New dyslexia diagnosis

[Mumtothelittlefella]

DS (8) has just been diagnosed with dyslexia. It doesn’t come as a surprise at all given family history.

We have been asking the school for two years whether he could be dyslexic and have been told over and over again by two year teachers, plus the Head who is the SENCO, that they don’t think he is.

According to the Phys Ed who conducted his independent assessment, it is very prominent in him and she was saddened to hear that it hadn’t been raised before.

We are now waiting to ‘meet’ with her via Skype to go over her report before then discussing it with his school.

However, I feel he’s been let down by his school and have no faith in them to have the skills to support him. He’s in a class of 11! I’m very sensitive about this diagnosis as it should have come a long time ago. I know he’ll be ok, I know this won’t hold him back but if we hadn’t pushed for the assessment then I dread to think how long this would have gone on.

I feel angry for him right now and so I need to take stock and think about things with a clear head. I do feel the school should have been more supportive of our concerns over the years so I wonder if they have failed in their duty of care? Should we raise our concerns with them? If so, how? I just don’t want another family to end up in the same situation. I’m now also concerned about their ability to support him going forward. I’d appreciate some experienced views.

The school are unlikely to have any one qualified to diagnose dyslexia on their staff. Whilst they may have recognised difficulties with literacy skills and put in appropriate interventions they are not qualified to give a diagnosis. Indeed many educational psychologists wouldn't either, though they may identify specific literacy difficulties and recommend teaching approaches or interventions. More commonly, in my experience of over 30yrs in SEN,such a diagnosis is given by a specialist literacy teacher or a private educational psychologist.
Why do you feel the school have failed him? What would you have expected them to do? Is this am independent school?
I ask because of the class size. If it is, it is possible they do not have access to local authority support services to do further specialised assessments. Children's literacy skills develop at very different rates. At 8 years of age there is still time to address his specific difficulties with appropriate interventions.

I think people said I was too bright to have dyslexia, but I have all the dys. I wouldn,t worry about complaining I would concentrate on more getting the school to figure out a plan. Can you get an eHCP and what needs to be done to meet the needs having a diagnoses can help get things in place. Contat dyslexia association.