Dyslexia and Dyslexia Assessments Post Reply

[Adam.M]

Hi NappyValley!
It's my first post. Has anyone paid for a private dyslexia assessment for their child?
Have you had any good experiences with assessors, teachers and/or tutors for your kids with dyslexia? What were they?

What about horror stories?

I'm curious as I have qualified as an assessor and just finished a MA in Dyslexia and want to make sure I'm meeting genuine child and family needs.

Thanks!
Adam
www.specialeducationuk.com

[EmilyCakes]

Hi there,
I think this is a really interesting post. My daughter is seven and we have suspected for some time that she may be dyslexic.
I (her mother) was assessed as dyslexic at school and she follows a similar pattern to me in the problems she faces and the way she learns. We started to speak to her school when she was in year one as they raised concerns that she was falling behind in literacy. Since then she has been having weekly extra literacy lessons with an SEN in classes of no more than three children. I have had regular meetings at school with both SEN's that regularly work with my daughter and her class teachers. The school have been supportive and Pro active and have responded to everything We have asked them. At the end of last term my daughter had an assessment with the educational psychologist at Lambeth. Unfortunately for my daughter, despite all the extra help she has had we haven't really seen a marked improvement in her writing and her problems particularly with letter and number reversal are persisting in the same way as they did when she was five. A year ago my husband and I seriously considered spending £500 on a private dyslexia assessment. We were discouraged from doing so by the school who said it would not make any difference to what they do and that Lambeth would provide a formal assessment for her before she was eight years old. We have had the first instalment of this done by the educational psychologist in June and they will assess her again in the New Year.
I would be interested to hear from you as a person who has done an MA in dyslexia what you think the benefits are of being privately tested. Also the value of the word 'dyslexia' as a term. In my experience special-needs cover a huge spectrum and one label certainly does not fit all in terms of ability and aptitude.
Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

[Adam.M]

Hi EmilyCakes,
Thanks for sharing your story about both you and your daughter. I'm sorry to hear that she's struggling with literacy in school but relieved to hear that the school has been supportive. Hopefully now, with the EPs involvement, more targeted support can be offered to meet her specific needs in literacy.

I can only think of one drawback of a private assessment (and I've heard many schools and SENCOs echo this): they are criticised for just wanting to "give parents the answer they want" and get paid. I have to say that I know NOBODY who has, or would ever, do this, and I would say that there are a number of benefits of being privately tested. I lead a team of specialist assessors working in schools a north London borough and we are constantly pushing ourselves to write the best possible reports and cover as many areas of childrens' skills as we can. We actually partner with the EP service as they have many other SEN assessments to do and have helped them by completing all assessments for dyslexia.

If you are looking for a dyslexia assessment, I strongly suggest finding a Dyslexia Specialist with an assessment practicioner certificate (APC). EPs do a wonderful job and have a broad knowledge over a range of learning difficulties and disabilities. A specialist assessor goes further in depth into more specific literacy skills and their assessments and abilities are held to a very high standard.

I find that dyslexia specialist teachers can offer more specific advice and recommendations as well as they have a very wide range of knowledge of strategies, interventions, and how these should best be implemented.
I also see that private assessors are generally more flexible and should be happy to speak with you over the phone.

But if the school is going to pay for this then I think you should let them do it!

Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other questions- I'm happy to help as best as I can.

[EmilyCakes]

Thank you for your response.

Yes as you suggest I will wait until January to have the second part of the assessment done by the EP and see what they say then.

I take on board your points about private assessment. A specific targeted plan could be useful for my daughter to pinpoint some specific tactics we might use to help her.

So far the school have had lots of suggestions for different ways she can do things and have ordered her some special equipment to help her concentrate in class. They also adapt her homework for her because she finds it hard to produce large amounts of written work.

Given my own experience I am not really that bothered if my daughter gets a label of dyslexia or not. For me its just finding the best processes we can to help her learn. I remember though my own mother being very keen though to find an answer to what she saw as 'my problem' so I understand it being what parents want to hear.

Luckily my daughter is very 'glass half full' she loves her 'special lessons' with the SEN and is really positive about school.

The thing that is the most frustrating is her letter and number reversal as she still constantly gets D/B E/G wrong despite lots of practise.
With numbers its really hard as she frequently writes things backwards.
She will do a maths question correctly, arrive at the answer as say 32 and then write 23!

I guess time will tell, I cant really compare her to myself at that age as I cant remember specifically and of course she is her own person so I just hope things will improve in future.

Thanks again for your advice!

[LastMumStanding]

I paid for a private assessment at the Bloomfield learning centre for my daughter 3 years ago after her class teacher raised some suspicions with me. They were excellent - it was a very thorough process without being overwhelming for my girl who was then 6 nearly 7. I received a 20 plane report explaining exactly which aspects of the dyslexia spectrum were applicable including 6 pages of practical recommendations covering both what the school can do and what I can do to support her learning. I have referee back to that report many times, shared it with her 2 subsequent class teachers and we still find it helpful. She gets additional support with spelling in school but more importantly for me she gets appropriate support inside her regular classes alongside her peers. I do pay for her to see a specialist dyslexia tutor once a week for an hour of concentrated attention of writing and comprehension. She has benefitted hugely from this package of support and is achieving already at level 4b which is the national norm for the end of Year 6 (she is at the start of year 5) but it is a work in progress - somethings we suspect will never come easy she will simply have strategies to help her manage!

[thepropertyguru]

Rowena Edington based in Wandsworth is fantastic, she used to head up the learning support unit at Northcote Lodge - here's here website:

http://www.learnability.co.uk

Hope this helps!

[sandramunoz1]

There is a new SEN talk parent group starting in Clapham junction on the 21st of April at the Kambala Community Hall. It is a free event and breakfast will be provided. The CEO of Aspire2Inspire dyslexia will be present. Find out more about this event in www.kambala.org.uk and Aspire2Inspire dyslexia at www.a2idyslexia.co.uk

[sandramunoz1]

There is a new SEN talk parent group starting in Clapham junction on the 21st of April at the Kambala Community Hall. It is a free event and breakfast will be provided. The CEO of Aspire2Inspire dyslexia will be present. Find out more about this event in http://www.kambala.org.uk and Aspire2Inspire dyslexia at http://www.a2idyslexia.co.uk

[Liz Kwarteng-Amaning]

Hello,

I am very much interested in speaking to you regarding dyslexia
Assessor new Charity based in Wandsworth (Aspire2Inspire Dyslexia is behind Southside shopping centre in wandsworth helping adult dyslexic back in to work by providing Employability skills, Enterprise start up, encouraging entrepreneurship, dealing with low self esteem, dyslexic awareness and inspirational dyslexic speakers,
And much more pls visit www.a2idyslexia.co.uk or email Liz@a2idyslexia.co.uk

We are having a launch on Thursday 28th April 2016 @ Penfold centre 1Neville Gill Close, Wandsworth London SW18 4TJ

Please contact Liz on 07476 012 992

Thank you I look forward speaking to you soon

Lizzie Kwarteng-Amaning
Aspire2Inspire Dyslexia (Wandsworth)

Please invite all your friends and families

Hope to see you there

[Liz Kwarteng-Amaning]

Hi Adam

I know you are interested in child dyslexia, I may be able to help with your research

Please call
Lizzie 07476 012 992
Visit www.a2idyslexia.co.uk
Email Liz@a2idyslexia.co.uk

Thank you

Come to dyslexia awareness and launch on Thursday 28th April 2016

Penfold centre 1 Neville Gill Close Wandsworth London SW18 4TJ
Thank you

[FireflyEdLondon]

HI,
I am Adam's friend and colleague. He has moved from the UK in the past year.

I would love to hear more about your session.

Firefly Education
http://www.fireflyeducation.co.uk

[Wendy Tina johnson]

Thank you for your posts on dyslexia. I always struggled at school with reading and was told I 'was lazy, easily distracted and must concentrate more'. This carried on from primary school through to college, finally whilst at university (studying paediatric nursing), my tutors had a chat with me and I had a private assessment where I was finally diagnosed as dyslexic and dyspractic - at the age of 35!!. I was given a coloured overlay to help with my reading - which realy helped alot. For my eye test i go to the 'Royal institute of optometry' at the Elephant & castle where I had eye tests, i took my colour overlay for my tests and eventually I was fitted with coloured glasses - I have 4 colours in my glasses, every body will be different. My optometrist 'Nina' is a specialist in dyslexia and is always welcoming and a pleasure to visit.
Please find if you can get funding for a private test as getting a coloured overlay to start will hopefully help your child.
Good luck
Wendy

[hema.desai]

Its been interesting to read everyone's posts on dyslexia. I am a specialist assessor and a speech and language therapist who provides private dyslexia assessments and tutoring in the clapham area. Getting the right support early on is so important to develop children's self-esteem and to make sure they can keep up with the curriculum demands. I love the work that I do and seeing kids progress and develop confidence with their literacy skills is so rewarding.
Please feel free to see my website for further information
http://www.connectlit.com