what do I look for- titles for symptoms.

[morethanpotatoprints]

Hello was wondering if anybody could help with technical terms and/or advice please. Sorry if this is long.

My dd is H.ed and has been for past year. She hasn't got a statement and was never tested as was slightly above average at KS1.
She is now 9 and we are working on Y3 type work and she is struggling.
The main issue is focussing as she fidgets non stop and doesn't concentrate. If I manage to get eye contact she will come out of what seems to be a trance/fog.
She doesn't understand what the question is asking in maths and is so slow that by the time she has worked a bit out she can't continue to complete as she has forgotten what to do.
She is better at reading but pronounces words wrongly, quite often. She still can't sound all vowels in all contexts, sometimes right and sometimes wrong. When she was 4 she went to SALT but didn't need to go again on starting school.
This is so familiar to me as it is exactly the same as I was and diagnosed late in life during a course.
How do I find the correct terms for her issues without going for diagnosis and assessment. I would like to continue to teach/support her myself and have had some experience supporting spld. I would like to use the websites but they use technical/diagnosed terms iyswim.
Anybody care to put a name to any of the above, obviously I know its dyslexia but specifics I'm not sure.
Many thanks if you have got this far.

I'm not sure I understand what you are asking. What do you mean that you want technical terms? Do you mean the technical terms for the particular characteristics of her dyslexia?
Why don't you want her assessed?
Just wondering as I have had my children assessed and it is useful to know what their particular weaknesses are so that they can be tackled head on.

For example, do you mean technical terms like auditory processing, visual processing, eye tracking, processing speed etc?

There are fundamental subskills that are important in learning to read that dyslexics tend to have difficulty with. eg digit span (short term memory) Is that what you mean? You want us to tell you which of these your daughter has difficulty with based on your description and the technical names for them so you can find exercises that will improve them?

Is that what you mean?

This is a resource used to help dyslexics. It is available from Amazon and says it is for teachers and parents so I guess you can use it to help her.

www.amazon.co.uk/Toe-Structured-Multi-sensory-Reading-Teachers/dp/0952256401/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380662416&sr=1-1&keywords=toe-by-toe

Hello, sorry I didn't get back sooner.

Yes, the technical terms as in auditory processing etc.
I thought if someone recognised the traits I could read up on it on the various websites.
The reason why I haven't had her assessed is becouse she is H.ed and both me and dh are doing the supporting/helping her to learn.
Knowing the type of terms will help me look for what will support her best iyswim.
Also looking for resources I have seen some which detail what they are good for, so just thought it might help a bit.
Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions, I will have a look now.

I don't think anyone could do that from your description. Normally they would do a WISC III (?) test to see where her difficulties seem to lie then tailor an intervention to address these.

Current thinking as far as I know is that instead of doing tests then giving intervention according to those results when difficulties with reading (regardless of cause) are detected to give intervention at that point then monitor and evaluate improvements and provide further intervention for those that need it.

My point being I'd follow the toe to toe book if you want to work on improving her skills rather than hoping you've ID'd the correct underlying subskills she's having difficulty with and just doing exercises relevant to them.

Surely having the assessment will enable you to Home Ed more effectively? We can't "diagnose" over the web!

BillyBanter

Thank you, I have a friend using toe to toe book but wasn't aware it would address all issues.

Wolfie
It wasn't so much a diagnosis but rather have you considered using type of thing.
An assessment really wouldn't help as we are not looking at her returning to school and I am trying various methods to help her.
Its just so unfortunate that I can't remember much about my childhood in terms of what eventually helped it all to fall into place.
Thank you very much.

Is there a reason you can't get a diagnoses then get intervention for home Ed?

There are computer based interventions which are very effective. I don't see how she could not be diagnosed then an intervention designed for you to do at home. Try googling for RITA

Anyway toe by toe is a good place to start I reckon.

Also try star spell, word shark, units of sound, paired reading, head work, literacy word bank.

Wow, thank you Billy, I will definitely check these out.
I don't think there's any reason why I couldn't get a diagnosis except the cost and that I presumed that interventions would be mainly suitable for those in a classroom situation.
Tbh, you are the first person to mention it, perhaps it may be a good idea and I haven't considered it in enough detail.

Presumably the LEA is still responsible for overseeing your child's education. Contact them?

Also look out for dyslexic societies and ask for advice on home Ed forums.

Billy. Once deregistered the LEA have nothing to do with their education and as far as support they tend not to get involved. It is fair enough though as that is what we have opted out of iyswim.
The H.ed threads on here and other forums are good, it was somebody on here who suggested I tried these boards.
You have given me some good ideas to look towards, thank you very much

A lot of interventions would be much easier to administer 1:1. If you genuinely think your DD has some degree of SpLD/ SEN I would really recommend a private Ed Psych evaluation. It will cost, but it would mean you could choose the right resources to invest in rather than take a hopeful scattergun approach. For example, I've used Cogmed and found it to be really rather good, but it is expensive and you would only want to buy it if you knew a child had a working memory problem.

The other thing you could do is sign up to Lumosity. This website has a battery of tests (presented like games) that will give you scores. You can then choose which set of exercises DD uses based on her profile of scores in the tests. I've used it with children the age of your DD and they have enjoyed it.

Are you 100% sure DD isn't just not really listening to you because you are her mum??

Don't be but put of testing because an Ed psych costs loads. You could get a PATOSS registered teacher who can do a dyslexia test for about £250. Look at the PATOSS website.