[senco-forum] [SENco-forum] Assessing and diagnosing for dyslexia

I became an SpLD tutor by taking the Hornsby Distance Learning course.  It
is post Grad for a diploma or there is now a certificate version.  It is
quite expensive and intensive, but well worth it.  If you are going to be an
expert you may as well have the piece of paper to prove it.

I did it because I was fed up of the LEA asking me why I thought I knew what
was best for my child.  The school would not give any support as she did not
'fit the criteria'   i.e. just below average and so that was good enough....
and wasn't I the pushy parent!

Turns out she has IQ around 140 and severe dyslexia.  We pursued a
Statement, went to Tribunal and won 2 hours 1:1 with AMBDA approved SpLD
Diploma holder plus 25 hours of TA support.  She never used the TA support
but the 1:1 was a life saver.

Additionally in Year 6 she was allowed a laptop with TextHELP dyslexia
software, printer & scanner so she could scan & read or use predictive text
to type.  She has come on in leaps and bounds and now Year 10 there is every
possibility that the LEA may try to remove the statement as she is
supposedly reading age 15 and spelling age 13. Again this is deemed OK to
cope with average GCSE's C/D grade! I have asked for more comprehensive
testing than just the WRAT 3 that she has been doing 6 monthly or so since
she was eight.

As you say - don't get me started on those with dual exceptionalities or G&T
with SEN.

I am all for the LEA trying to remove the statement.  They will be back in
that Tribunal so fast their pants will be on fire!  I suspect my daughters
file is marked - DO NOT DISTURB until 2010 -when she will be 18, hopefully
on her way to Uni and out of their hair.

Sadly her landmark tribunal ruling is still not available on the Tribunal
site (search for previous judgements) and this is a real shame as many LEA's
don't make challenges if they think they can't win! Conversely more parents
would be encouraged to persevere if they thought they could. It would make
life easier for all children with SpLD/ G&T and their families.

Sharon Tringham

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