My 11yo boy has been at his new school for 1 term and his teacher and guidance officer/counsellor etc had requested a meeting they have concerns over his learning abilitilies and have gently suggested that we get him assessed for possibly dyslexia and other cognitive functions.
A little backstory he attended our local Catholic school (large classes of 29) from kinder to 1 term of grade 4, he was a lover of school, seemed to be going along ok, all parent teacher said he was a happy well adjusted boy who struggles with reading but they had him in the mini lit and mac lit programs. Then my father died suddenly (his idol) his mental health suffered greatly we sort counselling and that was great for him. We decided due to my mothers health we would travel Australia for 7 months, we chose to enrol both our children in the public remote education system, it was them who picked up through PAT tests and his work that he was well behind where he should be. It be came very obvious to us as well. Everyday homeschooling him was a challenge, he’d use excuse after excuse, take forever to do anything that involved reading, writing, spelling (maths he enjoyed except when it was reading questions). Our trip of a lifetime was nearly ruined by the pressure of homeschooling and trying to help him (not knowing how bad things were).
During our 7 months it was decided he would not return to that school, we found a smaller school with an excellent reputation and we literally packed up moved towns to better our childs future.
Now we have been told that there are serious concerns about how behind he is. I am firstly grasping with emotions of anger at his old school for not even coming close to picking up on this, and if it had been then things could have been addressed years ago. They fully dropped the ball. I have been struggling with how we were treated at the school in general for years but at the time it was the best of the bunch and we honestly thought “paying” for our childrens education meant a decent education. There were other children with issues and the school catered for them. I feel terrible for all the pressure we put him and ourselves on during the trip.
And now here is a teacher who has literally known my child 8 weeks and has been all over this monitoring, testing him and generally sussing him out. Calling it to our attention and what can the school do to help and assist him.
I’m not sure what I am asking really maybe some guidance how we can help him with his literacy and times tables aimed at people with dyslexia etc.
We are obviously going to have him assessed but here in Northern Tasmania the waiting lists are long even if we go privately, any advice will gratefully be accepted.
Its come as a bit of a shock thinking we had a child who basically just hated English etc to now realising we have a real problem on our hands, one that might be so far gone, he will never catchup. How can I turn around someone who hates reading and writing and struggles to learn times tables?
If you got this far in reading thankyou
10 Replies
Kids usually hate something at school because they struggle and find it difficult. If they don’t understand, then they disengage and you’ll hear that it’s boring, they hate it, or they’re acting up or stubbornly refusing.
It sounds like he’s had so much change that it just hasn’t been picked up, but now is still better than never. Go through with the referrals and appointments. The best thing is that this teacher is onto it already, and will have strategies ready to try out from right now.
Just don’t let him hear you say he’s too far gone. He’s definitely not. The sooner he understands himself the better he’ll be set on the right track. It’s great this has happened before high school.
My little sister was diagnosed with dyslexia in year 5. She was assessed at the time as having a reading level of a year 1 child. It was missed by all her teachers because she was so well behaved.
However my parents paid out for a specialist tutor and by the time she started year 7 she was graded in the second highest English class. There is hope.
She never did regain her confidence for reading out loud though.
Part of her dyslexia is reading the word correctly but then the connection between her verbalising the word or writing the word the message gets mixed. So an example is she would read “that” but say “what” instead.
I’d also recommend seeing a behavioural optometrist.
Behavioural optometrist, never heard of that before. My mind went to misbehaving eyes lol.
They don’t diagnose or treat specifically for dyslexia but they can identify if there are problems with eye coordination, functioning and strength that can also affect our ability to read and write.
I was diagnosed at 19 to say I was heartbroken is an understatement years of being labeled dumb so many tests and no one picked up on it. For me the reading and writing improved after diagnosis but I still have fear and anxiety of it especially reading out loud and I’m 37 now. Support him, advocate for him you got this Mum!
Have you contacted SPELD? They are extremely helpful and knowledgeable and usually run parent training courses
Check the school does not link up with a Child Psychologist as sometimes they can secure a little bit of extra funding to help with these things. They can assess for learning disorders.
My son was referred to an Occupational Therapist in year 1 at a Catholic School. We transferred from a public school. The OT said it was like he missed the basics in Kindergarten and was supposed to be left handed. She helped him to improve drastically.
It can be any school, some are just useless. I hope that you find some answers for your son now. Keep reminding yourself he now has some real opportunities going forward and try not to feel too badly.
Interestingly Dyslexia is often associated with high IQ and many people find ways to adapt over the years. He would still have strengths in other areas 🥰
I would definitely get an assessment done through the SPELD foundation, however if that doesn't give you a definitive diagnosis then get him assessed for ADHD. It sounds exactly like my eldest daughter who at 15 finally got an innatentive ADHD diagnosis after YEARS of struggling.
She was constantly being told at school that she was struggling academically. Yet she never kept up even with an ILP.
So I had her assessed twice at SPELD for APD and dyslexia . She never quite met the criteria for either. Yet they told me she definitely had a learning disorder but they couldn't quite flag it. SPELD never suggested ADHD .
Yet at 15 I finally took her to a psychiatrist for declining mental health and he was the one to finally flag it as quote 'text book' inantentive ADHD. Since the diagnosis and appropriate treatment her grades have gone from a C-D to almost all high B. This improvement happened within 6 months.
I am so upset that I never even considered ADHD when I first started trying to get help. We wasted almost all of her academic journey without the appropriate support.
Now she's grade 11 she's even doing ATAR..... I would never have expected that .
Good luck mumma !!!
You did everything you could, the professionals should have referred you to a psychologist/psychiatrist, it's not your fault.
They really let you and your daughter down, but thankfully it's not too late because you kept seeking treatment.
Some kids struggle with mental health and their parents do nothing about it.
Your daughter is obviously very intelligent and self aware to know something wasn't right, most adults don't pick up that stuff up.
You're an amazing mum with an amazing daughter and you got there in the end, your story brought a tear to my eye x
It wasn’t until my daughter was in year 5, did the school wish to discuss her progress. We waited 10 months for an educational and cognitive assessment (private) and diagnosed with Specific learning disorder (SLD) - impairment in reading and ADHD with further investigation into her anxiety required.
Has similarities to Dyslexia but is different and 12 months behind academically.
Year 6 of school was a complete waste, public primary school were extremely unhelpful and made no adjustments.
My daughter is now in a private high school, completed term 1 and is absolutely loving it.
Her school has adjusted her assessments (same content as her peers) lower word count for written exams, work is scaffolded, so she can identify the steps, given a reader during exams, given additional time to complete tests and in English provided audio books for chapter reading.
We can see her confidence starting to rise and she is actually enjoying school.
At home, we don’t force her to do hard additional learning, but fun easy games. Card games like Black Jack/21.
We use apps like Reading eggs, Studying Ladder. Unblock me, (My daughter absolutely loves) puzzle game.