Have any of you got your LEA to pay for a dyslexia school

[Jayne232]

DD has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia. She can read and write but it working about 2 years behind. Her biggest issue is maths and comprehension which is 2-3 years behind. Her working memory and processing is in the lowest percentile possible in WISC tests. I just don't know where to go. I dont trust the state primary to fulfill their obligations as they totally ignored it for years. It was only due to a private assessment that we know how bad it is. So, I am thinking ahead for secondary (she's in the final year of primary) and wondering is a specialist school would be better. How bad do they have to be to get the LEA to pay? How do I go about doing this?

My stepdaughter likely has dyslexia. I have paid for a private reading specialist for her. She is currently being assessed to determine whether she does have it or not. Truthfully I’m sure dyslexia is a excluded disability according to Wikipedia. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulnerable_adult
Most children with it can attend a mainstream school with the appropriate amount of support in place for them.
My best friend with it attended a mainstream school. She’s now 25 years old and traveling with her friends and her partner alone. She went to university after school.

I don't understand what you're getting at. I am asking if anyone has got their child into a school specialising in dyslexia. I don't see the link to travelling alone or the wiki link but I think you might have misunderstood.

Our county doesn't. A friend of mine took their dd into a neighbouring authority just to get it recognised.

My daughter goes to a school purely for children with severe dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties (dyspraxia, dyscalculia etc) and some but not all of her classmates are funded by the LEA. So it is possible (not easy but possible).

Thank you Myst97. Obviously you must think it's a benefit for your daughter. Do you know how 'bad' they need to be to benefit? Dd is 2-3 years behind in year 6 but I have no idea if that's enough.

Sorry just seen your reply - I know that one of the criteria for her school is two yrs behind but bright (IE just needs the barriers to learning caused by dyslexia etc to be broken down as opposed to anything else) so seems like it would be enough to me. Obviously, I don't know your child!

The question is not how far behind DD is with reading, etc; but can she cope in a mainstream classroom or not - given a combination of the difficulties which probably make up her dyslexia such as poor reading, working memory, etc and her resilience! How has she coped so far? Does she muck about in class all the time to cover up she can’t do the work?

(People talking about their friends who were fine in mainstream don’t always know the distinctions between mild, moderate and severe dyslexia. I’ve heard women in their 40s still in tears as they talk about their dyslexia in school; and men talk about their experiences as the class clown, being put in the bottom sets at secondary - all of which have clearly affected their self esteem long term)

Actually iirc, ICAN used to reckon a child had to be at level 4 for reading by the KS 2 SATs, if they were going to cope at secondary? (However my guess is that depends also on the other difficulties such as poor working memory?)

This will tell you if a prospective school is registered, then contact the school to find out their admissions and entry criteria.
crested.org.uk/

As far as I'm aware, if parents want the local authority (LEA) to pay for a specialist school, they have to prove the level of support their child needs is not available in any LEA schools in their area.

Look into the process of obtaining an EHCP as that should outline any specialist provision a child needs for their education.
Please be aware that LEAs may not accept any diagnoses outside of the ones done by the NHS.

Useful information to get you started
www.sossen.org.uk/getting_started.php

I asked this question a while back as I was keen for my son to go into specialist provision but was told that a process needed to be followed (mainstream with EHCP and if that wasn't working then we could try for specialist provision).

Just seen that your daughter is last year of primary (ds is still very young). This may well make it easier for you. It's worth ringing some SpLD schools as they can advise you on what your chances are.

You need an EHCP for the council to even consider paying.

And even then the assessments done would have to advise that your dd needs support that cannot be offered in a mainstream school, except by costly extra teaching support, which might make it cheaper for the council to pay for a dyslexia school placement.

In London there are two schools that spring to mind: The Moate School and Fairley House. Fairley House seems to be for students with no behaviourial issues apart from a diagnosis of dyslexia.

Outside London there is More House in Frensham I think. A lot of children at these schools are funded by EHCPs, but I suspect that in order to even get to that stage the parents have to prove a serious disadvantage in their children's current progress. Just one assessment is not going to get you an EHCP. But you can certainly apply for one. Contact IPSEA for further advice.

Son has EHCP for dyslexia dyspraxia and asd and is not in a specialist school. He is doing really well at the right mainstream comprehensive and is scribed for exams atm. He gained excellent gsce results and is now doing A levels in humanities. He doesn't have a 1:1 nor did he, but he had some specialist teaching input and some smaller classes. His school has a good reputation for SEN support but they are now feeling the cuts with the new funding system for EHCPs which adversely affects them, where before the money they received from the council could be pooled more efficiently than now, where there is shortfall..

I recommend speaking to the SEN in all the secondary schools and finding out what they offer in the way of specialist support for dyslexic pupils...could be typing homework, homework only in core subjects, touch typing clubs, pastoral support in other ways to increase confidence (ie extra curricular opportunities)

The working memory and processing would be the biggest issue for my child in terms of taking in instructions or understanding what was asked of them in classwork, far more than just reading ability or spelling. whatever you decide about the EHCP (and some children get no particular benefit financially from cash strapped councils despite having them) just knowing what your child's difficulty is fore arms you to seek the advice and support of the teaching staff and support your child.

Ds as I say is doing very very well and works hard but I had to take him out of school at the end of year 7 partly because I didn't really know how to tackle the problem and was trying to fit him in to school system. 2 years out and more 1 to 1 input at home and he went back to school with much less stress, ready and able to learn in classroom environment. I don't think if he had just perservered and floundered at his original school the story would have been the same. I needed to know what strategies would help him, in detail.