You see a lot of writing suggesting people should be careful about writing about subjects they don’t really know about it. What I’m writing now is probably adjacent to my lane, because you don’t practice in this field for as long as I have without picking a few things up. I will do similar posts for some other areas of need in the future, but this one is about dyslexia.
The reason I’m starting with dyslexia is that there is a really big spectrum, from people mildly affected to people very significantly affected. Experience tells me it runs in families. If you are dyslexic, it’s sensible to work on the basis that your child will share your difficulties. Where you have a child who is dyslexic without comorbidities (eg. autism, dyspraxia), they can very often manage in school without needing an EHCP, but with some additional support. In this context in can be cheaper to ensure the school are making reasonable adjustments in accordance with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and to put in place some support privately.
My priority with a young child would be making sure my child had access to information in other ways eg. audio, video, adapted formats of books, so that they can carry on learning whilst they learn to read and/or while reading is a stressful and difficult thing for them.
I’d look at Meares Irlen/Scoptopic Sensitivity – coloured overlays might help / tinted lenses might help and both are very difficult to get funded on an EHCP. They also might not help at all, but discovering that is itself useful.
I’d start my child off on a touch typing programme at home with the aim of it eventually becoming an effective means of recording for them. If that wasn’t effective, I’d look at dictation software as soon as my child was of secondary school age, as younger children’s voices can’t always operate this software very easily. Schools only have so much curriculum time, but I do wonder why touch typing isn’t taught generally. We aren’t quite at the point where voice activated software and dictation software can fully replace typing and many people will eventually do jobs where being able to type fluently is an asset.
Dyslexia itself isn’t usually diagnosed in children under the age of about seven. I would seek out a diagnosis as soon as the testing is likely to be reliable. Once I had a child with a diagnosis I’d help them to join libraries for “print disabled” people so that we could more easily obtain books in alternative formats, because again, one of my areas of focus would be on them being able to consume the information and stories that many people read.
I’d probably buy my older primary aged child a laptop and some of the specialist software for dyslexia eg. Read & Write Gold, so that they had effective (and age appropriately safe) access to the internet as well as other standard software for doing homework etc. Once they had a degree of competence at using the laptop, I’d seek agreement from the school that my child be permitted to use their laptop at school. Laptops and specialist software can be funded under an EHCP, but unless my child needed complex equipment ie. beyond a laptop at £500 or so, I’d rather own the laptop and have it available at all times, rather than leave it to the LA to provide.
I’d keep an eye on the JCQ’s access arrangements information. For some access arrangements it’s necessary to show that they represent the pupil’s usual method of working. I would be liaising with the school to make sure they were cooperating (ie. not thwarting my child from using a laptop for writing tasks).
I would consider whether to withdraw them from RE in order to create space in the school day for them to catch up on other work. With a younger child I’d impose time limits on homework, so that they’re not trying to work long into the evening when they’re too tired for it.
I’d think about out of school activities that rely less on literacy that might be self esteem supporting. I’d think about this with a younger child, but it would become more important as they become aware of all of the other children at school being able to read.
I’d consider buying in some weekend tutoring support from someone with an additional qualification in dyslexia/SpLD. CReSTeD also accredit “Teaching Centres” which I would consider as well as individual additionally qualified teachers who advertise their services.
I would consider the state funded mainstream schools recognised by CReSTeD for their dyslexia teaching and whether a house move to enable my child to attend one of these schools was a viable option. Given how few of them there are and the need to have a child who fits into a category of needing some level of SpLD awareness through their school day but without needing to be in a specialist setting, it’s unlikely this would be an option I’d pick, but it’s certainly one to consider.
If despite some out of school tutoring support, the right technology and plenty of access to sources of information and stories that didn’t involve reading standard print, my child was consistently unhappy or not making progress, then I’d seek an EHC Needs Assessment with a view to an EHCP.