Has anybody used Dyslexis Action here?

[TheMotherOfAllDilemmas]

Hi,

My son is currently being assessed for Dyslexia/Dyspraxia.

I have heard wonderful comments about Dyslexia Action but I am afraid I might not be able to afford therapy from them.

Does anybody knows how expensive it is?, how often do the children have sessions? is there any help available to cover its costs? and most importantly, does it make a difference?

My DD has severe dyslexia (how bad is your son's dyslexia?)

I rang up Dyslexia Action a year ago and was very put off by them. They told me something like a report would help me understand what my DD could and couldn't do. Well, that was the end of them for me, because no one is ever going to tell me what my DD can't do.

However, from what I understand, what they offer is an Ed Psych assessment - which it sounds like you are already getting. And tuition. (Not therapy, I have never heard of them doing any kind of therapy).

The tuition they do is nothing magic. It is just the same tuition your school should be doing (synthetic phonics with or without 'multi-sensory' learning). If your school isn't doing this you can either convince school to do so, do it yourself at home, or pay a tutor.

But I too have heard on many threads people rave about them, and I have no direct experience of them, so I could be totally wrong.

My take on it all is that dyslexia does not exist. People are labelling the symptoms of struggling to learn to read and write as 'dyslexia' - but dyslexia does not 'explain' the cause.

There are many, many reasons why children don't learn to read. It might be because of:

• Bad teaching (the absolute most common cause)
• Vision problems
• Hearing problems
• Retained reflexes
• Memory problems
• Cognitive problems
• Lack of LCPs
• ?????

But labeling all of those problems as 'dyslexia' stops you getting the help your son really needs.

There should be a cure for your son's problems - the hard part is figuring out what his problems really are.

After searching for a cure for my DD for 2 years I have uncovered a lot of underlying problems, all of which can be cured.

So my advice, is don't buy the dyslexia label, and instead keep on trying to work out what the underlying problems are.

Obviously dyslexia action has a huge vested interest in continuing to promote 'dyslexia' as a condition, and themselves as people who can help....

Thank you. The school is absolutely rubbish, but I don't place the full blame on them, as DS was having problems even when he was attending a prime private school.

DS has a lot of underlying problems, but we have gone through many of them for years and the gap continues to get wider, so I think it is time to bite the bullet, and try to explore other avenues.

Before I add my comments I just wanted to admit up front that I do work for Dyslexia Action as I would hate for anyone to think that I am being dishonest or trying to mislead anyone. I am however also a parent and am writing this as such and not as a representative of the organisation.

In my time with Dyslexia Action I have met and spoken to many parents who are hugely frustrated with the support offered in schools. As a parent you naturally want what is best for your child and seeing them struggle is heartbreaking.

In my opinion the debate around the existence of dyslexia is not constructive in helping to support children who are struggling. Whether diagnosed with Dyslexia or not an assessment can undoubtedly help to identify ways that you can help your child.

I have seen many cases where the support and help offered by Dyslexia Action has really changed a child's life.

In short I would just say that each child is different and that you should ultimately do what is right for your child, but please do not discount a possible solution simply because of the label attached.

The problem with the UK Dyslexia Industry, of which Dyslexia Action is one of the leading players, is that they are all trying to sell a remedial program, diagnostic service, or support program which is dependent on the myth that dyslexia is a condition.

Dyslexia is described in all of the research papers of the last decade as a learning disability, or more specifically a Reading Disability.

So Dyslexia is a man made problem, about having problems with a man made communication system the visual notation of speech.
Dyslexia is language dependent, so it is possible to be bilingual in Japanese and English and only be dyslexic in English.

There are three cognitive subtypes of dyslexia auditory, visual, and attentional, so dyslexics can have auditory information processing problems, visual information processing problems, or attention problems or some combination of the the three.

A diagnosis of dyslexic can only act as a screening test for one of the underlying cognitive disabilities which will require a further clinical assessment and diagnosis.

As far as i am aware Dyslexia Action are not able to provide these types of specialised clinical assessment, nor provide a referral to the clinical assessment centres.

Dyslexia does exist not as a condition but as a symptom of one or more cognitive disabilities / disorders which require a medical diagnosis, and most of which have more serious symptoms than dyslexia.