[senco-forum] dyslexia assessment/usefulness of lable

I thought the medical model of reading disability had long been discarded but apparently not. The idea of 'diagnose - prescribe then 'cure' is simply not applicable in a classroom which can offer only diagnoses and prescriptions but not cures. That failure surely renders the concept invalid.  The originator of this thread is right to challenge this concept as long as the status quo is not delivering 'cures'.

My own perspective on this thorny issue has developed and changed over decades of practical and theoretical involvement. Where I am now, is to believe that any child with a reading disability has a deficit, for whatever reason, in some of the sub-skills necessary for the acquisition of the reading skill.  Teachers are not equipped either by training or facilities to confront whatever neurological or other physical differences, a dyslexic pupil may have. They are however equipped by training and experience, to confront specific sub-skill deficits, irrespective of the label applied to the child and it is surely unforgivable when these easily identifiable sub-skills deficits are not addressed.

When I address the issue of a means of resolving a particular skill deficit such as eg segmenting skills, I am frequently asked by someone with a title such as Director of Addition Needs, not does this approach resolve the deficit, but does the programme include a spreadsheet so that we can prove the child completed this particular course? That worries me because it suggests that schools may be the problem and not the solution.

Eddie C.