Living with kids with dyslexia - Part 2

If you have read part 1 you will know how I managed to get 1 of my children diagnosed with dyslexia.  When the EP failed to diagnose the second child I was puzzled.  I contacted the authors of 2 dyslexia screening tests. Prof Angela Fawcett said it was possible to get a false negative (back in 1997) and she had altered the 'at risk' score from a single cut off point  to encompass a range of scores to denote Mild, Moderate or Severe.  However it was still possible for a child with a very high IQ to 'pass' as an average or less than average child.  The key with the tests was to look for a spiky profile - or areas of high and low ability - when the scores should have been roughly in line with ability. Bingo! There they both were all crazy and spiky. 

The school tried administering the Bangor Test, but they did not follow the instructions properly and did not ask for parent input. So when asked the question, Do you know the months of the year? - The answer was yes, but missed the point of how long I as a parent had spent trying to teach this simple information.  Professor Tim Miles, who died last year, was brilliant in taking time to explain how the test should be given with parents present and was distressed to know how difficult it still was to get children diagnosed with dyslexia.

Jump to 2003 and I took my 7 year old direct to Dyslexia Action where their EP was brilliant - Mild dyslexia and Dysgraphia (handwriting difficulties).  Different from the others but at least I knew straight away what the problem was.  That same year I started studying for my Spld Diploma with Hornsby (passed Sept 2004) as I was fed up with teachers and educational professionals always asking me why I thought I knew what was best for my children - so I decided to answer them from a place of knowledge.

All this time I knew that my oldest daughter also had dyslexia, but she was in denial.  She had managed to get to a top selective grammar and completed her A levels but not with the same A* scores as her friends. During the 1st year at university (2005) she was struggling, and finally complied with my wishes to let the University of Hull EP department test her. She had dyslexia also.  Fortunately the UK government has a Disabled Student Allowance which supplied her with a computer, specialist software, a dictaphone, printer and scanner.  Everything she needed to be a successful and independent student.  She now has a 2:1 in Politics and International Relations.  If only the education system was this good all the way through!

Note: Kindly click here to read Living with kids with dyslexia - Part 1