plan of action after Dyslexia

[2006hildy]

What's the plan of action once you have a diagnosis? Eg should I investigate further tests, Irlen lenses etc.

So far I have just been leaving the school to get on with it or should I be more proactive in my approach.

The school have said we should visit the opticians.

I just don't want him to do badly at school like most parents.

Since I've been told my (8) is dyslexic i've hired a private tutor 2hrs per week to give extra lessons . Not a special dyslexia tutor, just an ex primary school teacher. Dd is really behind in all subjects. It's early days but its really working for dd who loves the extra 1 to 1. It's increasing her confidence and helping her enjoy learning. Well worth every penny for that alone.

Ask the school what they are doing?

I agree with kissingtoads. I hired a dyslexia tutor for DS1 who couldn't spell his own name when diagnosed at 7. Tutor for one hour per week when DS1 was 7 until 12. Now he is 24 with Masters in engineering and well paid job (had 25% extra time for exams at school and Uni).

He said, when an adult, that tutor was the best thing we did as it gave him confidence and ability to ask questions that he would not have asked in class.

Writing slope ? the cheapest one I have been able to find is at specialdirect.com. £30 Ikea don?t seem to do OLGO anymore.

Toe by Toe manual I will definitely get one of these.

£30 for a writing slope??? That's ridiculous - what a rip-off

Yes, I am buying two so asked for a discount!

I went with a specialist dyslexia tutor which was money very well spent. She basically deconstructed ds's writing and went back to the beginning with the result that his handwriting now is really quite nice, did a lot of work with spelling cards and blends, and a lot of work using programmes like Wordshark which he thoroughly enjoyed. But most of all she gave him back his confidence: from a child who was telling me he was one of the stupid ones in class, he began to accept that he was not, and by the time he finished primary school his teacher was putting him forward for a gifted and talented programme.

Writing slope I have found out that it is now called Brada from Ikea which is a laptop support but will do the job £3.5.

Vultures yes I have been told not to spend any more for a specialist tutor!

Veritate yes DS1 also says he is one of the stupid ones in class and really hates school - so sad. I thought that that didn't happen till secondary.

You know having DS1 tested privately for dyslexia ,general intelligence and a whole load of other levels, was one of the best things I did for his confidence.

I was then able to say "DS1 you are in the brightest top xxxpercentage of children. Which means if there was a room with 100 people you would be the nth cleverest one". Because this was a statistic he could understand (even at age 7) he was very proud. We had it done again at 11 and 17 (for Uni) and it had got even higher. I take comfort from it if things go a bit wrong.

How do I move DS on from SA to SA+?

He is receiving extra help at SA.

He is progressing but bobbing on the National Curriculum Level. This means he is seriously under-performing according to his IQ level.