Should I get a formal dyslexia assessment?

[coco1]

Ds is in year 7, already have diagnosis for auditory processing disorder, dyscalculia, and attention deficit for which he is taking medication. School to be fair have been very helpful and have allocated an LSA for 24 out of 26 lessons. We live in Wales so the system might be different but my question is this: he had a screening test last term as he struggles with English and the outcome was that he does have some underlying problems. , DS also has a lot of “checking” issues as he worries he’s getting it “wrong”, so I’m not sure if this is the difficulty or because he might be dyslexic? I asked the school if there would be any benefit to me getting a private assessment for dyslexia but was advised against it. School said that when it comes to exams, they can give him extra time, and when it come to gcse’s It would work against him if he already had a diagnosis. Im a bit confused as to what to do, and wondering whether I should get him assessed in case this would enable him to get more support? Thanks

when it come to gcse’s It would work against him if he already had a diagnosis

I would seek clarification on what this means... sounds a bit counter-intuitive.

Is there specific help that you feel he might be able to access if you got a diagnosis?

I can see why you are struggling to decide because your dc is already receiving support for SEN. If your school is responsive to his needs, and providing helpful and appropriate support, I would be inclined to follow their lead.

I sought a private assessment because my dd was struggling at school and the sen department refused to assess her because she was doing well enough. Now she has the assessment, they are forced to acknowledge that she needs support. We will see how helpful they are over the next few months, but frankly that’s the only purpose the assessment has served with us; they will have to do their own assessment in the fullness of time anyway.