undergoing Statutory Assessment stage and home tutor has just said she thinks ds is Dsylexic

[Candlewax]

My ds has Aspergers and is currently out of school but receiving home tuition from the LEA. The LEA have agreed to assess him for a Statement at long last. What I wanted to know is, do I ask the LEA to do a Dyslexic assessment, would it be part of the one the EP will do or should we get it done ourselves. My worry is that the LEA, if they don't know about the Dyslexic status, would not be able to do the "right" Statement for him or put it in as a provision in his Statement.

I suspected long ago that he was Dyslexic and asked the school to get an assessment done but they pooh-poohed me. Why did I not go with my gut instincts and INSIST they got some sort of testing done.

[acthmt]

As part of the Educational Psychologist's role they perform a whole range of tests including phonic tests (which will highlight any difficulties with literacy. They will put in place a variety of things - funding, strategies and i imagine place him where he will get suitable help. His literacy difficulties may come in the dyslexia spectrum but it would be secondary on his statement - which I imagine will give him a diagnosis of MLD (aspergers) with delayed reading/literacy... If you specifically want a diagnosis by the Dyslexia Institute or BDA they cost several hundred pound and they are self funded... in most cases (9/10) they will diagnose dyslexia or SpLD but unless his literacy needs have gone totally unnoticed because of his aspergers it will not change the LEA assessment. A statement is not a one size fits all - it is a series of assessments that identify the primary needs of your son so that help can be given. In most cases LEAs do not have the funding to get individuals checked by the BDI or BDA - instead they rely on their EP to do the paperwork with similar tests - they are just as qualified but just in a whole variety of areas.

The best thing you could do to help with the literacy needs is to complete a dyslexia checklist in preparation for the statement and also ask the EP for him to be considered for Toe By Toe by a specialist teacher with experience of special needs.

HTH Let me know if you've got any questions

[Candlewax]

Thank you Acthmt.

On another thread this evening, you have described how we see my son. He is a phonomenal reader and his comprehension is fantastic too but his spelling age is half his normal age (he is 13, spelling is 7). We know he is highly intelligent but it is the processing of the information he has difficulty with and his handwriting, well, a spider does much better. He has tremendous problems with recording things. He can do it all in his head but cannot work out how to record it on paper and it takes him forever to get a sentence down even. He cannot listen to the teacher and take notes at the same time, and takes forever to copy notes from the board. We are being referred to an OT to see if she can offer any suggestions for coordination. So, fingers crossed that the LEA EP can diagnose it for us.

[acthmt]

Hi!

Those are classic symptoms of BOTH aspergers and dyslexia ... one of the reasons I hate when (in my role at school) parents jump to the conclusion their child has dyslexia - it rules out so many other options and just focusing on the dyslexia may hinder the child getting the help for their whole education. One of the difficulties aspergers have are focusing and processing ... If I were you I would suggest taking along a dyslexia checklist with you to the assessment meeting - held either before or after they've done testing depending on LEA... depends on what information they want or need from you. If you google dyslexia checklist it gives you a run down of things that are symptomatic of the problem but not conclusive - it will help the Ed Psych tremendously particularly things in relation to how he developed motor skills such as tieing laces, learning to swim or kick a ball... i could go on ... www.plymouth.ac.uk/files/extranet/docs/SWA/dys%20checklist.pdf

[Candlewax]

acthmt, I hope you are reading this.

It seems I might have dropped a clanger! I tried to get my ds statemented 4 years ago due to lots of problems for him because of his Aspergers. The EP who saw him, saw him on a day he was ill and eventually sent home. They said in their report that they could not observe him properly but the LEA took what they did observe as being it. This time round (4 years later) I thought I don't want this mucked up so I have had an independent EP report done. Now it transpires that I have done something wrong. Apparently the LEA EP may not be able to assess my ds because I have had an independent one done. The LEA EP who is due next week is INFAMOUS in so much that they give keynote speeches to international conferences, is a president of a particular organisation etc etc and I just don't know what to tell them now!!! I have their email address and I wonder if I ought to tell them that an independent EP assessment has just been done.

[Candlewax]

Sorry, did not see your previous post. He cannot tie laces for the life of him!

[acthmt]

I can't say that I've come across this before. Sorry. If it were my child and I wanted a statement that would be funded by the LEA I would say you "simply didn't realise it would be a problem". Unless they can inadvertently find out in the mean time or be told? Where I work I don't think we've ever had a parent get an independent EP in, they've simply pushed the LEA by constantly constantly. Sorry I can't be more help. Alternatively you could be up front and say that you've had it done... can they use the information....

Good luck

[twocutedarlings]

Hi Candlewax,

Could you not just say that you had the independant report done to help you with his home education?

[Candlewax]

Apparently, I have not stopped the assessment, I have just made them stop and think what tests they can do themselves. They now have a list of all the tests our EP used and so they will use others. Phew! This is so stressful! But I hope that every ounce of stress is worth it in the end.

[twocutedarlings]

Im in the same situation, My DD (5) also has Aspergers. And we have just submitted our application for an assessment. And to top it all off i am seriouly considering changing DDs school. So stress levels n our house are about as high as they have ever been .