'mild' learning differences - what is needed?

[Sewingbuttons]

Sorry, this is going to be an essay, but how do I know when my child needs extra help, how do I know what tests to ask for and what help to push for? What is just 'normal' and what isn't?

It is becoming increasingly apparent that my youngest child (9 years, in year 4 at school) is falling behind her peers. School raised in year 2 that she was likely dyslexic and put some help in place with spelling, but said they don't assess/refer for assessment. I was told in year 3 this was not necessary and she would catch up. Now in year 4 she is more behind than ever. Of note she started school during covid and pretty much missed the whole of reception year (as did her peers), so all of them were slow to start. Very limited help is in place, and we are really working (still!) on her year 2 common word spellings. Her reading is at a reasonable level. Her maths is poor - she just doesn't understand numbers. We are practicing times tables daily but I'm not sure it's helping. Her handwriting is poor but probably not too far below what is expected for her age. She struggles to use a knife and fork and can't catch a ball, but can ride a bike. She struggles with friendships, and has only been invited to one party by peers at school -it was a whole class party. (she does have a couple of friends outside of school who invite her). She does play with children at school, but says they are not her friends, and never wants to meet them outside of school. Apparently last week she was stood in the playground at break time with her hat over her whole face, just stood there, for the whole breaktime, and often plays alone. She struggles to follow social interactions and sometimes just wanders off. She has very intense interests, and will talk at you about them 🙂. She will repeat the same word over and over and over and over, getting louder and louder until told to pack it in. She won't engage on phone or video calls and struggles when we have family staying over, even if she likes them. That's some of it off the top of my head.

But what does it mean? I suspect she is autistic and dyslexic (both are common in the family 😏). Dyscalcula? Dyspraxia less likely, but.. ? Who do I need to speak to? How do we go about getting her assessed? Is it different specialists for different conditions, or is there one person to speak to? The senco at school is a bit useless, so would rather not rely on them to navigate this!

Thanks

Support in school is based on needs, not diagnosis. Request a meeting with the SENCO. The school must make their best endeavours to meet DD’s SEN whether she has a diagnosis or not. They need to be doing more than they are.

You can also request an EHCNA. IPSEA is a charity who supports parents whose DC have SEN and they have a model letter you can use to request an EHCNA.

It sounds like an educational psychologist assessment would be helpful. Unfortunately, an ed psych assessment via the school or LA outwith the EHCNA process is unlikely unless there are severe difficulties/challenging behaviour.

It also sounds like an OT assessment would help. In some areas, you can self refer. If you can’t, the school or GP will be able to. Also read about DCD.

If you suspect autism, you need a referral to whoever conducts ASD assessments in your area. This differs depending on where you live. Or you can go via Right to Choose or privately. The school or GP will be able to refer.

You could go over their heads and go straight to the area SENCO? That’s what I did when DC’s previous setting were doing absolutely nothing. You probably also need to get a bit bolshy (but overly polite) with the school about this, the last thing you want is your DC to go into secondary and all those issues to become more apparent and exacerbated. There’s so many children going into secondary with very clear and apparent additional needs that were obviously not addressed during primary.

In most areas, Area SENCOs are only for early years. Some LAs call their specialist teaching service Area SENCO, but this isn’t actually the same role as the Area SENCO as per the SENCOP.