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Dyslexia - bottom 1%

30 replies

Anthea1001 · 13/09/2012 13:43

Hi my 8 year old son has been diagnosed as in the bottom 1% of children with Dyslexia, I would like to hear from anyone with similar diagnosis, he shows no progress with reading and I wondered if I am wasting his time perservering, with this diagnosis will he never actually be able to read anyway?

OP posts:
Badvoc · 13/09/2012 13:48

Please check out the tinsley house support thread or look at the website.
Good luck x

Anthea1001 · 14/09/2012 11:01

Thanks, will do x

OP posts:
KOKOagainandagain · 14/09/2012 11:33

Can you tell us what support you are getting? No problem whatsoever with going down the Tinsley House (other BO are available Grin), diet, supplements, RRT etc (been there and done it) and it will definately make things better than they can be without but at the same time it is important to obtain the maximum support within school that you can. You can always reduce it if necessary and it is no longer needed. Early intervention is crucial to self-esteem. Don't be fobbed off.

Who did the diagnosis and what did they recommend? Some LEAs say that they do not 'do' statements for dyslexia but at the same time have dyslexia units and resources that are only available to statemented DC. Does your DS have 'pure' dyslexia or does he have additonal problems with working memory, auditory processing, attention etc?

Read the Dsylexia Report of Sir Jim Rose and find out your own LEAs SEN and specific dyslexia policy.

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 11:54

You can read the Sencop online and print it out.
What interventions-help is he getting?

IndigoBell · 14/09/2012 12:18

Dysleixa is a medical problem which is totally curable.

It is not an educational problem that can be helped by school.

If you are lucky enough to chose the right interventions and treatments for your child, you can cure him.......

If you leave him to school he will get worse and worse.

cjn27b · 14/09/2012 17:34

Not sure if this helps, but here's my story. I am dyslexic. Back in the 1970s when I was at school is wasn't diagnosed as much. I'm not sure where I'd be on the dyslexic scale so to speak, but can tell you aged 17, after 6 years of support, I still had the reading age of an 11 year old and my writing was pretty shocking.

With the right school and support, those of us with dyslexia, make good progress! Do not give up hope.

Aged 41, I've had a decent career, got a degree and masters and now no one believes me when I tell them I'm dyslexic. School was a long hard slog, I don't deny that.

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 19:27

First, OP, try not to worry too much, I know it's hard (I remember the despair I felt initially and still do sometimes ) but it's worth remembering that the most important thing is that your child makes it to adulthood happy and whole emotionally. Trying to get the balance between doing enough for your DC without crippling them with too much pressure is hard but key - an unhappy child won't learn anything. Don't do doom and gloom with him ("this is terrible, you have to learn" etc) but calmly keep at it. At the same time you have to maximise his strengths, whatever they are because his self-confidence will be taking a daily kicking at school! So try and look for the things he enjoys and put plenty of time into them be it sport, art, music, drama etc

With regards to sorting the reading itself, whatever "therapies" people might recommend to you and you chose to follow, please don't assume that school can't help because they can! Force them to give you as much support as possible - he's at school 6 hours a day so he needs to be engaged with the curriculum even if his reading and writing holds him back to some extent. Also, no matter what else you try you MUST give him a solid grounding in phonics, becaus it gives him the tools to be able to learn to read. The "sound foundations" series are good for you to do at home with him. I've had positive experiences with tutoring from Dyslexia Action too.

On a final very long winded note do consider specialist provision, for many very dyslexic children it's the only way they survive emotionally, especially in their teens.

Most importantly, keep loving your boy - the best thing anyone ever said to me was "love the child you've got, not the one you wish you'd had". It's important they know we value them exactly as they are!

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:01

Erm....Force a school to help?
Yeah.....good luck with that!
I agree with fleet that The Sound foundations books are excellent...bear neccessities and apples and pears are the best work books I have found and beleive me I have tried em all!
you could also try phonics play online which my son likes.
Education city is also good.
Oxford owl have free online books but not sure what level your son is at?
for me personally, it's nothing to do with not loving the child I have got.
It's about enabling him to reach his potential and I am delighted to say he now is.
He got"star writer of the week" award today at assembly :)
This time last year he didn't even use vowels in his writing:)

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:02

In fact I really resent that lastparagraph of your post fleet...
If i and others help our children - because the schools will not/cannot we dont love or value them?
What a crock of shit.

sickofincompetenceandbullshit · 14/09/2012 21:08

Crock of shit could also apply to the scaremongering on this thread re: dyslexia being curable but only if you don't trust the school and instead choose an alternative path. All schools and teachers are evil...really?

I have taught many dyslexic pupils, some of whom have moved from 1st centile to 25th centile in a year with extra 1:1 literacy work. Admittedly, it has taken a Statement for some to get that support, but I really don't think that changing their diet would have had the same effect Hmm.

sickofincompetenceandbullshit · 14/09/2012 21:09

And forcing a school to help is possible if you get a Statement. Here, they are stingy as fuck with Statements but 1st centile would get you a Statement for dyslexia; they've even committed that to paper!

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:10

I didn't say that, I didn't even aim the comment at you. I'm really not sure why your response is so aggressive. Surely the motivation of any parent

sickofincompetenceandbullshit · 14/09/2012 21:12

No, you didn't say that, fleet Confused .

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:12

...with a dyslexic child is to ensure they reach their potential! But I know from my experience my DS that it's important for the child not to feel like they have t

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:15

I fought for 4 years to get my son the help He needs. School not interested. As the ht said...he is just not bad enough? Even though he was making no progress?
Even though a private ep report dx him as severly dyslexic (although only 3% not 1% like the ops child)
...... or rather was, I dont consider him to be dyslexic any,ore as he is working at level 3 NC and will probably be an independent reader by next week.
Of course I could have just left things as they were.....he would still be working at level 1s and unable to spell CVc words?.....

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:15

effing iPhone to change in order to be ok. It's a balance isn't it? My DS's mental health is fragile (and I don't think that's uncommon for dyslexics) so I try to go carefully in how we work on his issues.

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:17

Have you ever known SA to be granted for dyslexia sick?
In my county it simply does not happen, and in many others.
You could be ine of the lucky ines I guess, although the amount of parents who have to still fight to get the SA provision is pretty damning....

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:19

It certainly is.
My sin was showing signs of clinical depression at age 6.
So I did something about it.
I didn't trust teachers, Sencos, tas anymore.
Maybe that makes me "alternative" although I have to say that label always makes me smile....is it really so alternative to take vitamins, eat well and do a vision exercise programme?? :)

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:20

Not sure why you equate making the school provide support as leaving them to it - school is the tip of the iceberg as far as DS's education goes. But they are there 6 hours a day, so it's worth getting the most out of them possible. Tbh, if the school won't help, it's time to look for another one becaus many will

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:22

I haven't criticised your approach - hell, you're assuming I know what it is! I was just offering the OP what I could from what had worked for my DS Aren't we all just looking for anything to help our poor babies?

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:24

6 hours a day?
Oh come on!
They have registration. They have literacy and numeracy for about 40 mins in the morning.
The have assembly.
They have playtime.
They have lunch
They have pe
They do french/topic/history/re/pse/geography
They go home.
6 hours!
You cannot force a school to put interventions in place.
My sins current school (I did move him and home schooled him for a year) is lovely but they have very little understanding of dyslexia, no resources and limited budget.
Do you know how miniscule the sen budget is?

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:27

They're there between 9am -3pm minimum - that's six hours when they can't be doing something else. It's better If some of it can be productive.

Badvoc · 14/09/2012 21:28

"it's important they know we value them for who they are"
Do you have any idea how patronising that sounds?
I not only value my son for who he is, but for who he could be in the future.
My boy has big dreams and I am going to do my level best to help him achieve them.
With the best will In the world, teachers, sencos and tas are doing a job. And some do it well. And some are terrible.
I will not leave my sons future, hopes and dreams to them again.
Been there, done it.
It damaged my son more than I can say :(

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:31

I didn't say that to you, I said it to the OP, I don't know you from Adam. What is with this chip on your shoulder? I really don't understand!

FleetofHope · 14/09/2012 21:33

I didn't even say leave it to school in my first post, I listed all the other things I do too! I just include having school onside in my approach