dyslexia????

[finjade]

Hi this is my 1st time on this forum.My partner has dyslexia and ive had suspicions about my son 5 having dyslexia.The teacher agrees with my concerns.He has poor memory skills numbers and words back to front etc she has referred him for assesment as hes already on an i.e.p. I had an appointment with the dyslexia institue this week and they cant diagnose until they are 7. At this moment he is going to have an overlay test to see if coloured overlays will help him for the time being. His school are been very helpful and are willing to talk to the dyslexia institute in what ways they can help him. What ireally wanted to know is when he gets assessde by the school can they diagnose dyslexia or is it just learning difficulties and what happens then does he get extra help or is there suggestions on what ways he can be helped???
I didnt realise there is little help for children with dyslexia until now i am currently training to be a teaching assistant and i asked how much a course would be to help children with dyslexia and the cost is £4000 i cant afford this so what else can a person do?

It very much depends on the school expertise and the severity of the dyslexia. About 4% of the population have dyslexia, there are those who believe that actually as many as 1 in 10 of us has some degree of dyslexia. There are two main 'types' of dyslexia and each individual has a different set of issues, so what help is available varies. Sometimes it is so severe that a statement is appropriate, but normally a child will be placed on the SEN register as 'school action' which basically means the school is aware and the teacher is working to accomadate the child's needs so that they can access the curriculum. Sounds like the school is supportive and on the ball.
www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/about-dyslexia/parents/getting-help-for-your-child.html

I would suggest you read up a lot on dyslexia, and see if your local dyslexia association runs workshops. Mine does, it costs £16 a year or £20 for a school, and their meetings can be very informative.

Courses to train specifically to help dyslexic children (for TAs etc.) should be funded by the school SEN/training budget, which is why it is £4000. But you can learn a lot of helpful techniques before that.

Another useful site is the Being Dyslexic website.

Good luck!

thankyou i have done nothing but read up on this i have currently started my son on "toe by toe" and im at the dyslexia institute on monday for colour testing so i will ask about them thankyou for your advice.

£4000 sounds very expensive fro training.

Are you near a university? Some offer specialist training courses for TA's.

Hi finjade, wondering if your la might offer courses for TAs.
Your son might also enjoy wordshark on the computer. Toe by toe is very good, but I have found it more suitable for children who are a lot older. We also use the direct phonics scheme in school for 20 mins a day and it seems to be working a lot for our children.
With very young children it is important to get the alphabet well embedded and to play lots of games with squidgy letters, making 2 and then 3 letter words.
I'm sure they'll be able to advise at the dyslexia centre.
Good luck.

THANKYOU again for advice im currently not employed by the school i am a student/volunteer so i dont think the l/a would offer courses. Also brambleschooks do you work in a school if so do they have resources for dyslexic pupils such as coloured paper etc. The school my son is at is very consistent when learning phonics and high frequency words which is good for my sons memory as it is lacking but what worries me is when he goes up to junior school as they dont communicate with parents as much so i dont want he to fall further behind.

resources vary from school to school as far as SEN goes

Cornsilk is right, resources vary, but w good school will do what it can to get things right for your child. More and more schools are waking up to th fact that children need different coloured papers or overlays. We use nessy in our school and the children love it.