[senco-forum] Assessing and diagnosing for dyslexia

Sorry you were let down so badly, Sophie. In my

Jean,

He is now in an exceptionally lovely school and sadly
having been taken from the village school just 1
minutes walk from the front door.

I have been reading the forum for a couple of months
now and find it fascinating - though clearly the
people that post on here have a real interest in this
and really not the SENCO's that would gain the most
benefit. 

The fact that severe Dyslexia can remain undetected or
even ruled out by teachers in this day and age has
been a real eye opener. Even to the untrained eye,
illegiable writing, backward letter, etc - should hive
an inkling. 
Having had to become an expert in many things to fight
for my childrens basic right to 'happiness' rather
than anything else - I have learnt that it is often a
fundamental lack of understanding rather than an
individual problem, that often lies at the heart of an
issue.  Not sure that makes sense - I mean: If a
school understands Dyslexia then that is far more
important than having a child Diagnosed with it. 

I have also discovered that many, many parents suspect
there is an underlying issue with their child and
think things will get better. they don't broach the
subject because they feel that if there was a problem
- the teachers would have noticed. Sadly not all do
and by the time anyone has worked out that there
really is a problem - you are then dealing with self
esteem issues as well.

More important than anything is that the key factor in
all - is the individual child. I remain shocked at
what a lottery SEN provision is because no matter what
it is that is holding a child back - unhappy children
acheive little. 

By the way - I think it is often forgotten that
disorders such as APD can have massive impact on a
childs life and not just their time in school and so
it can be really helpful to have a specific diagnosis
for all involved

ADVICE: Do not get me started on Highly Gifted
Children.

NOTE: The SENCO in this school is so damn good at her
job and so open to idea's that I feel I may have to
suggest a Civil Partnership

Owww. I just fell off my soap box

For me, my son goes to a great school (at least until
September)

> Sorry you were let down so badly, Sophie.  In my
> former school (I retired
> last summer), we always took parental contributions
> seriously and I
> sometimes assessed a child when I was reasonably
> certain that dyslexia was
> not the problem.  If it was excluded as highly
> unlikely, parents were
> usually delighted, as we then went on to try to get
> to the actual specific
> difficulty involved.
> 
> I can still see the joy on one mother's face; her
> daughter already had
> hearing problems, which accounted for some of her
> difficulties, and she
> felt that both she and her daughter could cope
> better knowing that
> daughter had mild general learning difficulties as
> well as the hearing
> loss!
> 
> I hope that your son is now getting the support that
> he needs and is
> making steady progress.
> 
> Regards
> 
> jean
> 
> 
> 
>  On the flip side, I used the term 'Dyslexic
> tendancies' to a school - not
> > being an expert, I thought that the softly softly
> approach may be a better
> > way to approach the staff.
> >
> >   Apparantly he was just a late developer - after
> a shamefully long period
> > on a 'late developers table'  I paid for a private
> assesment and
> > discovered that not only is he severley Dyslexic
> but with a very high
> > cognitive ability and possible APD.
> >
> >   I think the danger of saying a Dyslexic
> Processing Style is that it
> > could rule out the possibility of a specific
> disorder being considered.
> >
> >
> > Jean Dowding <jeanld at fish.co.uk> wrote:
> >   Good suggestions, Stuart. I stuck to the one
> phrase so that any
> > parents/pupils who compared notes would have the
> same result to discuss.
> >
> > As a teacher, it is so easy to say the same thing
> in two or three
> > different ways without realising that parents may
> be unaware of the jargon
> > and think we're talking about something different
> each time!
> >
> > Jean
> >
> >
> > Sounds good Jean -
> >> What about the terms:
> >> 'Dyslexic characteristics' and 'Dyslexic
> processing style'- usually
> >> covers
> >> the working memory and processing speed
> difficulties ... and others!
> >>
> >> When it comes down to it is it not generally an
> 'information processing
> >> difference'????
> >>
> >> Stuart
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
> >> [mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk]
> On Behalf Of Jean
> >> Dowding
> >> Sent: 18 March 2008 19:29
> >> To: Michael Davies
> >> Cc: senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk
> >> Subject: Re: [senco-forum] Assessing and
> diagnosing for dyslexia
> >>
> >> I have a Diploma in Special Education, including
> a qualification in
> >> Specific Learning Difficulties, from the
> University of Wales, which
> >> enables me to assess and teach pupils (and
> adults) with dyslexia. I have
> >> assessed children in the primary school in which
> I taught, since I was
> >> awarded the diploma in 1994, with no objections
> from anyone.
> >>
> >> In most schools in the LA the Senco does not have
> a relevant
> >> qualification, so assessments are done by the
> Pupil Support Service
> >> Specialist Teachers, who have the same
> qualification as me. Whenever the
> >> EP and I came to the conclusion that a particular
> child needed a
> >> cognitive
> >> assessment, it was not primarily to assess for
> dyslexia, although we
> >> usually compared our results.
> >>
> >> In common with the Specialist Teachers and other
> Sencos, I always used
> >> the
> >> phrase "dyslexic tendencies" when discussing my
> findings. I found that
> >> this softened the blow somewhat with parents (and
> children) who thought
> >> that having dyslexia was the end of the world and
> helped them to accept
> >> and be receptive to what we needed to do next. It
> also seemed to cover
> >> the wide range of difficulties a little better
> than just using
> >> "dyslexia".
> >> After a while we all used the one word anyway!
> >>
> >> Regards
> >>
> >> Jean
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Can anyone confirm that holders of Practising
> Certificates (PATOSS
> >>> and/or
> >>> Dyslexia Action) are allowed to assess and
> diagnose pupils--Primary,
> >>> Secondary and F >E. for dyslexia.
> >>>
> >>> I have just been told that ONLY ED.PSYCH's are
> allowed to diagnose
> >>> individuals for dyslexia.(and give the label
> ¬!!!!)
> >>>
> >>> Michael
> >>> SENCO
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
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