at what age can they test for dyslexia?

[bubble2bubble]

I'm fairly convinced dd1 has dyslexia.
She has severe verbal dyspraxia so having another diagnosis may not necessarily change the way she is being taught at the moment ( in a S & L unit) but by next year she will be back in mainstream school which will be completely different
She is 5 - her teacher says they can't test until at least 7

The age of maturation is 7 - 8 years old, that is when children stop growing out of cognitive developmental problems, and any remaining problems then require a medical assessment, and dyslexia is symptom of many cognitive or medical deficits or disorders.

Thanks Dolfrog. Very interested on the other thread that there is a connection with Auditory processing - hadn't heard that before. DD1 also has APD

Hi bubble2bubble

The APDUK web site has been designed to demonstrate how those who have APD prefer to see and use text. Using different coloured fonts etc.
Some young APDs prefer to use different colours for letters, vowels and consonants, and later nouns and verbs. it provides a visual clue and a basic coping strategy.

We are aware that this is not how those who have the visual cognitive sub type of dyslexia would prefer to see text.

But this only highlights the different needs of the different cognitive sub types of dyslexics.

That is SO interesting - thank you - a to of reading to do tomorrow

You might find this of interest as well
Auditory Processing Disorders and Dyslexia

Don't worry whether or not she has dyslexia. Only focus on what she needs help with - learning to read? learning to write?

Because you don't actually care whether she has dyslexia or not - what you care about is that she can 'access learning in the classroom' etc. So focus on the problems you are concerned about....

A dx of dyslexia won't give you anything. They can't give her a pill to make her learn to read. You'll still be in the same place, with a child who can't read.... And you will still have no ideas to help her.

There is nothing a teacher would do differently for a child who has a dx of dyslexia, and for a child who is having difficulty learning to read for any other reason.

Thanks Indigo - having discussed with her ( genuinely wonderful ) teacher I know this is the case.

I think I'm just clutching at straws as in this area children with verbal dyspraxia are 'cured ' by age 7 and chucked out into mainstream without a statement or any other support...

So I was wondering if a dyslexia diagnosis would bring any more recognition of her difficulties in mainstream school IYSWIM ( bloody hell that sounds awful - like I want her to be dyslexic Munchausens here we come)

Bubble - unfortunately I know way more about dyslexia than I ever wanted to. And no a dx of dyslexia won't bring her any help.

There are huge myths regarding dyslexia and extra time in exams. You don't need a dx of dyslexia to get extra time - but at this point presumabely you are hoping that she will totally catch up and won't need any extra support in secondary support.

Primary schools are all totally focussed around getting children to read and write. They will be doing everything they can to teach her. It really comes down to whether or not they are good at teaching...

If they are good at teaching they will teach her, if they're not you will have to move schools. A dx won't change that.