Dyslexia - questions, questions on provision and re-assessment.

[Alltheyearround]

Sorry it's long. I have some questions someone might know answers to.

Do EP's/assessors normally indicate whether a learner is mildly, moderately or severely dyslexic?

I know with other SpLD, professionals assessing/diagnosing do indicate the level of severity (e.g. DS recognised as having moderate DCD/dyspraxia by the paediatrician, however his EP report does not state a level of severity for dyslexia).

School reading age for comprehension is 7 years - single word spellings are around 6 years behind chronological.

Ratio gains for comprehension have been 3 months for each of the 3 years he has been at secondary ( Y 7, 8 and 9 - now age 14).

Starting at reading 6.3 years and now age 7 (recent assessment via Accelerated Reader).

That appears to be an extremely low rate of gain, suggesting that literacy intervention is ineffective.

Concerned he's going to leave school without getting to functional literacy levels. Have raised this with school several times and not got any further. In fact, the reverse.

Just don't know what to do.

He has an EHCP, though the EP report is from Y4 2019. When I mention EP report and advice in EHCP school say that was advice for primary and we don't do wave 3 intervention etc We just do our own thing. They have stopped providing me with termly literacy goals, which EP said should be very specific.

LA said in email last year they would provide and EP to re-assess but have since gone back on that when we spoke to one of their EP's. No full assessment just 'voice of the child' for AR. Which is weird in itself. We said no.

The EP checked with caseworker - confirmed no re-assessment.

LA failed to turn up for AR at last minute (emailed school 6pm on a Fri). We suspect they are trying to dodge awkward questions.

I would ask for re-assessment of need given the low progress and the fact that they are going in to GCSEs. If what is in there is being ignored and progress is not adequate with the support listed not actually being provided, the EHCP needs to be reevaluated. There is a lot of change between yr4 and yr9 and if school are ignoring the EHCP based on it not being appropriate, it sounds like it will need a proper rewrite!

We just do our own thing.

The provision detailed, specified and quantified in the EHCP must be provided and can be enforced.

Since you are appealing the EHCP anyway have you considered an independent EP report?

Mildly, moderately or severely dyslexic may be stated, but it may not be. Just like although DS’s DCD/dyspraxia diagnosis included moderate, it isn’t always stated for that.

Thanks Both,

Is there any criteria I can look at in terms of severity of dyslexia?

There must be guidelines for assessors and EP's - going off scores for the various assessments like working memory, phonological awareness and so on. I recall some of his scores being really low, like 0.1 percentile.

Thinking of independent EP nearer time of transition in case we need to appeal for placement. Not even sure if there is somewhere appropriate to his needs tbh.

@handmademitlove We knew from transition to secondary GCSE's are beyond his level of ability right now. He has a very low reading age. He can write a sentence or 2 at most. He has numerous SpLD. You name it, he's got it.

We hoped the local school with enhanced unit would be enough and they said they could deliver but in reality this is not true. Its not all bad, miles better than local comp which is quite rough but the more needs come to light, and the more they fail to meet them, the less suitable it looks.

Going to have ADOS done this year as professionals we have seen this year have mentioned ASC.

Assessments come with a scoring system that groups scores into e.g. low, very low etc. but there’s no hard and fast rules about what qualifies as mild, moderate or severe dyslexia.

@Alltheyearround does he also have cognitive impairment? Because otherwise, it is possible he is perfectly capable of GCSE level work but cannot access the learning. An EP should be able to assess whether different ways of learning will help. Eg even if reading is an issue, using readers / scribes or tech to access other subjects should be facilitated! We use iPads so non readers can listen to the text etc. and dictate their work. Obviously reading is really important but at this stage, providing alternative access to other subjects should also be provided.

The truth is I don't know but I am strongly guessing so.

He is much more like a child of 8 or 9 than a 14 year old. He plays with toys like marble run and hotwheels.

All his friends from primary have moved on and become teens but he's not like them.

Don't for one minute think it is just the reading. He has DLD, he can't comprehend questions at GCSE level. He has 2 other speech disorders and often we can't understand his speech, so a scribe or speech to text is out.

I really think DS needs a comprehensive EP assessment sooner rather than later.

Have you looked at AQA unit awards?