9 year old diagnosed with dyslexia!

[Tippytoes13]

Hi, today my 9 year old son was diagnosed with dyslexia, after a lengthy assessment by an educational psychologist. My father also has dyslexia, to which I was told it is hereditary. My son has generally struggled throughout school, so I'm pleased we have a diagnosis to work on. I don't know much about dyslexia, but have read up on it this morning. What do we do next? Will school support his diagnosis and also is there anyway I can help him at home? Thanks in advance.

Yes, it does have a heredity component, though it's not well understood yet.

School should support his diagnosis, though in practice a lot can depend on individual schools, I think. Did they have any role in suggesting the assessment? Or did they flag up problems? How did it come about?

The school will have a SENCO, who is the person who heads up everything to do with special needs such as dyslexia. They ought to be able to reassure you, if they're good, and they ought to be able to look through the assessment report (which you may not have yet?) and, hopefully, explain to you what it's found.

Dyslexia as a term covers quite a variety of experiences, so every dyslexic is different. But there are characteristic patterns, such as difficulties with reading, writing and spelling, or perhaps with organisation, telling time, understanding left and right - does any of that sound familiar?

There are loads of people on here who will be able to help (much better than me!), but if you can say more about your DS, it'll be easier, as it's hard to know without knowing him. What I do know is that if he's got to this point, he must have been working incredibly hard, and he should be really proud of himself. Dyslexia can be a real advantage (even when it doesn't feel like it), and he's welcome to the club.

Hi, it's such a relief to find out what the key issue is. I have written a blog on what I have found to have worked so far.

loopygoosedarling.wordpress.com

Good luck and ask me any questions you want.

My DD has dyslexia - she also has a degree and an MA so do not despair! And she was at school a long time ago when systems for helping children with dyslexia were in their infancy.

School SENDCO is the person to contact. OfSted are very very hot on special educational needs so the school will be well on top of it. Juts make that link woith SENDCO and all will be well.

Mishaps, I'm delighted that your DD has done so well. I just want to say, though, that SENCO's aren't always that helpful. Mine was appalling. I fought with her for two years over whether my DD was dyslexic, all the time doing my own intervention programme. When the SENCO finally caved and told me to see an Ed. Psych. the diagnosis was clear dyslexia. Ironically she is extremely bright and, to this day, I believe the SENCO just thought she was bit stupid. She had the audacity to tell me, with the report in my hand saying how much potential my DD has, that I need to face it; my daughter will never be more than average! Hopefully others will not have the same, hideous, experience that I have had but I still believe that the best champion for your child is the parent and that there is a huge amount you can do to help and support at home, as you can see in my blog.