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Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Is thisdyslexia?

7 replies

MaggieW · 07/11/2008 13:43

DS, 7, and in Y2 seems to be progressing well at school. At parents evening last night his teacher said he's a bright boy, he reads well, is confident, asks and answers questions readily, and is accurate in his answers. However, when it comes to writing and recording his work, it's as if there's a blockage between his mind and his hand. He just can't seem to do it in a reasonable time. His teacher said it's not through lack of effort or lack of concentration or laziness, she said he's very motivated and is desperately trying to do it, but that it is a complete struggle for him. She said he gets flustered copying work off the board as he can't keep up and then gets panicky about it. He has a teaching assistant on the table he sits at and she is there most of the time helping him (and several others) along.

From doing homework I know it is hard to get him to write things down, although he gets through his spellings and handwriting practice in good time, but his teacher says it is now a real problem although she's at a loss as to what to do. She's concerned because she says it needs to be tackled before January when the work rate rally cranks up, and before he moves up to the juniors. At the same time, she's also very concious of not wanting to damage his confidence and his enjoyment of school.

His teacher is going to talk to the SENCO at school to see if she can help. I've looked up dyslexia and it is one of the things mentioned, but he doesn't really display any of the other symptoms. He's left handed and used to write letters and numbers around the wrong way sometimes, but that happens rarely now.

So it seems this is something that he can't help, and is in his make-up, but could it be a form of dyslexia or are there any other possibilities? I've absolutely no experience in this area, and don't know where to start. TIA.

OP posts:
christywhisty · 07/11/2008 14:05

Ds reads well but has problems with writing/spelling. He is 13 now but used to worry about copying from the board because he would forget what he had read between looking at the board and down to the paper.
At primary they said he had a specific learning difficulty, his Senco at secondary has said he almost certainly dyslexic (which is a specific learning difficulty.

AJ2008 · 10/11/2008 14:14

I have a child who has dyslexia and I would certainly follow this up. One way to find out is to get an assessment from the LEA Educational Phsycologist, which the school can arrange. However, these assessments are like gold dust so you may really have to push for it.

Our daughter is very bright too, but she has problems with high frequency words and she will panick sometimes as well.

hullygully · 10/11/2008 14:19

My son was EXACTLY the same and used to get v upset about it. I had him tested privately for dyslexia as it takes months to go through the school and discovered that he had various associated dyslexic traits (eg poor recall of letters when writing so took ages). There are strategies you can use to help them, the dyslexia association (or simliar name, sorry, can't remember) was very helpful. The best thing for him was having a label so he knew it wasn't his fault and he wasn't "thick." He has got a lot better over the years, mainly from increased writing practise in school, but he will never be the world's keenest writer!

haggisaggis · 10/11/2008 14:29

How is his coordination? Issues with handwriting / copying from the board etc also crop up with DCD / dyspraxia.

MaggieW · 10/11/2008 22:08

Thanks for your replies. His coordination is good haggisaggis, which is why it's mystifying me. He can build a really complicated Lego set easily and also is very good at ballet and jazz dance. By the way, what's DCD?

I'll wait until I hear back from his teacher in the next couple of days but am minded to get him tested, as you've mentioned, hullygully. In the meantime will get in touch with the organisation you recommend to see if I can learn more.

Thanks again.

OP posts:
MaggieW · 10/11/2008 22:09

Sorry, hullygully, where do you start to arrange a private assessment? Will the Dyslexia Assn or similar recommend?

OP posts:
hullygully · 11/11/2008 08:58

Hi Maggie,

Yes I think they have a list. I got the name of one in my area from a friend whose son had the same problems. There is the dyslexia association and dyslexia action, if you google them you can look through their info. The other advantage of having a private assessment and then help is that with the best will in the world, schools can only provide a little.

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