St Helens don't check for Dyslexia - Is this right?

[sweetteamum]

My friend is having some issues with her DS and in a meeting suggested that he could have dyslexia. I was surprised that she got the reply "Oh we don't do that in St Helens, plus DS is being supported anyway, so what difference does it make"

I personally would have asked if it's not something the Dr checks for, and seemingly not something the LEA check for, then who's responsibility is it?

What if her son's 'other' issues are because of any possible dyslexia, rather than ie ASD?

What do you think?

Drs don't do specific learning diffificulties. My DS's dsylexia was not diagnosed until private EP assessment despite being seen by 2 LEA EPs prior to this. Schools are expected to deal with dyslexia out of their own resources. We were told by an LEA EP that even if DS was dyslexic - which she thought was unlikely because he could 'read and write' - he would not be entitled to any more or different resources. The LEA is only involved in SpLD where the child is unable to read or write aged 11 (5 years behind) or where there are complex co-morbidities. Therefore there is little merit (from the LEA/school pov) of diagnosing dyslexia as this will have no impact on resource allocation. This is not true. Read the Rose Review on dyslexia. Make sure the school are collecting data (reading and spelling age) so that they can calculate rate of progress. Are the school making intervention? Action/Action+?

The LA like the teachers to pick it up and say they have the resources and training to deal with it without an EP assessment.

There is a better report than the Rose report well more up to date by dyslexia action. They might be worth a call?

The thing about the Rose Review is not that it is 'the best' but that it is the official government policy that is used by LEAs. The LEA quote the Rose Review at parents but it can be quoted back. Especially the part about adequate progress - (2003, pp 178-9),

'Many UK studies report results not in standard scores but in reading and spelling ages, from which ratio gains can be calculated in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. A ratio gain of 1.0 means that the child?s skills are developing at a normal pace, but they will not be catching up with their peers. Brooks (2007) suggests that ratio gains of less than 1.4 are of ?doubtful educational significance?, between 1.4 and 2.0 of ?modest impact?, between 2.0 and 3.0 of ?useful impact?, between 3.0 and 4.0 of ?substantial impact? and above 4.0 of ?remarkable impact? (Brooks. 2007, p. 289).

However, Brooks (2007) points out that ordinary teaching (i.e. no intervention) does not enable children with literacy difficulties to catch up, and hence it is fair to presume that, in the absence of control or comparison groups, and where effect sizes cannot be calculated, findings of ratio gains in excess of 2.0 may be taken as good evidence in support of the method employed. Indeed, several studies have shown that, without help, dyslexic pupils progress at around only 5 months per calendar year in reading (ratio gain 0.42) and 3 months in spelling (ratio gain 0.25) (Thomson, 1990, 2001; see also Rack and Walker, 1994).

A ratio gain of 2.0 is a gain in reading and/or spelling age of 24 months in a 12 month period. DS had a ratio gain of 0.3 during a Wave 3 intervention (4 months gain over 12 months). This 'objective' evidence of inadequate progress (along with co-morbidities) was sufficient to get SA and the LEA are in the process of drafting a proposed statement. Wave 3 interventions (Accelerite/read etc) were not even mentioned prior to diagnosis. 1st step has to be to get a dx. LEA EPs are crap and so pay for an assessment.

Thanks Keepon thats very useful to me atm!! :)

Thanks for the details. I'm sure she said he's on School Action + (as there's outside agencies involved), but he doesn't have an iep/ibp.

I'll pass on these details and i'm sure she'll be questioning the school again.

Hi,

I came up against the same at the end of last term. St. Helens don't do full dyslexia assessments, although some schools (not my daughters though) do have specialist teachers to assess and tutor for dyslexia.

Over this summer holiday we have used a local dyslexia specialist, Sean at Action for Dyslexia to have a full assessment and report completed. We will be taking this report to the school in September and asking for the recommended support that is in the report to be put into place.

I have to say, Action for Dyslexia were very good and really impressed us with their professionalism and support.

If you want a dyslexia assessment in St Helens or surrounding areas then I can't recommend Action for Dyslexia enough.

LEAs can provide further funding through a statement for dyslexia but I suppose it depends on the severity.
My dd's statement specifies weekly 1:1 with a dyslexia specialist, also the specialist has to train the TA CT and senco. Although we did have to go to tribunal to get this and have indie reports and dx.