Dyslexia support in school

[bluepolo123]

My son (primary age) was recently diagnosed with dyslexia (pursued by ourselves, school didn’t think there was any issue as they always put his poor spelling down to the pandemic). Ax showed he is very bright but not achieving his potential. He is not behind in school other than in spelling & handwriting.
The support the school have now offered consists of coloured overlays (he does not have irlens), giving him a list of common words to aid with spelling & they’ve said they’re doing whole class spelling and handwriting stuff so no need for specific support.
Is this fairly standard? I wasn’t expecting much tbh but the only useful thing on that list is having some common words in front of him.

Speak to the SENCO.

Unfortunately, it is fairly standard in many schools unless you push. You could try making specific requests. For example, you could ask DS be allowed to use a laptop and assistive technology.

Thank you. We did ask but they evidently didn’t see it as a priority. There were so many recommendations in the report it’s difficult to know what to prioritise. I can see that we are going to have to become much better informed about dyslexia & be prepared to start pushing for things.

if anyone has any advice re good sources of info & support I’d appreciate it!

Ask to speak to the SENCO again.

If you think DS needs more support than the school can or will provide you could look at requesting an EHCNA.

We will do-need to go in prepared I think.

I can see us having to go down the ehcp route if we get nowhere with school 😬

DD 14 with severe dyslexia, ADHD and hypermobile fingers.

She was diagnosed at 7 with the dyslexia (was rather obvious as she couldn't read or spell.)

In terms of help, we got given a copy of Toe-By-Toe and 4 x 20 minute 1-2-1 sessions with the SENCO. Also a sheet of common words. Primary also bought some dyslexia-friendly reading schemes for the library.

That's it so far other than access arrangements for exams.

I taught her to touch type during lockdown and got her going on a laptop in Y6 and that has been the single biggest help. I have provided all the tech so far.

You will need to become the expert in your child's particular learning differences and what does and doesn't work for them. There is no one size fits all as every child with dyslexia will find different things a problem.

English is one of DD's best subjects despite a complete inability to spell - other than losing some marks in GCSEs, it doesn't really matter as she can use editing software for the rest of her life that will correct it all for her. She hates reading, but films and audio books can fill in a huge number of blanks.

My biggest recommendation would be to embrace tech as early as possible and to realise that some children will just never get to grips with certain things (DD will NEVER get full marks on a spelling test - so we just ignore spelling and focus on content and getting her point over in a coherent manner).

No idea if you'd get an ECHP - or even what it would provide. It's never been suggested to us even though DD is at the severe end of the scale.

An EHCP can provide whatever support is required. For example, specialist tuition, 1:1 (some or all of the time), tech/assistive tech (including the assessment beforehand), Some DC with dyslexia need SALT, OT, &/or MH therapy. Some require specialist schools.

Often it won’t be mentioned. Some schools even tell parents their DC doesn’t need or won’t get an EHCP, but the parents go on to successfully apply themselves.

Thank you both for the helpful comments - definitely need to get better educated on these things

From your description, no he won't get much help. Exam arrangements for SATs maybe. DS had his SATS papers transcribed because of his handwriting. However he did get occasional use of a laptop as well at Primary, after after his diagnosis his teachers did accept that he was finding certain things hard and wasn't just lazy or a 'typical boy'. In secondary having the Dyslexia diagnosis has meant he has been put forward for some group sessions although these either haven't been helpful or have helped but not in the way intended. After some complaining he now has his own school provided laptop that is available to him every day, so that has been useful.

Thank you for starting this thread, I was about to start one along almost the same lines till I spotted this.

School did a screening and have assessed DD as likely to be severely dyslexic, she's 10 and actually has still managed to do well in school I think because she is hard working and bright (her teachers words not just my view!)

Is it worth paying for a full assessment to help articulate what support would be best/understand how best to support her at home?

I can also see there are specialist dyslexia tutors, is this a good avenue? She has a qualified primary teacher tutoring her in English and maths but she hadn't spotted the dyslexia (nor had I or any of her previous teachers to be fair as dd has done fairly well despite it)

Finally it makes sense why she kept asking for eye tests as she struggled with eyesight. I feel guilty not realising sooner (I am the opposite and would probably be described as hyperlexic now and DS and DH are the same, so when she struggled a bit with reading I am ashamed to say I just assumed she was more 'normal' )

I was wondering about teaching touch typing given I had seen laptops can help. Does anyone have any suggestions for best way to do this?

@forcedfun have you spoken to the SENCO? What support is the school providing? If DD is in Y6, once you know what secondary she will be attending, speak to the secondary SENCO.

Further assessment sounds like a good idea. Personally I would go with a comprehensive ed psych assessment over an assessment by a dyslexia assessor. Specialist teaching can help, but you would need to choose the person carefully. If Dd is needing this on top of the E&M tuition she is only having and is needing additional support at school, you should consider requesting an EHCNA. For learning to touch type Kaz Neurodiverse Typing Tutor! is good. You could also look at other assistive technology to help.

I would echo the comment about getting an Ed psyc assessment rather than dyslexia assessor. We went with the latter & although we have a report with loads of recommendations I am not clear on what to prioritise or exactly which things would be of most benefit to my child. I think an Ed psyc would do a broader assessment (or at least be more aware of considering a bigger picture) & be more specific.
We are also considering tutors but not sure exactly what this would entail.

Thanks both this is really helpful.

The teacher just handed me the report, I have tried asking for a meeting but she just said we could discuss at the next parents evening so I feel a bit at a loss. I think because DD is doing pretty well still they aren't fussed, but I can see from the report that she is severely dyslexic and therefore surely deserves support. She's in year 5 at present and I'd like to really get things sorted before year 6 begins

Her brother is top of the top set at secondary and I expect intelligence wise she is similar but the dyslexia is holding her back but only to a level that means she is at age related standard (greater depth in maths)

She has the tutor because I used her several times a week during the pandemic (mine and DH jobs were manic) so we kept her on once a week since.

I'm happy to pay for any extra support she needs.

I will look up the touch typing that's v helpful thank you!

Request a meeting with the SENCO and follow up verbal conversations with emails so you have a paper trail as evidence.

Definitely go for an Ed Psych assessment.

For touch typing we used English Type Junior which is designed for dyslexics. DD loved it in Y6 and took her about 2 weeks to be pretty fluent.

Having things like spell check, editing software and read back functions have been a huge help. We found an iPad with keyboard much better than a laptop and switched to that in Y8.

Some kids do really well with things like Nessy, Toe by Toe or things like colour overlays.

DD is very anti audio books for some reason and I’m trying to convince her that a reading pen could make a huge difference to revision. When they have to spend a huge amount of effort just working out what is in front of them before attempting to actually understand it or learn it, anything that makes it easier should be a help!

Like a PP, I’m hyperlexic so found it incredibly hard to understand how my obviously bright child, who was a very early talker with an advanced vocabulary seemed utterly incapable of making sense of letters. School kept telling me she was just uninterested and would fly when she decided to get with the programme! Luckily she got a severely dyslexic teacher in Y3 who was on the phone in 48 hours to say we had a problem!

It’s worth watching their mental health and ensuring that you make the most of what they are good at, as they tend to feel very dim compared with classmates. DD is very musical - to a standout level - and so people have tended to ignore all the stuff she can’t do and focus on that which has been a major factor in building self esteem.

BTW, dyslexics may or may not also have major problems reading music. We only found out last year that DD cannot read sheet music and has spent 9 years pretending to. I’ve since met a number of very successful professional musicians and composers who also can’t, so it’s no barrier but worth checking (DD had managed to get way past G8 and plays multiple instruments before anyone sussed that she does it all by ear).

@OhCrumbsWhereNow does DD struggle with auditory processing difficulties? Maybe not if she plays by ear, but it could explain her being anti audio books.

I don’t know - or where I’d find out?

It’s got a few people intrigued as she’s a good mimic, can pick up accents easily and her first study is singing - so not an instrument where you can learn where your fingers go! She has relative pitch rather than perfect, and aces things like pitch tests. She’s focused on a career in music so hopefully we might get an answer one day.

But the audio books thing just really surprises me. She’ll watch a film of a book but not listen to it.

Thanks @OhCrumbsWhereNow that's really helpful and interesting. Hats off to your DD for her musical talent ! DD is a good dancer and actress (but I have realised she learns her scripts by memorising rapidly rather than reading them- she's always the first to rehearse without one! ) so those hobbies give her a real boost. She's also a little maths superstar (but struggles with word problems). But she is very self conscious about the things she finds hard, worsened as almost all her friendship group are doing very well academically and she's very aware of that. She's meeting expected standard despite her struggles but knows she could do more.

My daughter is the same, she loves films and plays but not audio books or listening to stories (and I love reading aloud, so am a bit gutted!). At bedtime we alternate between very engaging stories and playing things like card games /heads bodies and legs etc. but I didn't realise this was concerning because as a child I loved books so much I didn't really have a sense of where "normal" is and how far she deviated from it.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow Intriguing. Watching films has the visual information alongside the verbal, maybe that’s the difference.

Some ed psychs, SALTs or audiologists will be able to assess for APD. If you can get a referral there are some specialist clinics like this one that are brilliant.

Definitely keep encouraging the dance and drama - it is a huge thing for SEN kids to have something where they can shine. And hooray for maths being really good. The questions do get a bit wordy in secondary. DD's main issue is working memory so her maths is affected a bit as well - luckily she has a great teacher so is both enjoying it and doing well.

I totally get you on the reading aloud. I still have all my books from when I was a child - DD's bedroom looked like the local library's children's section. And she had zero interest in reading them or being read to. All my pre-kid maternal dreams of snuggling up and re-reading all my favourite books rather died a death (I did re-read quite a lot... to myself!)

I've boxed them all up now and am hoping for bookworm grandchildren 😂

When I look back, there were signs from early on - DD would get very upset if I tried to point out letters on signs or shops... 'oh look is X like in your name' etc, or 'can you find the letter g on the fridge' but she's an only so I had no benchmark.

You are not allowed to sit grades 6 to 8 without having grade 5 theory, I thought?

You don’t need to take music grade exams - and if you want to, ABRSM isn’t the only rodeo in town.

DD doesn’t do grades at all, never been a problem - we’re only ever asked for approximate level, and hasn’t stopped her getting scholarships or professional work.