Moderate Learning Difficulties

[IndigoBell]

Does anyone know what moderate learning difficulties are and how I can tell if my DD has this?

She is in Year 3 and is seriously struggling in school. She can only (slowly) read 3 letter words - despite having approx 1:1 tuition for 10 minutes a day since reception. ( As well as having all the normal small group phonics work that every child has...)

At her KS1 SATS she somehow managed to get a 2c in Maths and was a level 1 in everything else....

Does this just sound like dyslexia? Or could there be a better label for it?

If it is only her school work that she struggles with then it is more likely to be termed "specific" learning difficulties I think.
To decide if its dyslexia or similar you need to ask the school for a full assessment & maybe a n ed psych assessment to show areas of strength & weakness.

If generally she is ok at following instructions seems to have a general good understanding, her self help & indipendance skills are all age appropriate she is un likely to have genralised learning difficulties. Mild, moderate or severe tends to then be applied depending on the severity of the delay iykwim.

Dd now 17 got the same levels in her SATs all those years ago. Next year she will most likely go to Cambridge to study maths and history. She was just a late bloomer who didn't really make average until yr5.Is dd a summer baby? I think dd was slow to mature and having a very demanding younger brother (asd) I didn't really have the time to help her on.

Thanks both of you.

No, DD is not a summer born. It doesn't seem to me at all as if she is slow to mature or is a late bloomer (but I guess you only find that out with hindsight...) as she just struggles to learn anything. I don't think she made any progress at all last year at school.

It feels to me like there is something really wrong with her mental abilities, and dyslexia seems to me like a rubbish coverall diagnosis which gives you no help at all with how to help her (I mean 'having difficulties reading' can just be caused by so many different underlying problems, that calling them all 'dyslexia' isn't very helpful)

However, she doesn't have any difficulties with anything other than school work, so I guess 'specific learning difficutlies' is luckily more appropriate than anything else.

This page might be useful? It defines moderate learning difficulties as:

"pupils with moderate learning difficulties will have attainments significantly below expected levels in most areas of the curriculum, despite appropriate interventions. Their needs will not be able to be met by normal differentiation and the flexibilities of the National Curriculum. They should only be recorded as MLD if additional educational provision is being made to help them to access the curriculum. Pupils with moderate learning difficulties have much greater difficulty than their peers in acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills and in understanding concepts. They may also have associated speech and language delay, low self-esteem, low levels of concentration and under-developed social skills."

MonkeyNuts - thanks. That statement does exactly seem to descibe DD.

What do you guys think I should do?

Is there any point in trying to get a referral to a pead? Or do I need to stick to the rubbish Ed Psychs?

(Her SpLD assesment was a total waste of time. It said they were very concerned about her - and recommended she continue with the read, write, inc reading program she has been on (with no success) for the last 2 years...)

Slightly off thread Indigo, but keep an eye on those SAT results in the future.

DS's school cheated on his KS1 SAT's, at the time when they were externally marked. We are still suffering the consequences even now (Yr 11). While schools may inform you that previous SAT's were wrong, teachers are under so much pressure to show progression, that they may be 'encouraged' to cheat. Schools can't tell you one minute they are x level then give you information which may support the fact that they are working significantly below that level. (This is why I put DS's work on line a few weeks ago -school not too happy with the info I was given. Why? Because it doesn't support their stance of a child working significantly above those levels, doesn't need support etc).

I would try to get a referral or get her assessed by private EP. Even though she is not getting much support (imo), you would expect some advancement during the course of a year if she is getting some 1:1 and small group intervention.

But has anyone here actually had a good EP report? I've seen about 5 (2 for my son) - and they were all absolute rubbish. Pretty much just listing a long list of interventions that I knew about without the EP telling me, that weren't 'best practice' and that didn't actually work....

As for her SATS - I know the reading one has been inflated. I know there was absolutely no way she was a 1a - but because we've managed to move school the new school agree with me that the old school inflated her grade.

Although, you are right, what I don't know is whether the new school will admit to me that she is not making progress. But I have got a good relationship with the SENCO and I have made it very clear that I don't mind if she doesn't make progress - but I will very much mind if they tell me she is making progress when she isn't....

yes ds2's Ep was helpful, in that it identified areas of weakness, gave percentile & age equivalent scores, etc & then the Ep sat down with senco, class teacher & me & looked at & agreed support strategies.

Its not so much about how good the report is but more importantly how proactive the ep is in implimenting the support & recommendations.

Indigo - we were also informed by new school that previous school cheated. They still cheated themselves when it came to KS2 SAT's. Secondary followed suit when it came to KS3 - even though there was no need, as it was TA's which were reported to the LEA; due to KS3 SAT's being scrapped. Cheating in national tests at 7 is still creating unforseen problems further down the line.

Yes we had two good private ones, unfortunately the school ignored and failed to implement any of the sugestions (I didn't have the knowledge to push them through on my own).