School just told me 8 year old dd has dyslexic tendancies

[CharlieBoo]

Hi, I'm new to this group and hoping that you guys can give me advice and support on how to best help my dd.

She has always struggled to read and spell. She hates anything to do with reading particularly. She struggles to sound out and blend sounds. She adds words in.. guesses and just generally finds it frustrating...

I have been saying to school since the middle of year 1 something wasn't right. Yesterday the Senco lead called me in to tell me that dd has been being assessed by a literacy specialist and has dyslexic tendencies. I had another meeting today which detailed exactly which areas she finds hard and the most obvious is visual processing. Although her reading score is for her age her reading is slow and she struggles with letter/word recognition. Now they are expected to write for longer periods she looses concentration, uses avoidance tactics and gets tired..

She is incredibly bright in so many ways and is an absolute sweetheart.. I'm so proud of her and don't want this to stress her out.

That's it really... she's year 3 now going into year 4 in September. She will get time with the specialist more next year and are lowering their expectations/time limits for work.

Any advice hugely appreciated

Contact the Dyslexia Association and have a look at their website - there's loads of useful information on there.

The best thing we ever did for our dyslexic son was to get him a specialist tutor. She helped his reading and writing massively, and perhaps most importantly she did wonders for his self-esteem.

Hello check out Irlens Syndrome as you mention visual processing issues and tiredness. It can be co-morbid with or separate to Dyslexia. Very often not picked up.

My 7 yr old is very similar with similar profile. Check out Irlens - coloured lenses transformed my dd's reading. It might not help but it's worth a try. Also simply school changing their expectation of what she should be able to complete massively boosted her confidence and helped her feel she was achieving not failing all the time which has been brilliant as she really gives it her best now rather than feeling defeated before she started. Good luck, it is scary but diagnosis is the best thing that can happen for moving forward.

Hi ,I am a qualified Specialist dyslexia teacher and assessor. I also assess for visual stress(IRLENS). Most important is that we focus on children's strengths and build up their confidence and self esteem. There are many practical and easy adjustments the school can put in place and I would be very happy to give you some advice. My email is [email protected] or tel 07789 484290