I am a volunteer reading helper at a primary school working with Year 3 and 4 pupils. One of my pupils is significantly behind in Reading and Writing. The school has provided phonics coaching and has raised the issue of diagnostic assessment by an educational psychologist with the parents. The parents have refused to give their consent for this. As a newcomer to this field, I am curious to know: do parents have the absolute legal right to prevent assessment of their children for dyslexia? Is this a common occurrence?
My intuition is that this child is one of the 4% of the population who, according to the British Dyslexic Association, have a serious form of dyslexia. The school is well-run and friendly, and my pupil is not currently having any adjustment issues, but I wonder how long this can last. In the worst case scenario, if they arrive at secondary school and the parents still refuse to allow an assessment, what would happen? Can the school override the parents’ wishes? It is hard for me to imagine how the child would cope, educationally and personally, without a diagnosis.
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I have a daughter in year 3 who we have suspected has dyslexia since year 1. we have the opposite problem with school as they will not assess her at school or get an educational physiologist in, this is down to us to take her to the GP. They have positively talked us out of an assessment as they say a label will make no difference as they are already aware she has a problem. I would be interested to hear from teachers and other parents on their thoughts on having a diagnosis.
Hi - Same here. My advice is to pay for an Educational Psychologist to determine the issues with your daughter. Schools dont often assess because of budgets etc. Interventions at school are school action and school action plus - is your daughter on either one? Has she an individual education Plan (IEP) I dont see how they should be able to talk you out of an assessment if they have identified a problem. TEACHERS ARE NOT TRAINED TO DIAGNOSE HOW DYSLEXIC SOMEONE IS they are not EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS. Please please get an assessment done. You copy the school in on the report once you know the details and ensure you ask the Ed Psych who does it 1) it is for a tribunal (if you want to get your child assessed for a statement and the LEA says no that report can be used as evidence) 2) Recommendations (what interventions at school your daughter requires) As in our case our son was severely dyslexic we asked for an assessment by the LEA they refused on the grounds that he is achieveing above a 1C so we are taking the LEA to tribunal to make them assess. Also good advice is to keep a copy of everything, letters reports, school reports etc. Unfortunately, schools only have about 5 Ed Psych visits a year per school so only the most needy children identified will be seen in school. It wont matter if you go for a private assessment spk with the school SENCO and ask if she will support you. Expect to pay about £200 for the report. Good luck
I am new to this subject really, but to me, if someone has a specific learning disability such as dyslexia, it is important to get a diagnosis. How else can the school put the proper provision in place, and also, how else, more long term, can the child come to terms with the fact of their disability? Dyslexia comes in different forms and degrees, but it is not a figment of anyone's imagination. It needs to recognised and not swept under the carpet and ignored.
Get an independent assessment ASAP-you'll have to pay for it but the earlier things are in place the better! Don't listen to the school- most teachers are unaware of dyslexia & don't know how to teach children who have it either!!!