Paying for an EdPsych dyslexia assessment - am I mad?

[sunnydelight]

I wasn't too sure whether to post this as I know this is not an option for lots of people, and I don't want to offend anyone, but I would really like some opinions on this so please bear with me. As I have posted before I am pretty certain DS2 (nearly 8) is dyslexic, and possibly a bit dyspraxic as well. With DS1 I was fobbed off for years and his dyslexia wasn't picked up until year 6 so I am determined to do better for my younger son. At parents evening a couple of weeks ago his teacher seemed really supportive and said he could be screened by a TA at school within a week or so, although it would probably take up to 18 months to see an EdPsych via the LEA. Nothing has happened since - in fact it looks like nobody has even read with DS2 since that day, despite the teacher assuring me that he was getting extra attention. Anyway - a friend of mine with a profoundly dyslexic son has used a particular EdPsych and recommended him highly. I phoned today to see how soon DS2 could be seen and was told that the particular man I wanted wasn't taking anyone on until the new year, but I could see another woman who had worked in the practice for years and they could offer me an appointment next week. The assessment would take around 3 hours and cost between £350 - £450 +VAT. Yes, this is an awful lot of money, but I can afford to pay it. In my position, what would you do? I think that, left to the school, this could go on and on with very little happening and DS2 is already starting the "I don't want to go to schoo" stuff I had with my older boy. I desperately want to do the right thing for my child but am I just panicking?

A TA isn't the right person to assess your son if you are really worried. Only an Ed Psych can formally say if he is dyslexic or not.
We had our son tested a couple of months before his 8th birthday after being fobbed off by the school for ages. Ours was done through a DI centre (now Dyslexia Action). I think it was about £280 and took the whole morning. He didn't find it distressing at all, and we followed it up with a trip to Pizza Express of course! There was a questionnaire for the school to fill in beforehand with concerns etc and we added on sight tests/hearing tests reports.
It was really helpful to have the report, and you need an official one if you want support. I've done some of the testing (versions available to teachers) myself and it's really interesting what it throws up. I would suggest that a TA would possibly not have the expertise to interpret the results. Just make sure of course that the Ed Psych is very used to dyslexic assessment of young children.

Thanks swedishmum. Unfortunately there isn't a Dyslexic Action centre near us. Did you son's school accept the "private" report as that is one of my concerns?

They did accept it, and in fact on the day I told them he was going the head said, "Oh, that's funny. We've been thinking of mentioning it to you. His literacy has deteriorated this year." (A claim disputed by his class teacher.)
She said I'd have to accept he wouldn't go to university - he was only 7. This was even before the report!

He's now at another school....

Haven't yet tried to get him the extra 25% time allowable for SATS etc or amanuensis using the report though.

That kind of thing ("he'll never to go university" comment) makes me so cross swedishmum. I know lots of extremely successful dyslexic adults, including a friend's daughter who left university with a first in media studies a couple of years back and who is now enjoying a very successful career. The trick does seem to be support though (unsurprisingly), and the earlier the better, although for me early intervention is more about not watching yet another child lose every shred of self-esteem he has because it's not something that comes back easily! It is just such a pain that you have to fight for support every inch of the way.

Me too. The problem is, some parents would actually believe it and lower their expectations of their child's ability. Headteacher suggested builder was a good idea! Building's great, and he may or may not want to be one, but it shouldn't have anything to do with his dyslexia!

At least it got me motivated to do a specialist teaching course - final coursework now in so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Just picked up this thread. As the mother of 2 (now adult) children I would always recommend privately paying for an assessment. Reasons being - it is far quicker and in our experience all schools accepted an Ed. Psych report. The quicker you get your children assessed the quicker any educational help can be given. Just to reassure any mums of dyslexics out there my two both got university degrees, one in Economics from St. Andrews 2:1 and the other Classics from London University 2:2. When my son was 11 we were told to forget GCSE's as it was beyond his reach!

My nephew (now 24) was at a very highly placed private school (BIL is a diplomat)and at 13 was really struggling with literacy. The school didn't really seem to know what to do, so to cut a long story short, my sister paid for an assessment. I have to say that once the school had the official diagnosis, they were very supportive & gave extra time & support. DN got an internal scholarship for the 6th form due to his GCSE results & ended up doing Maths at Oxford. He got a 2:2, and would have got a 2:1 if he had accepted the extra time he was offered for his exams. (He refused on the basis that this was what he was and he would do it on equal terms with everyone else: he was (and is) a very stubborn young man.) He now has a very well paid job with a logistics company.
So I'd go for the assessment, and don't ever let anyone tell you you 'have to accept' he'll never make it.

We paid for ds1 to have an independent assessment with Ed Psych (for different reasons), and it was an incredibly positive experience allround. It was a lot of money at the time, but I don't regret it for an instant, and would do the same thing again like a shot if I were faced with the same circumstances.

Thanks for the responses. I'm definitely going to go ahead with the appointment; once I have a clearer idea of his needs I can look at getting them met. Having the full EdPysch report will also stop me getting fobbed off by the school with the "he just needs a little help" line which is what happened with DS1.

We ended up paying for Ed Pysch report for our 3 sons.
With DS2 it was through sheer desparation that we contacted the Dyslexia Ins. With this report we eventually secured a full statement of special educational needs. He was by then over 5 years behind his peers in both reading & spelling.
Because of our family history we decided to have DS3 assessed at the age of 5 (by a teacher at the DI) to see if he showed any early signs of dyslexia.He showed all the signs of being dyslexic but even knowing this we and the school could do nothing to stop him falling behind. I was very angry that we still had to pay privately for ED Pysch report when DS3 was in year 3.
DS4 was also assessed at the DI shortly before starting school. From memory we paid £50/60 for these tests. DS4 showed no early signs of dyslexia. Having 2 affected sons already we were obviously relieved. DS4 is a very bright boy and we were told in YR1 that he was doing exceptionally well and one of the best readers in his year. However he didn't progess in YR2 and yet again we were forced to pay £250/300 for a private Ed Pysch report.
I'm still very angry that we had to pay for these reports.