Dyslexia - Chance of being successful?

[Awcw1234]

DD age 8 is due to have an assessment for Dyslexia soon and it is highly probable she will receive a diagnosis.

She is currently working below expectations in all areas but I’m hoping with a diagnosis, private tutoring and extra help at school, she will manage to catch up. Am I being unrealistic? She is due to start Y4 in Sept.

All I want is for her to pass her SATs and GCSEs 😔

No you’re not being unrealistic at all. Dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence and with the right support she should succeed.

My son is severely dyslexic but also has lots of other things going on so is behind across the board but his reading age is now in line with his chron. age hurray so this makes it easier for him to access learning activities in class. He also gets other support.

She’s going into year 4 so this gives 2 years for teachers to implement a dyslexia friendly classroom before SATs and for her to have an assessment for assistive tech so that she is supported to record her work in different ways. They must also provide tech or a scribe for SATs and other assessments otherwise they won’t reflect her ability.

Best of luck!

It's great that she's being diagnosed early, if it's severe she should be able to have a reader, scribe and extra time for GCSE's - also coloured paper or coloured overlays if they help. If not so severe then maybe a reader pen, laptop/computer with spell check and extra time. You do lose marks though if there are marks available for SPAG or in the English Lang paper - at ds's school I think they get them to do Eng Lang without a reader/scribe if at all poss because they lose so many marks for having it that it's better for them not to have it. Diagnosis will be really helpful IMO and hopefully tell you where her difficulties lie. There's absolutely no reason why she shouldn't pass GCSE's, I think it's important to keep her interest and enthusiasm up and make sure she doesn't lose confidence because of the things she struggles with due to her dyslexia. Keep encouraging her, supporting her and get her extra help where she needs it.

Pupils can still access some or all of the SPAG marks when using a scribe. For many the trade off is worthwhile.

I used to be an English teacher (and I have a SEND kid of my own - although not with Dyslexia.)

I have seen many kids with Dyslexia make good progress in school with the right support in place - including many who went onto to get A-Cs at GCSE.

The key is to get the correct support in place as early as possible. (And sometimes this means being as pushy as possible with LEAs and schools. Be prepared to be bad cop a lot.) If you can get this in place before the end of primary school so much the better.

Talk to your child about their diagnosis to make sure they understand that their brain just works differently and they are not 'stupid'. And celebrate successes and help promote good self-image and self esteem. If they can see progress, and don't internalise failure, they will have a much better chance of persevering and succeeding with school once hormones start kicking in and cause a whole other layer of disruption.

Good Luck!

Absolutely possible to succeed and more.
Dyslexic thinkers have so many strengths. The trick is getting them through a school system (which doesn't measure those strengths) happy and with the outcomes they need for the next step.
I'm a Dyslexia Assessor and I see loads of students who go on to do all sorts of amazing things. The comments above have given loads of great information about support. In addition to this check out the charity MadeByDyslexia. They have excellent training for parents and teachers. And it's really fun to do (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly deliver part of it....might have had to go back and double-check my understanding a few times on that bit 😉
Also, there are very inspiring real-life stories on the fb page 'Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Support UK, Ask and Expert (www.facebook.com/groups/2178825919051540)