Trying to get a diagnosis for learning difficulty, help.

[Veteran77]

I have a 6 year old son, who until now has had severe language delay, and delays in comprehension, he has been receiving SLT since he was 3. In addition to these problems he has been Diagnosed with hypermobility and has poor muscle tone and coordination (as a baby he would fall over the time) recently though his reading level is around average he reported that when he reads words jump around. He also says he has difficulty remembering what he has been taught in class and things that have happened. I noticed that at times when I have taught him something and made sure he understands a few days later he can't seem to remember what to do. His social skills are also poor and he is on a school programme to help with this.

My husband tells me that as a child and even now he had the same problems with coordination, learning and concentration difficulties.

He is in the process of getting a SEN however we feel there is urgent need of a diagnosis so that he gets the specific help he needs. We feel we've been left hanging as none of the professionals we've been dealing with over the past 3 years can come up with any diagnosis of his difficulties.

We were wondering about which charities, organisations or support groups to turn to for help if anyone has also been through this?

Have you managed any kind of referral to a paediatrician? Your gp should be able to refer you to the child development centre. You may need an OT assessment, especially for visual perception etc. ultimately you will probably need an educational psychology assessment too, which you may get the school to request (but unlikely at this age) or you could request an ehc assessment. In our case we had a medical diagnosis (our son had a stroke) but we paid privately for the EP report initially so that is was very thorough and was done for US rather than anyone else. From that we we went on to request further intervention and now have a specialist placement.

I would go to your local Information, Advice & Support Service (IASS, used to be called Parent Partnership Service or PPS) - they are independent advice for parents and carers with children who have special educational needs. They can advice you on requesting that the Local Authority assess your son for special educational needs with a view to issuing him with an Education Health Care Plan - these have replaced the old Statements. As part of that process they should be asking for relevant professionals to assess your son - Ed Psyc, OT, SLT, Paediatrican - you won't get a diagnosis from this process but you will get the specific help he needs in place.