is absolutely of the opinion that using a laptop is the way to go in order for him to fulfill his potential.
It might be a bit late now for his GCSEs but there should definitely be some things put in place to support him through A-Levels.

We were very similar to you. We had my son assessed in year 7. He is now year 12. The school do recognise private assessments as currently there is one who will diagnose dyslexia. My son is also good at reading but spelling and writing is poor. He gets extra time in exams and can use a lap top if he wants. When he was younger he missed French for extra lessons to help catch up or with homework. He also had access to an online programme. School don't provide any support as he's now in 6th form but I think it's important that his teachers are aware. Also it really helped him getting the diagnosis. He was really struggling and the Ed psy made it very clear that he's not stupid (which is how he felt) but he learns in a different way.

The standard in my school is 25% extra time in exams. Possibly a computer to read the text or a scribe to write for him.

You're too late for this year but you should look into it for further education. We still scribe and read for A Levels.

Is he 16 yet? What does he plan to do post gcse?

Going forwards a Post 16 assessment will help with exam access arrangements and adjustments such as laptop use or scribe, extra time if appropriate, through to university if he is likely to go. "Usual mode of working" means using these adjustments in class, internal assessments and so on over a period of time and teachers endorsing it. For extra time it may be that internal exams are noted where extra time is used by changing ink colour or font at end of normal time. JCQ is the body which issues guidance to schools for access arrangements for external exams.

@TwigTheWonderKid

Have you had an EdPsych report?

If so does it give specific recommendations - such as extra time in exams, or laptop use?

@tickingthebox73 we'll receive the full report by next Monday but we had a Zoom meeting the day after the assessment when the Ed Psych briefly went through the results and her initial finding was dyslexia and hyper mobility. She mentioned that DS should be entitled to extra time and should be allowed to type rather that write (as much for the hyper mobilty as the dyslexia). I realise that once we get the full report we'll be in a better position to know exactly what kind of support we should be asking for and also how we can support him at home.

I am hugely relieved that we've caught this before his A levels when I gather a lot of students really begin to flounder, especially as one of his A levels is History which is obviously very text heavy.

Whilst I am incredibly grateful that he won't have to sit formal GCSE exams this year I guess I'm cross with myself and a bit with school (though am fully aware of how common it is for schools to miss these things with kids who appear to be doing ok but I did approach the SENDCo with my concerns last year and then lockdown happened an he was overlooked) for not having realised sooner what was going on. It all seems so obvious now and totally explains the massive gap between his effort and achievement, why he has dropped down sets in some subjects and why he has become so incredibly anxious about school.

Try not to worry or feel guilty. My DS who had dyslexic tendencies at primary, coped at secondary but never quite got the grades. Started at a fab 6th from college and within 2 weeks issues were picked up asssed and computer and extra time.put.in place. His hand writing is 30% speed of normal . He now getting great marks A's and B's and hopefully off to uni in September. They know and will part pay for the formal post 16 assessment when he gets there

What I found was the school won't do anything until they get the report. However I would be making meetings with them now as his grades will be dependant on the scores hes got in internal tests for which he will not have had extra time.

The school will want time to read and analyse the report (is he staying at this school for A-level? If not they may not want to know....as it's essentially too late for him)

If it were me I absolutely would be emphasising the fact that he should have had 25% extra time on exams.

You may have to bite your lip a little, with DS1 although he was younger, I had a lot of "oh he's fine, he's just an average student" when I questioned whether there was a problem. Then after he was diagnosed "oh well he's obviously dyslexic..."

The same with DS2 (who frankly I only had tested because of his brother! Even I didn't think he was dyslexic)

On a practical level I absolutely would not switch him to a laptop immediately - I would get him on a touch typing course over the summer and start him on a laptop to coincidence with A-Levels.

Again although mine were younger it does take a while to get used to it as a "usual way of working"

With an essay subject like history he will need to type at a high speed so you need to make sure he can achieve this.

For the hyper mobility you may need an ot referral to get it confirmed and look at ways to support him ie writing slope or using side of A4 folder to lean on, good posture, finger/wrist exercises etc. Can he touch type yet? If not he needs to decide if typing would be any quicker and less tiring.

Yes chat to head of year and take it from there, I would have thought extra time/laptop etc

I have no idea what @Wingdefender is speaking of. It’s very old fashioned to think children should still be forced to write and laptops won’t help them. Really wingdender you seem dismissive of the whole notion of SEN

@TwigTheWonderKid some absolutely horrendous posts on this thread!

I am severely dyslexic as is my son. He was only diagnosed at the age of 18 (last year of A levels), I was only diagnosed in my 20s.

If your son plans to go to university, you will find they have amazing provision for dyslexics. My son refused all extra help as he wants to do things on his own but please know that if your son chooses a path of further education, bizarrely the help is much better at that point!

His dyslexia means he has trouble writing - he didn't write at school till he was 7 (yet remained undiagnosed for so many years despite us asking!). What rings clear to me from your post is the anxiety your son suffers - my son also suffered with this and I think it's the stress of knowing they can't do things as well as they think they should. To be honest, the best help you can get him now is someone who understands this frustration and helps him deal with it.

We got DD assessed at the age of 8. Schools have been next to useless because she is bright and quiet. She had a little reading intervention in primary and has had odd bouts of intervention at secondary. Her Secondary school had a copy of her EP report before she started, I have sent this several times since, reminded teachers at parents evenings most were unaware (which showed up in some of the comments made by them). She is also in year 11 the first lot of timed assessments she received no extra time whatsoever but its ok because they would be doing more tests!!!
All she we has received is if they remember and its convenient for them she might receive 25% extra time in some tests.