new here.. 11 year old DS with ADHD and dyslexia. Refusal to assess for statement etc blah blah blah HELP!

[tunbridgewellsmum]

DS has ADHD (dx 2007) and moderate dyslexia (dx 2010).. is on SA+ and in year 7 at local school. Have applied for assessment for statementing (via school) but turned down (no surprise there!). Want to go to tribunal now and have sent papers to lawyer today for her consideration.. but am worried I'm wasting my time/money. I'm feeling horribly confused about what is right for him and go from thinking he's ok where he is, to moving him to a 'specialist independent' school or home schooling and round and round in my head. Local Private school (who specialise in dyslexia dont' want him and have told us so!)

Dont' feel current school are meeting his needs (no understanding of ADHD or dyslexia) and not acknowledging the problems. He has a reading age of 8 and he is nearly 12. This means he can't access the curriculum and gets very little help in lessons. His IEP's are a JOKE! Homework is a complete NIGHTMARE and I end up differentiating tasks to make it more appropriate for him and continuous notes back and forth to the teachers..

I feel we need to get him assessed properly by County, but don't really know what I'm after as an outcome... I honestly don't know what is best for my son!

Anyone been here? got any advice? help!

Sorry, no good advice, but bumping for you.

Well I'm not quite in your situation, but if you see my thread from today, you can see that I too don't know what to do for the best for my dyslexic DD......

Do you think you should talk to the SENCO again? Or has it moved past that and you should be talking to Parent Partnership?

Try not to worry most county councils cave after refusing to assess if the parent raises a tribunal case as it costs them a lot to defend and the law is that the county must identify a child's SEN properly so it is on your side.

thanks guys... wasuup3000 - that's what I'm hoping!

Senco is on our side I think.. or at least from what she's written on the initial request for statement.

Will get in touch with Parent Partnership.. thanks for info. Will go and read your thread now...

tunbridgewellsmum, I am in exactly the same boat as you in the fact I do not know what is best for my son. 6 weeks ago we applied for SA and today we were refused, as he falls below the acceptable criteria. Like your DS my son is 3-4 years behind in his reading and writing (he is 10) and gets very little help in class, he has 2 x 10min 1:1 per week (thats if his TA is not too busy which most times she is), he has been on SA+ since he started school and has been seeing an SLT since 31/2. Also his IEP's are a joke and homework is an absolute nightmare which takes us hours. The difference is SENCO doesn't appear to be on our side and it's a battle just to go in and talk about my son.
So right now I do not know what to do, I still have appointments with the EP and Paed to discuss my son as we really have no DX, other than SLD and now Dyslexia has been mentioned.
It seems so much of a struggle and alot of stress just to get where we are today and thats with the LEA saying NO to SA, so how much more will it take to get it overturned and the help my son clearly needs :(

The real problem is that the UK education system is run on the cheap, and no government is willing to pay for the initial high costs properly training teachers, providing properly qualified SENCos, and allowing independent Special Needs assessments. That is the system we have to live with, and those who need extra or different help and support from the one size fits all options the government (including LEAs) want to provide have problems getting the help our children need.

Dyslexia is a man made problem, about having problems with a man made communication system the visual notation of speech. There are three cognitive subtypes of dyslexia:auditory, visual, and attentional. So an auditory processing disorder, a visual processing disorder, an attention disorder, or any combination of the three can cause problems decoding and recoding the graphic symbols we use to represent speech, or the written word.

So a diagnosis of the dyslexic symptom is only a screening process for a further assessment for one or more of the cognitive / medical issues which cause the dyslexic symptom. This means that education professionals need to consult with medical professionals so that they can begin to understand the communication and teaching requirements of our children, so that they can adapt their teaching methods to best suite our children (If they have adequate training ang qualifications to have these teaching abilities).

wow! dolfrog you know your stuff! thanks for your input..

nickminiink I feel for you.. it's SO hard to know what to do for the best and I for one have NO clue! Can you afford to get private assessments??

DS was screened at primary school for dyslexia and said he was fine, but when we had him assessed privately (Ed Psych) said he was moderately dyslexic. The diagnosis of ADHD again was privately (GP referral) with a consultant paed. 2 primary schools have pretty much dismissed both conditions and failed to recognise or address.. to be fair the state secondary school is a little more supportive and at least acknowledge there is a problem.

We are going to tribunal (with or without solicitor) to get them to assess him. Apparently 90% are turned down initially.. ?? is that right? so once you push them, they are forced into a corner and supposedly will then assess.. or at least that's what I'm hoping.

Should also mention that DS is august baby... so considering dropping him back a year.

We're investigating our options and they are as follows - would appreciate anyone's advice or comments. From what I can see most schools aren't keen on ADHD kids (far too disruptive!!) so that's the bigger problem than the dyslexia. DS isn't medicated (apart from prozac to address his anxiety) and I'm not prepared to drug him up - have tried everything and he's better off it .. Anyway.. here're our options...

1. Stay at current state school (he's starting to settle and made a friend) and push for as much help as possible without statement (hhmmm not really an option!)
2. Stay at current state school with statement (could take months) with TA support
3. Move to local private school and drop back a year. Small class sizes and more differentiation of curriculum and homework tasks (but no 1:1 in the classroom). Looking at options and unsure of dyslexia support but on the outside seems positive and hopeful. Meeting the head and SENCO next week.... wouldn't go to tribunal if decide this option.
4. Move to specialist independent dyslexia school (Frewen College). Could fund ourselves initially, but then if statemented would hopefully get funding. Again drop him back a year..

There are so many pros and cons.. I honestly don't know where to start. Head feels like it's going to explode...