Dyslexia diagnosis- what happens next?

[BeanCalledPickle]

My seven year old was seen by an educational psychologist this morning. We paid for this privately as I didn’t want her going back to year three with uncertainly about what was going on hanging over us.

So I understand that he writes it up, he says what she ideally needs and I take it to school.

What happens then? If he says she would benefit from 12 hours of support a week do they have to provide it? What happens if they don’t?

I don’t know anything about dyslexia. Completely overwhelmed by it all.

Hi, hope someone comes along with useful info for you. Can I ask what were the signs that lead you to get an assessment. I’m wondering if we should get one for our son and considering a private assessment.

In short, no they don't have to provide a set amount of learning support. What is perhaps more important is to look at the strategies and interventions the psychologist should also have identified. In my view it would be more productive to have a discussion with the school about how they can implement these. Any interventions should be monitored and reviewed so that over time you get a picture of what is effective. Providing learning support without a specific purpose is not helpful... the risk is that you increase dependence on adult support rather than teaching strategies that promote independent learning.

Show the Ed psych report to the school's senco and discuss what report she's already receiving in school and what further report she can receive and look at the support suggested by the Ed psych in their report. It isn't a matter of her getting used to or dependent on support; the right support will help her education and teach her strategies to help her with her learning (there are adults who are dyslexic who have support in the work place and the onus is on the employer). Help to make sure she receives all the support she is entitled to, whilst being realistic about what her school can offer. Well done for pursuing an Ed psych report at seven, which is the earliest age realistically, and I hope she gets the support she deserves

Hi OP. Firstly, well done on early diagnosis! This is the most important step. At least you know what you are dealing with and how to support her. You don't mention how severe her dyslexia is but 12 hours of support per week sounds like quite a lot?
My DC doesn't have dyslexia but, through SEN network at our school, I've made friendships with several mums of dyslexic kids. From what they say, the support you will get varies greatly depending on the school. Sadly, not all schools have the same understanding and appreciation of SEN... And I know some mums moved their kids to our school as our school does. So it depends on the head and on SENCO. For example, I know that our school provides a lot of lunchtime and afterschool classes for dyslexia (and some other SEN too). Free of charge and not what they have to do but they can and they do. This is quite unusual though. So keep your mind open and speak to them about it. Show them the report. Then decide if the support they offer will be sufficient. If not, don't dispair but be prepared to look at alternatives.

Slightly bothered,

Your school sounds amazing. Can I ask what they do in the special clubs.

Yes well done op. We toyed with the idea or private but have now been included in next round of Ed psych, if we get Ed psych due to covid.

Would you mind sharing what pushed you from what she displays?
My dd still has some, how /who reversal, p/q, b and d... Saw and was.

She was bottom nearly of entire class before lock down but has thrived 1:1 during lock down. Her reading has been amazing, she's come on so much in English etc.

Even with a diagnosis I'm not sure what our school could do.
My dd is very bright and gets concepts quickly so I'm not sure how she ended up literally in the bottom of the class?
I've actually come to mostly accept we cannot afford private. The school cannot teach her.
I've got two tutors lined up for next term and I'll carry on working with her myself.
But if she catches up, can she carry on herself in the classroom?
It's so hard.
They don't believe in dyslexia in our school.

I have an 11 year old DD with quite severe dyslexia who was diagnosed at 7. Her primary were brilliant at getting the diagnosis done and making allowances for the problems she has, but really did very little in terms of actual help. For a couple of years, DD had 20 minute sessions a couple of times a week where she did Toe by Toe, which was frankly a complete waste of time. After that, there was nothing put in place at all, DD has very high IQ scores but is invariably at the bottom of the class due to her poor working memory and even worse spelling.

I would not expect school to necessarily do anything much to help unless you are either very lucky, very pushy or both. Regardless of what is written on the report.

The EP advised us last year to teach her to touch type and move her onto using a laptop in the classroom - we used English Type Junior which was really good and DD enjoyed the course. Covid put paid to moving to laptop in school this year but that is the plan for secondary.

If I could go back, I would have done the touch-typing and laptop move faster. Secondary are also talking about things like headphones and a reading pen, and using speech to text software for homework. Sounds good but haven't tried them yet.

A lot will depend on the level of problems caused by the dyslexia and anything alongside it (DD has hyper mobile finger joints that make pen grip and writing particularly hard).