Dyslexia, Has anyone been officially diagnosed and were allowances made for it?

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Hi any advice would be welcome. My DD is 13 and its parents evening tonight. I have no concerns except for her spelling. She has always struggled. How do they test for dyslexia and are allowances made at GSCE level for spelling mistakes if its official?

She's an avid reader, no problems with understanding and content in English just the spelling.

Could it be dyslexia? What is it exactly? I dont want to make a fuss but would like to mention her spelling to the English teacher tonight.

Bump

Have a look at dyslexiaaction.org.uk. There is a list of things to look out for including whether anyone else in the family has dyslexia as it thought to be genetic. Dyslexic children can get extra time in exams as well as things like a scribe or a laptop (depending on what particular problems they have.)

Thanks, I've looked at the website. I will see what the english teacher thinks tonight.

My DS 12 is similar to your daughter, he is being assessed for dyslexia at the moment. He reads well but reluctantly and his comprehension is excellent, but his spelling is awful. He had lots of extra help in primary, with schemes like wordwall, and stareway to spelling, so he just scraped a 4c in his Writing KS2 Sats, but got a 5b in his Reading Sats.

The SENCO has said he may get an alphasmart and he is allowed to do all his homework on computer.
Can you get an appointment with the SENCO tonight, ours was very helpful, but I have been told that the school is very dyslexic friendly because both the Head and the SENCO are dyslexic.

For exams - pupils can be assessed as to what allowances can be made for them eg, extra time, a scribe, use of PC etc. In most exams I am pretty sure that spelling would not be marked down providing it was a reasonable guess at the word & it was recognisable - it would only be something like English where obviously it matters more - however even then I don't think it carries a big weighting.

Christy. Very similar results to DD at that age.

I've seen the English teacher tonight and she has no worries. She just advised her to proof read and the spelling mistakes will jump out . She mentioned that bad spelling will lose 4 marks out of 27 for one part of the year 9 sats, so Whizzz is right. She put my mind at rest that her spelling had clicked this year.

I'd proof read some work recently and was shocked but it had been rushed.

Thanks for the replies.

DD3 16 is dyspraxic and she is getting a scribe and extra time for her GCSE's. If your daughter is dyslexic she should have the same allowences.

my now 12yr old DD2 was assessed and DX finally as severely dyslexic just as she went up to secondary school, just last september.

TBH, the school have been utterly wonderful with extra help, sorting her out with a private tutor for the first term who came to OUR HOUSE, and also setting up scribers and readers for her for her CAT's tests (the ones they do to stream them as they start), and getting the funding ready for the same for when she does her yr9 SAT's.

once she is in yr9, they will then get the funding set up for more scribers and readers ready for her GCSE's, and also funding for a laptop should she still be in severe need. We are lucky tho, as the in-laws stepped in and bought her a laptop anyway , and the improvemnet already is massive.

in fact, she did some test's yesterday to assess her for her next IEP, and her reading age hase jumped from 5.9yrs (she was so very behind ), to 10yrs.........so much so quickly, she is thrilled and her bouncing when she got home was delightful.

her maths and spelling have also leapt, altho not quite so dramatically, but the fact that the improvement is so immense anyway just proves how good everyone is being, and how well DD2's confidence has improved with it too.

I would, for you and your DD, see if you could also ask to see SENCo with her too, as they would be the first port of call if you have concerns......be aware tho it is a long hard slog getting them to do any type of testing......for my DD2 it has been 2yrs on the list to be assesed, and 3yrs before that of me fighting just to get the school to listen to us.......we even had to change schools to get the right response!!!

good luck, and if all else fails, you could go private, altho I have no idea on how that goes as we never ended up going that route.

my ds had allowances for his public exams

he also used laptop for all his work

Hmm very interesting. The thing is she is bright and doing well but the difference in her CATs for the verbal was 20 points below the sciency, maths tests and school didnt pick up on in. Her english has improved dramatically since then but her spelling just isnt keeping up at all. Anyway the teacher wasnt concerned but I'm going to keep a close eye on things once she starts the GCSE courses.

Does she take longer than atoher children to get things writen down? DD3 16 and a few others were assesd for writng sped before thier mocks. The outcome of the assesmrnt was that she and a few others got a scribe and extra time for thier exams.

I think you need her testing now, rather than when she starts GCSE.

Students aren't marked down for spelling, but marks are added on for correct spelling (at least in the subject I teach, but I think this is standard across all GCSE)

If she has a problem she should be withdrawn for extra spelling help.

Having said that, my English colleauges say people can either spell or they can't AND lack of correct spelling is no indication of ability. She MAY qulify for extra time in exams if she has a problem which is why it needs sorting now IMO

The general marker for Dyslexia (I think, but not 100% sure) is when written ability is lower than comprehension and understanding

Also meant to add, that no allowance is made for spelling in exams, but if she is dyslexic she may get extra time

She does take longer to write but only slightly. Her spelling is definatley behind other literacy skills but when I mentioned a few things earlier. She said I AM NOT DYSLEXIC. A classmate is and its very apparent. So I better not raise the subject for a while. Will be keeping a close eye on her writing though.

I was diagnosed as dyslexic as a child-had remidial therapy and had lots of allowances made during GCSE had I wanted them.

BUT it isn't always apparent, that's one of the problems with it.

Taking longer to write is another indication tbh. I teach secondary and mispelling would be one of the things I would think about if she was in my class. I would certainly contact SEN about her. Dyslexia comes in lots of different levels, from very severe to mild.

My ds has spelling problems and writing problems. When I finally had him assessed, he came out as very very bright, but with dyslexia. In fact his IQ was masking his dyslexia and vice versa. I really think you need to contact the school, because the sooner it is diagnosed if she has it, the sooner some strategies can be put in place.

Thanks Fizzbuzz. She sounds similar to your DS and I think it has been masked too by high ability. Trying not to brag, but she has just been praised for an english piece. Teacher had had a second opinion on it and said it was worth a level 7 (year 9 sats looming) though she is in second set for English her writing has matured greatly. When I mentioned her spelling the teacher didnt noticed any mistakes. that's because it was homework and I'd corrected it!