Advice re Dyslexia/behavioural issues

[MissingMySleep]

Hi I woudl be grateful for any advice.

My son loves school and speaks well, great vocabulary etc. He had a great time in the infants as the experienced teachers there worked around him. They used to tell me that he was great with maths, problem solving and science, but refused to read or write, so they would scribe things for him and advised me not to push him to read at home. I have always read to him, and bought him graphic novels so that he could "read", and he loves books. At the end of Y1 he decided he would start to read and write so he did, and now he can read and write but he isn't great at either and his handwriting is shocking. I am told that he has interesting things to say but its hard to work out what they are. He loves reading but I don't think he can really read all the words in the books he rads, but enough to get excited by the story. when he reads aloud to me he gets a lot of words wrong, but he reads every night to himself, its his favourite thing.

Now he is in the juniors he is constantly in trouble with his (very young) teachers. This is his second year in the juniors. He can't sit still, he gets up, doesn't concentrate, messes about, and so on and so on. They have given him an IEP for his behaviour, pretty much since he started in the juniors.

It's hard to recognise these descriptions of my child - as at home, he can concentrate, loves chess, board games, reading, playing quietly and so on. He concentrates TOO much, ie if he is doing something its hard to get him to hear what we are saying - I have to get him to stop what he is doing, look at me, and then tell him what I want to tell him. Its a bit odd but it works.

I asked school if he might be dyslexic. they did a test that they said was inconclusive, ie some markers said yes some said no. I don't know much about dyslexia, its not something I have had experience of - except I am pretty sure DH has it, he more or less avoided school as he struggles with writing so much. His writing now is a jumble of letters all in the wrong order. (DH that is).

So I don't know whether this "bad" behaviour in school is because my son is being naughty or because he is having a problem that I should be helping to identify. I really don't know what to do or how. I don't have any money to get an assessment privately but I don't know what I woudl be asking for an assessment for.

Sorry for the long post. any guidance so very gratefully received.

I

anyone?

The school may well not have a member of staff qualified to assess for dyslexia - some schools do but they are a minority. They may have used a dyslexia screener but a very bright child may not be highlighted as it's a very crude measure.
Dyslexia can be assessed by an ed psych or a specialist SPLD teacher with an AMBDA qualification. The specialist teacher is cheaper but they can only assess for dyslexia, wheras an Ed Psych may pick up other overlapping difficulties (if there are any) and would also be qualified to make comment on the cause of her behaviour.
Do you think that school would take any notice of a private dx?

doh 'his' behaviour (have had wine)

My ds was exactly the same except that he struggled with numeracy as well. We agonised about changing schools but eventually after visiting another school and talking frankly to the lovely headteacher there we moved him last year at the end of year 4. Best decision we ever made.
In a new environment with supportive and understanding teachers he is still needing extra literacy support and needs to be constantly nagged to focus and concentrate BUT his teacher says there is no need at all for a behaviour plan as he has never shown any behaviour problems in her class.
He is an expert at using distraction techniques to avoid work but she is onto him and aware of his poor self esteem resulting from the treatment he received from his previous school and his acute awareness of his literacy/numeracy difficulties.
The new school have arranged for an ed psych assessment and are brillliant compared to his last school.

I would request a meeting with the SENCo, and ask about how they are dealing with his difficulties (not being able to sit still is a SEN by itself) and how you can work with them to help. This will a) hopefully flag up the concerns his teachers have with him and b) get the start of a written record of any issues.
However one thing maybe that he finds the classroom too noisy/distracting. My Ds at one point was allowed ear plugs to help his concentration, others have a special signal (eg. touch on the hand or click of fingers) to signal they child should get back on task.

MissingMySleep

developmental Dyslexia is about having problems decoding and recoding the visual notion of speech, or the graphic symbols society chooses to respresent the sounds of speech.
There are three cognitive subtypes of developmental dyslexia: auditory, visual, and attentional. Which means that an auditory processing disorder (listening disability), a visual processing disorder, an attention disorder, or any combination of there three can cause the dyslexic symptom.
Have a look at CiteULike Group: Developmental Dyslexia - library 496 articles
You could also have a look at my collection of Key References links which include links to key research papers etc regarding dyslexia and related issues.

thank you so much for all this great help x

MissingMySleep did you ever get any help from the school? I've got a meeting tomorrow with DS headmaster, teacher and SENCO teacher and so nervous because DS behaviour has got so bad in the playgroup ... but lovely at home.