Well it's Friday afteRnoon so can only mean one thing - yep LA!!

[bjkmummy]

Ive now had an email.

They are querying her hearing as after reading her views, the sen officer feels that her difficulties in spelling is being caused by hearing difficulty and they want to make me aware of this - never mind that her dyslexia report states she has huge issue phono logically and is on the 5th centile - no my LA know best and can now say they know best than dyslexia action.

Also state she emotions bullying in her views - wanted to make me aware of this and for me to talk to school about it

Meeting - want to keep channels open with us and would give me an agenda if needed

And they've been hand delivering stuff due to the deadlines. Can't email due to security. They were merely giving me the option to go and collect things but my comments are noted and there will be no more door step visits!!!

Get the Gp or practice nurse to check her hearing ( no need for audiologist appt if you know there's no issue lol!) and book an eye test too. Then you'll have up to date medical opinion to refute their stupidity. Mention it at the meeting where you say nothing else.

I still don't buy that they were hand delivering due to deadlines, unless they were also hand delivering to Darlington. That's doable here (it's half an hour down the road) but not where you are.

I'd be tempted to ask where they obtained their clinical qualifications from.

She does have a hearing test already booked - its actually on the final evidence deadline date. I will book an eye test as well, thats the next job on my list but again there is no issue with her eyesight either but I will get it done.

And I agree with the deadline, they've got stuff to the tribunal service on time so no reason at all they couldn't have got it to me either. And some of the things they delivered didn't even have any deadline attached to them so no reason at all to behave like they have been, the email was almost pleasant.

Your LA just get better and better (not from your pov, obviously) but this must appeal to a comedy script writer - something in the style of Claire in the Community.

There is thought to be a connection between hearing problems and dyslexia. I think it's to do with the fact that if children don't hear the sounds properly they don't work out the phonological components of words, can't sound out when they're reading, etc. Dr Lindsay Peer has written about glue ear and dyslexia.

However, it's not a diagnosis you can conceivably come up with just from reading a child's views. At a minimum you would want some evidence that the child actually has hearing problems. And I love the fact that it's the SEN officer who is caringly drawing this to your attention, as if she actually has some sort of professional qualification that enables her to do this snap diagnosis.

If you have to remember that my LA has no qualified dyslexia teachers at all - not a single one, there is no dyslexia policy at all, no help at all for children who have dyslexia, the LA website doesn't have a single thing about dyslexia on it - we have one EP who has never met her, we have no dyslexia friendly schools and yet now, they suddenly are spewing this rubbish out. I'm sure the sen officer has probably spoken to the EP to get this opinion but this sudden concern etc doesn't wash when you think about the ferocity of the la response to tribunal that there is nothing wrong with her. No mention of her dyslexia report and levels, just that she's making progress and now this with her hearing. Her report makes lots of reference to the phonological problems she has. She is seeing a salt tomorrow so that should be interesting.

If your DD's LA is worried about the bullying, then the simple answer is, if they supported her correctly for her dyslexia, then she wouldn't get bullied! She is being bullied because of her literacy problems.

Not many LAs do have a policy for dyslexia. Most think an unqualified TA can easily step in and help the child. My LA said to Tribunal that dyslexia doesn't exist and that it is a speech and language problem. They also said that primary aged children do not need dyslexia support from qualified teachers. Therefore they don't have any teachers (qualified in dyslexia) supporting any primary-school aged child in my LA.

My DS has no history of hearing problems and no history of glue ear. He does have documented history of (corrected via glasses) short sightedness. However,Dr Lindsay Peer found that he was one of the most severest affected dyslexic child she had ever assessed and none of his problems was down to hearing or eyesight problems.

Hearing and sight problems can, in some cases, be connected to dyslexia, but is by no means the answer to all dyslexic children's problems.

35+ years ago I was hauled out of a class and told by a teacher that my dyslexia was because I needed stronger glasses. A quick trip to the optician proved that I didn't. I was fortunate and even back in the 70s, I had an amazing tutor who recognised my dyslexia and personally taught me technics that I use even to this day to cope with my dyslexia. I was very very lucky and I did achieve my potential, despite my dyslexia.

It saddens me greatly that in this so called modern day and age, dyslexic children are still not receiving the correct support to achieve their potential. Now that my DS is in an indie school which specialises in dyslexia, I feel that he can finally progress but I have had to take him out of county to a school 40 miles away from our home so that he gets the correct support.

It's about time LAs woke up to dyslexia and provided proper support to children with or without a Statement

The first thing that's automatically tested in a non-verbal child is usually hearing. That does make sense, but one of the theories is actually that these children (like DS2) aren't processing the sounds that they do hear, correctly, so that they're not distinguishing consonants, in particular. Am I right in expecting that there would be similar discrimination difficulties in a lot of cases of dyslexia? It's not the same as hearing difficulties, though, is it?

Yes ouryve what you are saying is correct. My daughter has been seen by an EP and sees a dyslexia teacher once a week and her hearing never been raised and the EP specifically did an extra test for the phonological side of things which was incredibly low. The dyslexia teacher is also doing work with her to help her with the sounds. She is seeing a salt today who is doing some specific tests re phonological side of things.

Towie, good point re the bullying. La picked up on 3 word she wrote but ignored where she says I need help in all my work and help with my dyslexia. In the first set of views she drew a picture showing the children shouting at her because she won't read out loud in class and the LA have chosen to ignore that as well