Advice re schooling a dyslexic child

[Ang69]

Hello to all, don't quite know where to start as have so much to say but I'll try and condense as much as possible. My 8 year old son has had major difficulties with reading,writing and basic arithmetic. As a toddler he appeared deaf at times as he would just completely blank us when we spoke to him. He has been seen by numerous ed psychs over the years and they never have much to say except he is probably autistic.

Whilst waiting for the autism team to assess him I started to intensify my own research as it didn't add up. My son is very with it emotionally, he gets humor, sarcasm, irony and has been described by school as a bright child who is highly imaginative and thinks outside the box. When he got to P2 and could not read a single word I got him assessed for dyslexia. They told me they couldn't say for definite but it was highly probable. What they did say however was that he had a massive issue with processing language and should see a speech therapist. He has been having input from a private SALT for the past 20 months and she has confirmed the language deficit saying that he had the language skills of a 3 year old when first assessed. This was a shock as my son appeared to speak normally but as time went on I could see he didn't communicate at the same level as his peers. I also started him on a reading program called Fastforword which helps student with auditory processing issues and dyslexia. He improved massively within a very short time frame and was socializing much better and was generally more switched on when answering questions.

At this stage I declined the autism assessment as the school dismissed everything we did and did not believe he had a language deficit. They had him already labelled even though they could see the massive improvements he had made with our interventions. He is now going into P4 and the school are putting interventions in place for autism without saying the word. They gave him a social story for us to read together over the summer to prepare him for the change in year and the fact he will have different teachers. My son understands a lot more now and actually asked me why the school were treating him as if he were stupid and that they didn't have to tell him as he already knew. They are also making things up about my son saying that he doesn't understand the emotions of others and that he is rigid in his actions, this couldn't be further from the truth. Our SALT who has extensive knowledge of autism has said she does not believe at all he is autistic and that it is his complex language issues which are causing the problem. I am about to get a full ed psych review done independently to confirm dyslexia and ensure we are not missing anything else. Also, to top it off, the school have said that he is reading his books fluently with full understanding. He can barely read words like cat, dog etc and when he does read it is a massive struggle to finish just one line with very simple words. He says the words blur together and I can see it is almost painful for him to look at the book. The school also will not take into account our private assessments and have said they do not agree with them.

Anyway, we have decided to remove him from the school and either go private or move to another area with a better state school who are more able to work with us. I don't really know what I'm asking here but I'm just hoping that someone could give a little advice on what we should do, private or state? We really would rather stay were we are but the schools are not great. Having said that we have a fantastic state nursery for our 19 month old who has Down Syndrome so we have seen both sides of the state system.

Any words of wisdom would be very gratefully received on any matters of the above. I really feel like I am cracking up and don't know what to think anymore.

Thanks for your patience in reading this mammoth post, it was actually quite cathartic getting it down in writing!

Firstly congratulations on being so proactive with your son. Sounds like it's been a very difficult journey. I would get your ds assessed by a behavioural optometrist to see what can be done about the visual stress, this really takes a bad situation with reading and makes it truly horrendous. My dd1 (age 10, also dyslexic) has tinted glasses which are bifocal, with a reading prescription. This works very well (warning, they are not cheap) and helps with reading stamina to get through and decode words. Tinted lenses are chosen subjectively via a colourimetry assessment, look for a behavioural optometrist who offers this.

Your son sounds as though he has problems with language and phonological processing. How is his writing and spelling? Definitely a good idea to change school (they do sound particularly inept), but I would try and finish your private assessments first, to dig down and uncover exactly what is needed. Ultimately you need a school that is receptive and will listen, that would be a good start and a huge improvement!

Hi ang my DSs don't have dyslexia, but do have processing disorders. They have been in state schools, but may not be for much longer....

For what it's worth, I don't think it matters so much whether the school's in the state or private sector. What matters much more is whether the school is capable of understanding DS's needs, is actively willing to work with you to help meet them, and is willing to see your child as more than just a set of educational and social problems.

State and private schools are both capable of doing this. You'll get a decent insight into whether a school can do the job by how they answer your questions, as well as what they say when they answer them. Other things worth thinking about:

• Try to have a chat with a teacher other than a SENCO or a member of the school's senior leadership team (ie class teacher in DS's year). If they don't agree to this, run for the hills.

• An 'outstanding' Ofsted inspection grade won't tell you much about how well your kid's needs will be met in practice - in fact, many posters here (me included) think it's often a bad sign. Kids with SN sometimes get short shrift in places like this.

• I'm not sure whether you've got a statement in place or not, but LAs sometimes often take a dim view of allocating extra provision to kids at private schools. If you think the LA's got nothing to offer you - or won't be willing to do so without a fight you can't face - then this might not matter much.