Is it ever to early to have your child assessed for dyslexia ,

[Lonelybunny]

My DD is one of the youngest in her year1 class and has always found school hard. Every parent evening we hear the same " she is below her expected level in reading and writing" she does write letters and numbers the wrong way. I have also mentioned to the teacher she is ambidextrous (uses both hands to write and draw) which her teacher had only just picked up on. Is she too young at 5.5 to seek advise ? I'm hoping if she needs more help the earlier the better.

Can you contact the british dyslexia association or yr local dyslexia association for help. A quick google will find it. Depending on the severity of dyslexia and other factors like - does anyone in yr family have dyslexia will help in early diagnosis. Dyslexia can be difficult to diagnose early due to the similarities between developmental stages and dyslexic tendencies. Another strong indicator how yr DD is with other tasks - is she very good at xxxxx even above her peers but well below in reading etc., this isnt always the case though. Seek professional advise, mum always knows best, follow yr instinct x

I believe 7 is the youngest you can be tested for dyslexia and you will find that you will have to do this privately at your own expense.

My son was diagnosed at 7 for moderate to severe dyslexia and only because we took it on ourselves to test for it as the school have never mentioned it. They always liked to use the excuse of being young in the year (July birthday) and the fact he was a boy. I wished I had pushed it further earlier so go on your instinct. She should be on an IEP at least.

Dyslexia association have loads on info

Other posters are right, it can be difficult to tell whether it's developmental or dyslexia (or another SEND issue) early on. But also they are right that mum usually knows best too, have met a LOT of frustrated parents coming to me in KS2 wishing their child had support earlier.

This checklist might help you a bit: www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm

Do try the BDA etc and support groups and see what they can advise re getting help. You can test earlier but it is likely to involve arguing with school, since the majority will prob say it's because she is young for her year. But maybe you could show them these BDA guidelines which say clearly there is no magic age (but you do need some literacy work to look at) and also:

"Where differentiation has not been successful, and particularly where a child is becoming distressed or showing behavioural problems, an assessment should be carried out. Leaving a child to fail can be very harmful psychologically.

Specialist intervention at a young age is always recommended to enable the child to fully access the curriculum. At a later age, this will be harder to achieve.

Children with suspected dyslexic difficulties should be referred to the Educational Psychologist. Dyslexia is not funded by the NHS and parents cannot ask their GP for an assessment. A private assessment from a Chartered Educational Psychologist specialising in Specific Learning Difficulties would cost around £400 or more. Most parents would be unable to afford this."

Good luck!

I see that a thread I started this week advising parents about a trial of a dyslexic writing system was removed. A company based in Hitchin, Start-Bee Writing, are asking for parents of Dyslexic children, between the ages of 7 to 12, to trial their Dyslexic writing product and method for one month. They are looking for three students in the Hitchin/North Herts area. I saw their notice on Twitter and went and looked at their Facebook page and forwarded this on.

Try having her eyes checked too, by a specialist optician.

We did this for my DD, discovered most of the problem was only one eye was tracking, the other one was going its own sweet way, so all was a blur to her.

She has now caught up and loves reading.

Lonely I was quite sure my DD was dyslexic from a very young age, it all started to show with learning her colours, and her Year 2 teacher agreed with me when she started to fall behind in reading writing and spelling. She was too young to be formally assessed but instead they started her with an intensive course to teach her writing and phonics, I think it was called forward together? on the basis that it was one that worked for dyslexics as well as those who had fallen behind. Lots of practise with letter formation and with learning how the letters combine to make sounds. By the end of Year 2 her reading writing and spelling were at the average level and they have stayed there. I am sure the BDA could recommend a scheme. I am quite sure the early intervention has benefitted DD .

A formal assessment is only possible from the age of approximately 7 years old. This is largely because this is the age at which crrtain elements can be eliminated, such as developmental progress and insuffucient/ inadequate exposure to good phonics input (teaching) can be eliminated. It is also the approx. age that the standardised scores can be measured by many tests.

As others have said there are reasons why testing is not definitive until 7. All testing at the moment might show is that there are dyslexic tendencies. As these could be due to an uneven developmental profile it is impossible to say with certainty the cause is dyslexia. What is a better approach at this age is to simply look at the strategies which can help - which may well be very similar to those you would see later with a child with dyslexia - and ask the school what they can do to support her in class. Early intervention can be hugely successful, so I would push for all the help you can get and also look at fun ways you can continue to support her at home, especially during the long school break so she doesn't lose ground before going up to year 2 next year.

How does one find a specialist dyslexia tutor?