anyone with experience of Dyslexia Action??

[becaroo]

I am in touch with my local branch with a view to possibly getting my 7 year old ds1 tested for dyslexia.

I have an app booked to see the head tutor for a free 30 min consultation on sept 2nd to discuss ds1 and his issues with literacy.
The full assessment is £450 and they also offer specialist dyslexia teaching but 1 hour per week cost £38!

I am quite happy to pay for my son to get the help I think he neeeds, but I am just worried that - from a financial point of view - it is in their interests to tell me he needs to be assessed IYSWIM??
(We cannot get funding as he is now home schooled.)

Perhaps I am just being cynical??

Okay DA is a charity. The assessment is by an Educational Psychologist, and costs that much because it takes half a day and then you get a huge report.

However 7 is young to be assessed. Personally I would go for the tuition without the assessment, and the tuition works if a child is dyslexic or not (as told to me by tutors for DA).

You maybe able to get financial help with getting an assessment if you are seriously struggling. If your child was at State school you would get no help with it, but could request the LA assess your son. However they would probably be unlikely to do this at 7.

The best thing about an assessment is that if the problem is not dyslexia, this could be picked up, eg. a friends son was spotted as being ASD at his dyslexia assessment.

Dyslexia tuition is expensive as it is done by highly qualified professionals, although sometimes you can get shared lessons.

I have had a couple of consultations for free with the principle of another dyslexia charity, and she gave some very simple and invaluable advice, which really helped us a lot. So I would put your cynicism on one side and see what they have to say. But if you have concerns, there usually is a problem (as my GPs say).

Thanks mummytime.

I am definately going to the app in sept. Will see what they say.

If you look around you can find assessments that are cheaper than this. The cheapest I have seen start at about £350 which although expensive is still £100 cheaper than Dyslexia Action. There are also specialist tutors who will teach for less than the price you have been quoted, some charge £25 an hour. Try contacting The British Dyslexia Association who will be able to give you details of your local branch which should have a list of assessors and tutors local to you. The BDA's phone number is 0845 251 9002. Another option is to try a web search for assessors. I have seen a number of them who advertise online.

I did manage to get my daughter tested at our state school although they waited until she was seven as testing earlier than this can be counter productive. Talk to your school senco, they should meet with the local psych ed team on a regular basis, tell them that you want your child's needs to be discussed. I did have to fight for my daughter to be tested but as she was tested at school she now receives a lot of support in class and extra one to one sessions with a senco and a councellor who helps her with the social aspects of dyslexia. I would try to get the help from your school first before paying out for tests which the school may ignore.

I was very unimpressed with dyslexia action when I rang them. I felt they were all about selling me their services.

You don't need a dx of dyslexia. It won't get you anything. What you need is to help your child with his problems (Reading? Writing? Spelling?). You can do that through tutoring or a variety of other ways.

We have just started lessons with Dyslexia Action, my DS is 8 and had a teacher planning interview (£105) where he was assessed and a report produced; which was brilliant. He seems to have an issue with auditory processing and we are going to get referred via the GP for a test for that.

So I have just paid £400 for a weekly lesson intil Xmas (well my Step Dad paid and we are skint and desperate to help DS!).

I really like his teacher, worked with him brilliantly, DS seems motivated and loving the 1-2-1.

So we are doing it and just seeing how it goes.

we are just about to get our 14 year old son assessed by DA, so I'm hoping its worth the money. We are lucky that if he is assessed as dyslexic the Army will give us the money back, but I am also livid it has taken this long to get anyone to listen. We have had to battle the school he"s at to say we think there is something wrong, but we didn't know which avenue to take. In one way Im hoping he is dyslexic so we have somewhere to go.

FROM My post above - an update!!

Dyslexia Action are FAB FAB FAB FAB!

DS1 aged nearly 10 has been having weekly lesson for nearly two years. We did not pay the £450 but £95 teacher planning assesment. And it is really helping, I have to take him out of school, with their permission, so he misses an hour of school a week and I drive like a carefull loonatic to get him back in time for lunchtime play with sweet treat of his choice. Lunch play is really important to him and so are sweets so it't the pay off we agreed for him to do the lessons. He does a half shared lesson with another boy, which is great for his self-worth eg: with someone like him and his teacher has been dyslexia teaching for over 20 years so is brilliant.

Last year we could not afford the lessons due to both of us facing redundancy, but step Dad stepped in and paid for them. We were so thankfull he did as they do help enormously, just had his end of year assesment and we can see big changes in his abilities with the various test they do.

Hi, I am the Joint Chair of the British Dyslexia Association. We are sad to learn that Dyslexia Action has gone into administration. We are doing everything we can to help parents and adults with dyslexia. We already have a full assessments department, if you need an assessment. We have lots of helpful materials on our website and a specific FAQs sheet on the home page now with helpful information. We will be putting up more offers and information in the next few days so do check it out.

It was such a sad day on Thursday when Dyslexia Action closed it doors for the final time. I was in the Leicester DA centre working with clients as it happened, and it came as a real shock to teachers and psychologists alike.

Core members from the Midlands area teacher and psychologist team are joining together as I type, so that we can continue to support parents, children, employers and schools. A Facebook page has been set up today 'Dyslexia Action Associates' where they can be contacted.

Dyslexia Action Associates will continue to provide , assessments (both teacher and psychologist), specialist teaching and workplace consultations, and this new organisation will evolve.

Former Dyslexia Action psychologists who work throughout the UK can also be contacted on the Facebook page 'Dyslexia Action Psychologists'.

I hope that this helps, and I am so sorry that Dyslexia Action has finished, the staff would be really upset if they lost touch with all of their clients, so please do come back to us :)

So sad to hear that! Hope there is a way forward for you. Just to encourage parents of Dyslexic children that things do work out - I'm SEN teacher and tutor and have done dyslexic training (not half a day at a unit but the proper years training!) Children 2 and 3 are dyslexic as is husband and both now have degrees - one in Dance and the other is graduating this summer with Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice. She is expected to get a First. We had to fight for youngest really hard and her school was awful, but she got through. How can a very academic school (local one) not spot a 98th percentile visual IQ? Other dyslexic child went to a middle of the road school and that was really good! They encouraged her creative skills and she ended up with 10 A* to C (mainly B) and 2 B's and a C at 'A' level and a 2:1 degree. Brilliant! There is a future - just down to fighting the school or choosing a more middle of the road school. That doesn't make it less academic - my daughter's best friend went to Oxford University! There is a future!

There are other dyslexia organisations/charities who may be able to help.

At The Dyslexia Association, we are looking at how we can increase the assessment and tuition services we offer to try and support those children and adults who have lost their tuition/training. Contact us for further information about the services we provide.

This will probably mean we will be recruiting more dyslexia qualified assessors and teachers, so contact us if you are looking for work.
As a result of the news this week our helpline has been very busy, so it may be best to contact us by email.
The Dyslexia Association
Email: [email protected]
Helpline: 0115 924 6888
Admin: 0115 924 6880
Website: www.dyslexia.uk.net

The Dyslexia Association is a registered charity (no 1082345), which has been providing support and services for dyslexic people of all ages, their famiies/carers, educators and employers since 1971.

We are based in Nottingham and work primarily in the East Midlands and surrounding counties.
Dee Caunt, Chief Executive.

The Dyslexia Centre North West is based in Preston, Lancashire and covers most of the North West.

We pride ourselves in offering a friendly, supportive service for both parents and school settings. We offer assessments and tuition with our highly qualified specialist assessors and tutors with Practising certificates.

Dyslexiacentrenorthwest.co.uk