For parents with children with dyslexia and/or dyspraxia

My DS is 6 1/2 and has just been tested through SPELD for a specific learning disability. It looks like we are dealing with dyspraxia with dyslexic tendencies. He starts SPELD tuition next term and is getting reading recovery help at school.

At the moment he is young enough to enjoy the learning and all the "extra" attention he is getting.

Hi Teo. We've just been for another neurolink and he said things were much improved from last time and we probably won't need to go back again - unless we want to. I think we might just before the start of next year.

He did think we had a candida problem and that can affect brain function so we are off all breads/yeast products and minimising sugars. The strange thing is that we don't eat a lot of either (DP does though )but my grandmother was susceptible to fungal infections (internal and external) and he did say that some people are more prone to them so that might be genetic. So back to crackers, wraps and hot meals for lunches I think.

We noticed huge improvements within a month after starting SPELD. Definitely at the end of the first term when I was still frustrated at the slow progress (impatient me) looking back to where we started and where we were at then, we had actually achieved an awful lot.

Hi Creamosa - funny you should mention the Candida thing, as a couple of weeks ago our SPELD tutor was off to a workshop/conference on candida infections and how they affect learning etc. Lets hope you notice an improvement soon.

We start our first SPELD session next Thursday. He will go from 9am until 10am on Thursday mornings so back at school by 10.30 with minimal disruption.

How old is your son? what year is he at school? My DS is year 2 this year and will be 7 in March. He is showing a great improvement in his reading even after attending some reading recovery. His handwriting and formation of letters needs a lot of work though.

Our kids are the about the same age. I have no idea what year at school though - we are at a rural school and all the classes are composite classes. I don't understand all this year stuff either, I'm from the primers, standards and forms era. I still think we are working at NE's level though and being a composite class I think takes off the pressure when a child is obviously so far behind, as there is always someone else that will be at that level. I've found boredom/distraction/not quite understanding what is required affects the handwriting, although letter formation improved markedly after the previous neurolink.

Does dyslexia always mean a child is behind in reading and comprehension or can they also be far ahead and still be dyslexic?

There are gifted children with dyslexia twoloops.

It's not definitive but this page has a lot of the signs http://www.speld.org.nz/is-my-child-dyslexic.htm Unfortunately I can put a tick next to nearly everything on the list

Sorry to hear creamosa, I can only put a tick next to a few.
Confusion with right/left.
Misreading or omitting common short words, was as saw, writes bog and gob for dog.
Slow, laborious oral reading ( but that maybe because I make her reread if she reads the words wrong )

May do well on weekly spelling tests, but may have many spelling mistakes in daily work
May misread numbers, will read and write 18 as 81
Still does letters especially numbers backwards but it isn't an everyday thing one day will be fine the next will have a lot of backwardness .
I have comprehesion problems I read instructions over and over and still do not get the meaning hence why a lot of my posts don't make much sense.

With DD2 I can tick a lot of the oral language and other problems but she is 3.

twoloops have you tried brain gym exercises to help? I had a heck of a job finding someone that would teach me them - and then I find out that most of the school's teachers have done a course but then they don't bother putting it into practice

Also have you been to a behavioural optometrist to check if there isn't some sort of eye/brain communication issue?

Left and right confusion is pretty common - I remember stuffing that up when I sat my drivers licence

Teo how did lesson 1 go? Our tutor was pretty pleased we hadn't forgotten anything during the holidays.

Not sure if being off sugar/yeast has helped - lot's of tummy aches as the moment - hopefully it's just the detoxing.

Hey Creamosa, unfortunately lesson one got cancelled as tutor's husband ended up in A & E, so first lesson will be this week. Will be talking to her about tummy aches also as DS has these a lot and we have been to the GP about it who gave him some granuals to take "to get things moving". They certainly did get things moving, so much so that I could not risk giving them to him during the week when he had school as I think he would die of embarrasment

Twoloops, when we got our son assessed through SPELD the results and information you get is overwhelming at first, but for us it certainly answered some questions. We were told our son showed more Dyspraxic signs with some dyslexic tendencies. For the skills that were tested we were given a percentile ranking against other children the same age - his general intelligence was ranked at 95% yet is academic skill was ranked at 8% - so we now understand why he is getting frustrated !! If you are worried, possible get a SPELD assessment done. Is this school able to help with any information?? you to have to be that pushy in your face mother to get anywhere I am afraid.

Hey guys, thought I'd jump in here and give our story
C was late speaking, always had major issues with loud noise (steam trains, parades, fireworks, ... all the stuff most kids love) couldn't work out the alphabet and sounds, had difficulty with instructions. A whole bunch of stuff and we never really connected all the dots.

When he got to school he simply was incapable of understanding the letters and sounds and really the worst thing we did was send him at 5, we should have waited a year. His school in NZ was great though, they worked hard with him and the environment suited him so although he didn't speed ahead, he coped and was very happy there.

Then we moved to Australia and everything went downhill fast, he was well behind with reading (which we knew) and writing and the teacher wouldn't give him the time, the teacher was a yeller which distressed him more than it would most kids, he couldn't cope with the noisy classroom environment. After a number of meetings between myself and the school they referred him for the WPSII 3 test done by an educational psychologist. He was also miserable, really really miserable, just not himself at all, he was telling me he was dumb and he couldn't learn and he was stupid etc all the time.

In the period between doing the test and getting the results he had a very mild dose of chicken pox, which meant that although he was perfectly well, he had to stay home and I worked with him during that time.

I met with the special ed teacher and the educational psycologist and went through the report. They wouldn't label it dyslexia because they don't use that word, they call it learning difficulties, and then went through all the results. He probably has Auditory Processing Disorder and it was suggested to me that he go for more testing, he has issues with sequencing and short term memory along with other weaknesses and also a number of things that he was really really strong in. The trendy word for that these days seems to be Twice Exceptional or 2E.

I showed the teachers what we had done at home when he had CP and they told me they couldn't replicate that at home. At that point it was confirmed in my mind that I would pull him from school, although I didn't say that at the time. The teachers were given a host of things they had to do to allow him to cope, and most they did but some they didn't. Soon after I notified them I would be homeschooling from the following year, I was planning to homeschool him for a year to catch up. Anyway, he got more and more distressed about being at school and in the end I'd just had it one particularly bad day and I never sent him back again.

He has thrived at home, the anger and distress just visibly melted off him, he was a different kid by the end of the week! He is completely caught up educationally, ahead in many things, he is happy and learning and things are great. After the first year we felt we'd be crazy to send him back again.
I've never had more testing or any intervention done because it hasn't been necessary.

We are currently doing long division and the area of triangles and trapezoids for maths. He gets the theory behind it really well, but just can't consistently remember the steps. It's the first time where his sequencing issues are showing themselves as a problem that we can't just work around. I need to sit and read my Overcoming Learning Difficulties by Barbara Pheloung and Jill King again then formulate a plan. I have homeschool friends who have had to remediate for this too, so lots of help and support. At this stage I don't plan to see anyone, but it may come to that.

Anyway, that's where we are at currently My journey is a little different to you guys as we have turned our backs on school, so that makes life in dealing with these issues much simpler.

I'm totally the wrong temperament to do this at home myself.

I was told (after we got the appointment) we could've been referred to Child Development Services and had the assessments done for free.

Really the SPELD assessment confirmed what I had already suspected from age 2. It just helps with all the blasted teachers that kept saying - "oh no it'll come". It's no wonder the nation is dumbing down. I don't know why they are so adverse to catching issues early when it's been proven that the earlier you work with the better. Not that the school has any money to assist with extra aid anyway...........

Teo. I seriously recommend a neurolink session. I know it is more money but you will soon know if the tummy aches are connected to the stress of behind at school or whether it is something different. I'm astounded what the guy told me from just a few taps and pressure on the arms and legs. Truly weird - but has been so beneficial for us.

I'm not saying this to try to convince you, because I'm not out to make converts and I'm very much a "do what works for you" kinda girl...

I thought I didn't have the right temperament too, I thought I wouldn't have the patience or organisation etc. In the end I had no choice, I took the plunge because I had to for C's mental health. I found to my surprise that I enjoy it and it's a lifestyle that suits our family.

Oh there are many things I can teach successfully to a lot of people - I have surprised myself and done a few lectures. But a 6 year old to read, count, try to recite a simple nursery which we can repeat ten times a day for nearly 4 years and still not get word perfect - I am just not cut out for it. I'm probably too much by rote and not imaginative enough to think of alternative methods to teach something simple to a strong willed highly active mini-human. The SPELD teacher says my little one keeps her mentally challenged, especially in a non-cooperative mood.

I was going to call and speak to SPELD this week but wanted a little background. Could someone tell me at what age they do the SPELD assessments, how they do them and what the cost is?

We still worried where my SS is school-wise and we've been talking about paying to have him properly assessed, providing that's alright with his mother.

Thanks so much.

Check out the old thread in the over 5's forum Myfanwy.

Your DSS is probably a bit young for the assessment. The tests are the Woodcock Johnson tests of Cognitive Abilities and the Woodcock Johnson tests of Achievement with some extra SPELD tests tagged on the end.

The cost of an assessment varies between SPELD regions as each region relies on f/raising and charitable donations with the balance made up from membership subs and how much the assessor charges in fees. So no straight forward answer for you

I have known there was something wrong from about age 2 and after two terms at school we only knew 6 words reading) . I was fobbed off initially by SPELD because of the age, however a new tutor moved into the SPELD district and she was willing to work with kids that were too young for formal assessment.

There are things/concepts in the assessment that I think a child needs top be mature enough or have enough school time under the belt to understand. We relied on the tutor to tell us when we should book in the assessment. Don't just be limited to SPELD, there is Danks Davis and ??? (sorry alzheimers kicking in) as well. The costs per lesson vary. Both Teo's and my child were assessed at 6 and after sitting in on the assessment I don't think it could've been done much earlier. For each segment of the test the assessor demonstrates what is required - sometimes it's oral, sometimes visual, sometimes words, sometimes pictures - and they may have to spot/say what is similar, the odd one out, the same etc. As the child completes each page correctly they get harder and harder until the child can't progress. They also tested handwriting - copying and also writing a sentence spoken orally by the examiner (spelling didn't matter). Finally there were some coordination exercises - skipping ball catching and throwing etc. It's a pretty full on 3 hours or so. Some/most of the exercises are timed.

What I would do in your case is talk to a teacher (at school or one you may know) who has done the Brain Gym course and ask for a copy of the exercises. Failing that the library or a kinesiologist. A lot of people told me to do "crossing the line exercises" but then didn't explain them in a way I understood, paying someone to demonstrate them worked for me. We don't remember to do them every day but I've adapted them so they can be done as "tricks" on the trampoline or a fun thing to do as a mirror image of each other. The other thing is ball sports for coordination - soccer, swingball, cricket etc. - even just simple ball catching and throwing on a regular basis. Also balance beams, gymnastics, ballet, dance classes, martial arts are good at improving coordination.

I would also look at a behavioural optometrist as an early port of call - it may be something simple like Irlens which is the problem and that can be easily rectified by wearing coloured lenses. There are a heap of issues though that can be picked up that can be picked up in kids with perfect eyesight. The assessor told us that vision therapy isn't really successful because of the huge commitment that parents need to make time wise. My Dad's DP's grandson has tracking issues and his parents have been battling all year with the exercises - and it's only supposed to be a 10 week thing.

What a novel - hope it helps.

The sooner you get onto it before the brain patterns get too hard wired I think the better off you are, hopefully his mum will come on board with you.

On a personal note we have just started reading level 7 today. lots of tears of frustration at all the "hard words" though.

Thanks for that. He's 6 next month so maybe we hold off until the beginning of the new year... He has been at school for three terms and knows less than 10 words, has trouble writing to a line, can't write many words, although can form all his letters and copy okay. His drawing is also far behind that of the other kids in his class.

He has a great vocab though and is good with numbers. He certainly isn't lacking in intelligence. I just find it so frustrating when I know that he could do this if we could just work out how to teach him. Anyway, I'll check that other thread, thanks again.

I would ring SPELD and see if they have someone willing to work with him anyway. I don't know what the waiting list is for an assessment in your area (SPELD area) but Teo managed to get in within a couple of weeks in Auckland but nearly a month for the report. In my area it's nearly a 6 month wait but we were lucky to get an appointment just 3 months out and report was back in a week. So it varies. If you wanted him to start something next year I'd be talking to them today. Not sure where you are in Wellywood but the contact numbers are here http://www.speld.org.nz/contact-us.aspx

Do find out about brain gym and you and his mum should start doing the exercises. Only takes 5 minutes a day and makes the left and right brains talk to each other. Oh and jigsaw puzzles are good. We get them quite often with our SPELD homework, 20 pce ones? - but not with the tray underneath so they have to work it out from the corner and edge pieces. Child and tutor do it together first at the lesson so the child has an idea what the finished picture is.

I am so with you on the frustration.

Our tutor went through the new progamme just released by http://www.learningstaircase.co.nz/steps/ and we had a play on it. She suggested we should get it for the month free trial period and by then she would have had a decent play with hers and have decided whether to incorporate it into her lessons or go with different software. If you have the latest SPELD newsletter it has the details on how to get the free trial - otherwise it's $160. She did say she had a few problems with installation on her computer and the help desk people talked her through the issues.

One of my sons was described as being dyslexic.Once we found out he was interested in music we taught him to hum Mary Had A Little Lamb to anything he was reading, and amazingly enough what he learnt stuck.

He learnt to read all the Wilbur Smith novels.

He is fully employed now, brilliant musician plays by ear any instrument you care to put in front of him.

Funny what helps eh Bryan.
I've discovered C concentrates much better: night and day... when listening to rock music on his MP3. Makes no sense to me but it works!

William's spelling finally improved once he took up jumping on the tramp while learning them - what ever works I say!

Yeah we do times tables on the trampoline.

I am waiting to hear back from Speld... my bright and articulate 6.5yr old is currently at approx 5.5yr academic and the school dont seem very bothered.

I took him to a Kip McGrath assessment and she was horrified at his level and suggested the Literacy recovery programme.. she raised processing issues or dyslexia.

Are there online resources I could tap into while we wait, to help him learn?? I am just about to look at the learning steps link

The idea of homeschooling or a tutor sounds wonderful except I dont think Id be any good or rich enough to pay someone.

Jenn, there is no question you have the ability to teach your child It may not be your first or even second option, but if the need arose, no question, you could do it.

If your library has anything by Barbara Pheloung then get it out, she is good on LDs. I'd probably just go and clear the shelves of books on the subject. I can't recommend anything specific (apart from the above author) as I tend to get what I get out of it and then send it back to the library.

My quirky biggest person (like myself) cannot learn by rote. It doesn't matter if we sing, jump whatever. It just doesn't work/stick for him. He does however have a wonderful memory for details so I taught him all of his timestables in a couple of weeks using stories/characters. Here is an example of how it works:

http://www.multiplication.com/teachnew/threes.htm

You can get the whole 'system' for free or at least I did a few years ago.

For him this method works in reverse for division.

GF, your GP can refer you to Child Development Services (I think that's what they are called) and you can get the testing done for free but talking to a mum last week that asked for a referal, her GP asked the school for a report on where the boy was up to and that report sort of implied there was nothing wrong and it was all in the mother's head. Her boy has the useless teacher we had last year (the 3rd year in a row he has had that teacher)and she keeps saying he is fine and up with his peers - even though his results are 3 std deviations below the mean. She was told there was a year (at least) wait for an assessment though. I've given her the info for SPELD, a behavioural optometrist and also suggested she give the RTLB people a ring and find out how bad he needs to be to get a referral by the school.

Paying the tutor is a strain but it's not that expensive in the scheme of things. The Danks Davis tutor was $45 an hour last year when I enquired, our SPELD tutor charges a bit less. My dad and one of my brothers give money for me to buy a gift at Christmas and birthday and I've just put this aside to help out with the tutor costs.

Do not despair. There are LOTS of options out there including free online programmes you can use.

The way that SPELD re-teaches is similar to my own personal preference. Let me know what would be helpful and I will send you some links. Good luck.

I tried to do it myself but it was just ending in tears of frustration for both the child and myself. So much easier having the tutor to tailor the best approach and then we can work on it from there - but yes I guess you could do it yourself but I think my kid tries harder/learns better for someone else.

GF - Look back at the old thread for the results/conclusions of the SPELD assesments that Teo's and my kid had.

oh yes...the old "must be the parents' thing... GRRRRRRRRR

I had this quite a lot from the plunket biarch, I had to go and see one from a different area to get a referal to speech therapy.

Teachers are weird and strange. I know lots of them. Only two of them agreed that I should be taking things further and getting an assessment, all the others said 'oh that's normal, they grow out of it eventually'

Even when I had the assessment results in my hand the class teacher disputed the results as they came up far worse than the 6 yr old assessment thingy they do at school. On a good note though, I was told yesterday that the school has applied for more hours for our little one to get extra help next year with reading. Whether it is granted I guess is the issue. I doubt whether it would have happened if though if I didn't have the independent assesment to wave in their faces.

Oh my goodness SPELD is like $400 for the initial assessment?!

that is madness! How are people supposed to afford that?

GF, we went for tutoring for more than two terms before we had an assessment - but not all tutors are happy to do that. It also meant we could put $10 a week aside over that time. The assessment actually cost more than that and I had to take an unpaid day off work and it was just over an hour's drive each way. The assessment itself took all of 3 - 3½ hours so for a professional person the hourly rate is not too horrific. The behavourial optometrist was $125 for an hour long appointment. The lady we went to to teach us the brain gym exercises was horrifically expensive - especially considering all the teachers at the school have been to courses on it, but just don't utilise the knowledge and weren't able to locate the reference material for me to copy. (so why do the courses?)

Once you have an assessment there is the weekly tutoring cost to meet as well. I believe the earlier you detect these things the better. The cost of the assessment varies between SPELD districts too - just depends on how much they get in in charitable grants. You need to join SPELD as well. You could possibly approach the McKenzie trust or your local lions club for assistance if that sort of money is beyond you.

Does anyone else find those threads about reading levels depressing? To me is just seems to reinforce the long row we have to hoe.

On a good note I finally got around to ordering the sample pack for the First Steps software so we have just started our month's free trial and it looks like we are going well - just on the easiest stuff though and the kid thinks it's cool. With hindsight I probably should have got it so the free trial extended over January so we could have kept up some practice over the school holidays. I'm asking family members to hold off with kid Christmas gifts and maybe give "vouchers" for uniforms and term fees for the various after school activities we attend. Even so with everything else, I'm not sure when/if I'll be able to buy the full version of the programme. If you are not sure what I am talking about, www.learningstaircase.co.nz - just email them that you want to take up their month's free trial offer

Try not to be too concerned about 'reading levels'. Although I realise that is easier said than done. Whilst he may not compare well with the norms that doesn't mean that he will not reach the long term goal which is to be literate.

You are doing as much as is humanly possible to help him reach the long term goal.

My son has his speld assessment tomorrow (!!!!) Im not sure what to hope for.... a bad result so we can really focus on what is wrong or a good result that doesnt help explain his difficulties.

Im really pleased its happening now and wasnt bumped till next year

Wow that was quick! Maybe it's just our area that assessments are hard to get.

You want definitive answers? no such thing. The tests will show what level he is writing at, reading at, recall, spatial things and lots of stuff but the summary will be peppered with "shows xyz tendencies" "shows some signs of", no "his" or "has". The testing is very taxing on them so make sure you take a good "half time" snack for a morning tea break.

Seriously the results are really good at showing where he is at and what areas need what type of work done to improve them.

oh OK! Lol...sillly me

Thank you for your help and insight...I really appreciate it :0)

How did you feel it went GF? How's your DS doing Teo?

I'm bummed out that it will be 9!!!! weeks before our next SPELD lesson. We have the trial software to the end of the month and then need to make a decision on whether to buy the programme and have stocked up on various workbooks to try and retain some of the learning progress we have made.

Hi Girls
we managed to get SPELD for our daughter without having to do the $400 test
we knew where we needed the extra help etc
best thing we ever did although it was tough money wise :-)wish I had of done SPELD with our son instead of Kip McGrath as I'm sure he would have responded better to the SPELD

How has everyone coped with the break?

GF, how were the assessment results?

Despite putting away time right through the holidays to do reading it seems we have forgotten a lot of basic 3 letter words. School hasn't started sending home readers yet so we are still using books we have at home. I'm more than a bit worried about our little one being in a composite yr 2/3 class with a reading levels still down around the NE level. We will have to see if the promised reading recovery is going to happen.

mimi, who was the neurolink/osteo person you took your son to in Howick? I'd like a backup in case we can't get up to see the guy we've been to before.

Hi all. I hope you all are having a great start to the term.

A number of years ago our son was diagnosed with dyspraxia and sensory processing disorder, amongst other things. He's smart and funny but speaks like a robot and struggles to put things into words sometimes. His movement is not fluid and he's a tad clumsy/unfortunate when it comes to mishaps.

Today we've spent an interesting day at Seabrook McKenzie in Chch - the first of many costly assessments there. I'm keen to get him some help with his motion and speech.

Has anyone had an assessment there - are you happy with their information/support?

We've also finally got a referral to a paed who specialises in these difficulties ... our referral of 2.5 years ago seems to have fallen off the hospital books when the paed went on maternity leave - she's been back ages and it's taken a while to get it going again. Hopefully we'll get an appointment soon. DS was diagnosed with "autism spectrum disorder" years ago too - initially at Seabrook today they felt he may be Asperger (but confessed autism is not their field), and then later gave me hope that he may not be on the spectrum at all ... instead just having dyspraxia, SPD and OCD tendancies.

If he had a broken leg, it would be a broken leg ... with all this stuff it just seems so random depending on who you are talking to. Frustrating aye?

No we are not having a good start to the term, but great news for you. It's a shame it has taken two years for you to get some action but at least you are on your way. I bet you are relieved! I don't think other parents appreciate the stress we have waiting for someone to either officially confirm what we know or decide what assistance is appropriate and then having to wait months for it to happen.

I haven't heard of Seabrook. I must google later tonight.

DS was well and truly in the system as a preschooler, (receiving private & public SLT, teacher aide and under the umbrella of the right department) but we were told he was not disabled enough to receive any help once he started at school.

We paid for a private teacher aide for him for almost 2 years a few hours a week to help him with his speech therapy, but she finished at the end of T3 last year because she felt she had come to the end of her skill level. Private SLTs are non-existant in Ash'vegas, and we felt it was more important for him to be at school in the classroom - rather than being dragged out of class and up to Chch for SLT making him tired and underperform in the classroom.

School has been GREAT for him - he's doing really well. We knew when he was diagnosed that 7 would be a crucial age for accurate testing and further diagnosis ... so here we are, at it again - showing our ancient reports (I pulled 5 from my file) helping them understand the unique wee ball of loveliness that is DS.

yet, the current thinking is that the more you can do with a child before 7 when the brain pathways become hardwired the better off the child is. We were told 8 was the time for testing blah blah blah. We were so lucky finding a tutor that would work without a formal assessment. The absolutely frustrating thing is that the school doesn't seem to be proactive in helping, sure they are limited in terms of resources but I have been offering to pay the additional wages for assistance if that is what it takes - but they are concerned how that will be perceived by other families. Like how would they know if it was a confidential agreement between the BOT and ourselves?. It would mean I'd have to up my hours at work to cover it though

Have you thought about neurolink? We've had two treatments to do with dyslexia and both made significant improvements in our child's learning. It's a bit strange but has worked really well for us. We also had a treatment at 3½ when we got sick of waiting for a SLT appointment. Honestly, from difficult to make out sounds to understandable sentences in two weeks. You can read about it at www.neurolink.co.nz and I'm pretty sure there are people in Chch that practice it.

Thanks Creamosa - I tried that link and it doesn't connect, tried to google it, but the links it came up with didn't work either. Not sure if it is a site or problem or a prob with internet at the mo.

We are really lucky that DS is out performing in all areas (maths, reading at 7.5 yr level, spelling at 8.5 yr level before he was 7 yrs, writes well, great at art etc). In fact, having read more about dyspraxia this morning I struggle to identify him with that. He can definitely plan, was toilet trained at 2.5 yrs, loves puzzles, self fed at 9 mths, walked at 12 mths etc. So not the type of kid they describe in the info.

His movements are jolty, his speech robotic, he struggles to grasp some social expectations (didn't understand people's facial/body language until he was more than 5 ... still doesn't get it sometimes), gets a thought in his head and cannot let go of it. He's popular at school (with all ages) but tends to ignore most kids when they talk to him.

He's a really sweet little boy ... he has zero interest in kicking someone or winding them up. (Unlike some of the snots in his class). He loves to give and receive love.

I sat in his class this morning to observe, so I could make the most of the assessments he's going through and pass the right (and current) info on to the specialists. He copes very well in the classroom, does as he is told, is keen to participate and answer questions.

The doctor who diagnosed him years back said he was an interesting case because he was not classically anything, but a bit of several conditions.

I got word yesterday that the referral to the paed has gone through (her area of expertise is learning disorders/ASD) ... it will be interesting to meet her.

I can't understand why your school won't accept you paying for assistance privately. Our school offered us a private teacher aide as soon as I mentioned I would be happy to pay if we didn't qualify for funding. The school arranged it all and I just had to show up with a cheque each term that was given straight to her. Perhaps they have just never done it, so are stumped by the situation.

PS ... you're a dairy farmer aren't you?

It is indeed frustrating that when dealing with these issues, it's never a one-stop-shop. Oh for a specialist centre that would co-ordinate diagnosis and treatment! Instead you go from one specialist to another, and each one tells you something different.
Yay for the referral coming through finally!!

I can't understand it either and I'm less than impressed today to find that the one on one sessions at school have now become group sessions. In fact I am less than impressed with the school - perhaps because I don't have a very good impression of the teacher, DP took her in instant aversion too. We've had a few issues and we are only 3½ weeks into the school year. Currently we are at the closest school to the farm so I can do drop off and pick up and it's not far for DP to go if there is an emergency or if I am working away from the office and can't get there in time.

I think we may be looking to at another school but that is going to cost us quite a bit in extra travel and time daily - at least 10kms in the wrong direction. I wouldn't go to the school in "town" (decile 1 over run with kids with learning issues and not enough assistance to go around) and the other one is Catholic and DP refuses to send "his" child there.

Yes we're on a farm, but managing not self employed, otherwise we might have a "relief milker" on the payroll to help with the reading issues.

That link is working for me .

Creamosa - link now working. relief milker

Hello ladies I'd like to pick your brains if I may.
My lovely miss 7 (almost 8) is struggling with her school work.
Its a long story and I wont go into details but basically its not getting any better and finally the teachers are listening when I say I am concerned. Up until now its been 'yes that is normal for that age' She is a really bright creative kid who loves to paint. She can concentrate for long periods if she is drawing or working at her desk at home but at school the teacher is frustrated with her lack of focus on the task at hand, late finishing and lack of organisation. She has always struggled with reading but we were told she would catch up but she hasnt and I finally got her into rainbow reading after a few weeks of pestering telling her teacher that I thought something had to happen NOW. Funny thing is when they were doing jolly phonics in NE she was fine, she was always singing the songs and picked up the intials sounds fine then because she is a late april baby she ended up in a Yr2&3 class (with a firm older and unenthusiastic dragon) in her 2nd year at school all her support structures were gone and suddenly she was expected to be an experienced learner, it pretty much shot down any confidence she had. It took her till september of that year to get her groove back. I made sure she had the right teacher for her the next year (with strength in art) and she thrived again. But she is still not that well organised, struggles to follow a set of instructions, forgets things, writes alot of letters and numbers the wrong way including small words like og for go, struggles with maths concepts etc...
I have left messages with GSE (mainly because we went through them for her stuttering a few years back so I hoped she would be 'on the books' and I realise I have a long road ahead getting help from them so I was wondering if any of you had experience with this book?
http://www.outofthebox.net.nz/dyslexia/index.htm
or had heard anything about Frances Adlam.
I enrolled bella in her right brained readers workshop last year and she really enjoyed it but its just so jolly expensive. The classes went up to $75 each!!! and we just couldnt afford that as well as swimming lessons.
Has anyone heard anything about right brained learning approach when it comes to dyslexia or reading difficulties?
Does Speld cover this at all?
TIA

Hi Tallulah - frustrating isn't it? Your DD certainly sounds like she has a lot of dyslexic characteristics. Have you had her assessed? I know it's a whack of money but at least you know where she is at and have some ideas of the issues she is dealing with. Dyslexia is apparently not the same for everyone. I read some interesting stuff recently and there was a huge handbag fight over which 'method' was the best when in reality it depends on the individual issues and how the individual processes information.

There is Danks Davis which I have heard great things about but is pricier than SPELD in our area - and we have to wait until 8. As I have said before our tutor works with us as a one-off - she makes a lot of the resources etc herself as there really isn't anything for us at our level. The first steps software is working well for us but for the tutor's other pupils it really wasn't achieving much. If they are still doing the free trial it may be worthwhile taking a look at it. (scroll back a page or two for the link)

If you haven't already been to a behavioural optometrist, that might be a starting point for you, as apparently a lot of eye issues can be misdiagnosed as dyslexia (hearing issues too).

I would expect under the new National Standards that our kids that have fallen behind should be identified earlier and some sort of plan put in place. I know we aren't bad enough for RTLB assistance - but that's because we used our initiative and sought help already so aren't as bad as we would be if we hadn't done that. Most dyslexics are pretty arty as they are so visual, and I think that's left brain so anything right brained is going to help. I've found our tutor excellent, she has certainly done a lot of research and has had to come up with novel approaches for our little stubborn person. So they don't use a one fits all approach.

Well you wont believe this but GSE phoned me back the same day!!!
Anyway they cant help much, but the lady I spoke to gave me a plan that I could follow. I will get in touch with the semco (sp?) at school tomorrow and I've spoken to her teacher who agrees its now time to act.

Bella has been in the 'ear system' since having grommets years ago and has had her hearing tested numerous times so I know thats fine. She was only discharged from them in spring so thats not the problem. I will keep your suggestions in mind though.

As far as I'm aware you create with your right brain and do math and decode with your left. Kids who have trouble reading use predominately the right side and therefore have difficulty with the standard ways of teaching and learning things like reading rules. There are theories out there that suggest that if you use more right brain friendly methods of teaching things like reading rules right brain thinkers are able to make the pathways to learn how to decode. They are wired differently.
Well thats frances Albams thoughts. She uses alot of movement and drama when she teaches language and reading.

I should look into speld I guess.

Movement and coordination is very important. There is a co-relation between kids that don't crawl very long and dyslexia, so sports that involve hand/eye coordination improve learning outcomes. We have done coordination exercises at SPELD lessons too.

The assessment itself is very long - 3 or 4 hours and fairly intense but it was really interesting to see where the strengths and weaknesses are. I assume you could find an assessor and self refer if you aren't sure whether you are going to go with any particular organisation for additional learning assistance. I found the assessment results helped persuade the school to grant some extra reading assistance.

Hi all

Having had a once a week assessment at Seabrook McKenzie for three weeks now, we're feeling like we may finally be able to get DS the specialised help he needs.

The written assessment is a wee way off, but we've had the confirmation of his earlier diagnosis. Dyspraxia, specifically speech dyspraxia and auditry. (He also has motor problems which haven't been assessed yet).

Tallulah - our son had grommets as a child too. He hears perfectly now, but his auditry system is broken (permanently) because of dyspraxia. He hears the info, but his brain doesn't process it the right way. The wee doll has no clue he has appalling speech, because his auditry system doesn't hear what he says.

Equally, we have been told to take him to a specific optometrist for an assessment ... again, he sees fine, but that optometrist may pick up a tracking issue or the like to do with brain function/co-ordination.

A lady I know just had her daughter at the same optometrist - she was failing at reading, it turns out she can't read things on a white background (99% of books etc), some special tinted glasses and she's sorted.

Our son is an oddity, because he is not failing at anything other than PE at school (in fact excells above his peers). So it has been hard to get the assistance he clearly needs because he's doing well, but if you met him you'd know immediately that he needs SLT, OT, social skills assistance etc and would probably do even better at school if he got them.

Thankfully we're on the right road now, but I'm kinda pleased he's has had his first two years at school to concentrate on just getting used to that environment before we've tackled this stuff again (he had therapy as a pre-schooler).

Good luck Tallulah

Wow, three weeks of assessment! That's one cooperative child you have. Great that you have more of an idea what you are dealing with and hopefully the written report will give you some specific direction on what needs to be done.

The optometrist that you are talking about sounds like a behavioural optometrist. It wasn't until we got our appointment and they sent out the forms and some information on it that I found about about all the weird things that can be attributed to the brain and eye not communicating too well. I already knew about Irlens (the colour thing) and about tracking issues but there are so many more 'syndomes' that they can detect. I find the whole thing terribly fascinating that a person can have 20/20 (or better) vision yet still have so much wrong. I never realised that optometry was such a fascinating field - but I'm picking any student debt would far outweigh any financial better if I retrained now.

Yes I had heard of the not being able to read from white backgrounds. an easy way to see if this is a problem is to get a peice of coloured (usually light blue or yellow) plastic and put it over the book or words you child is reading to see if it makes a difference. I have tryed it a few times with bella but it doesnt make any difference. Bella has no problems at all with co ordination in fact learning throuhg movement and song is her thing.
I found she reads best if she stands and sings her books strangely enough.
I met the 'senco' at her school yesterday. She was really helpful. She is on the RTLB list now. They have quite a few kids at the school who have similar 'issues' and if she is a ways down the list she will let me know and we might investigate getting private assessment. But at this stage I'll leave it in her hands. Bellas teacher is also aware of the situation so is making the appropriate allowances for bella in the class. The Senco has 2 (now grown up) children with dyslexia herself and knows what helps and how to go about helping so I feel pretty happy letting the system work for the minute.
Any help or experience from people who have BTDT is appreciated though.

You have far more faith in the RTLB system than I have.

I kind of feel that I have to have faith in the school system, its the system she is in and will be for another 9 years.

I'm not talking about the school system - although that has obviously failed a lot of people. RTLB only have so much money to around and there are a lot of children with a range of issues that seem to be prioritised more highly. Because we are "only" a year behind we are not bad enough for RTLB in our area. Apparently RTLB teachers work with a number of schools so they are spread quite thinly. Unfortunately we are in a very low decile area and there are lots of children that need assistance with learning behaviours so we have little to no chance of assistance from them. Dyslexia has only been recognised by the MOE since July 2008. I've read the brochure that went to schools, it doesn't have an awful lot of guidance for teachers in it.

hello Ladies,

big shock today, so I need some help/advice...anything that can help us go forward. We went to our yearly paed check up for my nearly 4yo (he was prem and he has an innocent heart murmur, so we go yearly to see him). He assessed him for an hour or so and told us he has strong 'dysplexic tendencies'- on one hand everything DS did and the way he acted makes sense, on the other hand it's a bit much- it's an ongoing learning difficulty but at least we have a name for the odd things DS does.

He had referred us to a Early intervention person (?) to help at daycare, where he goes 3 days a week, but what else can we do?
I had a look at the NZ site bout dysplexia, but should we go get another opinion? And if so, where? can you recommend a good specialist? in Auckland?

In the meantime, what can we do to help? I am a teacher (though secondary) and I teach a few kids with dyslexia, so I have a bit of an idea..but totally different- he is my baby, and I have no idea what strategies to use for pre-schoolers???

TIA,
Chris

There is a lot of evidence that the more you can do before age 7 when the brain finishes developing the better. I suspected dyslexia very early but was really stuck trying to find anyone to take me seriously, or working out what we could do. I discussed this with both daycare and kindy and they were "oh yeah, that's pretty normal don't worry about it". Now after assessment it's "Oh we have books about that you could have borrowed" . I would concentrate on coordination things - brain gym, cricket, soccer, swingball, softball, etc throwing/catching at the moment.

I would take your son to a behavourial optometrist once you think he can cope with the hour long exam to rule out Erlens and any of the other eye/brain issues. I would also check out various tutors to see you can get lucky with one that will start working with your son once he is at school rather than waiting for an assessment. Our littlie was 6 at assessment and that was considered early. They do need to have some grasp of reading and writing from what I understood. Traditionally assessment didn't happen until about 8 yrs old. The first couple of terms that we went to SPELD we did 5 - 10 mins on a balance bar or wobble board and some other stuff I've already forgotten before we did the literacy stuff.

From my experience there was little I could do except repeat repeat repeat and the hand/eye, right/left brain exercises. We have major issues reciting anything, so not knowing twinkle twinkle little star after 6348228 times is a bit of clue. Differences in time scales - minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, yesterday and tomorrow are also biggies for us. It's just a matter of repeating things back correctly. We also get the opposite thing said quite a bit - under instead or over, no/yes etc

But every dyslexic is different so there is no "one size suits all" sort of assistance. There are some great websites out there and even facebook has discussion groups and there are an awful lot of people touting all sorts of help methods (usually expensive). What made huge progress for our little one is neurolink or NIS I think the new name is. (We had 1 session to start talking and two last year). The link should be in a previous post, but PM Mimi for the name of the guy she took her kids to in Howick, there are a lot more practitioners out there than there are on the website.

Good luck researching.

AliOli, I just remembered we had lots of jigsaws for homework, thinking back I doubt that any of them were more than a 20 piece and none had frames or pictures. So it has to be done logically, corners, sides etc. which is difficult for the visually orientated - whereas with the picture it would only take a couple of minutes, without took way longer. At first it was done with the tutor helping and then we took it home for the week. We already have and do lots of jigsaws, but not on a regular basis.

By no picture - I mean of the finished puzzle

thanks creamoasa- we are still waiting to hear from the intervention team, in the meantime have implemented some of the things you suggested..and I am on a course for dypraxia children next week from my school, which should be good.... thanks again for your posts!

omg... if anyone's listening... Master 8 has been having Danks Davis Tutoring weekly since March. As his school teacher is leaving and being replaced I touched base with the school resource teacher. She hadn't even been told about his auditory dyslexia. I am annoyed as it doesnt seem his current teacher tried to get him any help when she was trying to say he was having difficulties at the beginning of the year!!
I think the weekly sessions are going well, but it's interrupting his school routine. With the new teacher being on board more maybe this will improve. It's been a tough day. Excuse the my lowliness I'm 4 months pregnant so emotional and defensive!
Also, the class are having a trip as farewell to their teacher. Master 8 didnt bring home the permission slip because she said she's only taking the hardest working kids. He took himself out of the equation.
grrr...

advice please!

what kinds of things can you do to help dyslexic kids? M was flagged as having 'dyslexic tendencies' at his assessment earlier this year, the woman we saw said that we should monitor it, get in touch with her if we had any major concerns, and otherwise book another assessment for next year that would look specifically at dyslexia.

he has dysgraphia so his writing is naturally all over the place and he avoids doing it where possible, but also all his letters are back to front and upside down and he writes different words to what he means.... etc etc. the other day he wrote a list and, honestly, i can't read a single thing on it - i mean, i can make out the word 'puffle' because i've seen him write it before but someone who didn't know him would have no clue.

we have been doing those really simple 'learning to write' books - i sit with him and show him how i would make the letter (he is a lefty so a bit hard for me to tell him how he 'should' do it as i have no idea) and we do a couple of letters a day. he can do them fine in that kind of setting, but as soon as he has to write on his own - its all over.

what else can we do?

Back again... been a while!

We got the $400 SPELD assessment done in December 2009 which spoke of a sensory motor development issue and the outcome of that was reccommendations for referrals to

- Behavioural Optometrist
- Occupational Therapist
- Speld Tutoring

So immediately we started him once a week at Kip Mcgrath for basic literary work while the rest got sorted. The optometrist was first and he reccommended glasses that changed the depth focus and made it easier for him to look at a page of words.. etc! The govt paid for half the cost of those.. Yeay!

I call them Magic glasses because once he had those... his reading rocketed from being a year and a half behind and the bottom of his class to being in the top quarter and receiving an A for achievement in his last report.. HOORAY!

We finally got a SPELD tutor and the OT assesment about four months ago and the ot assessment was amazing. Explained more about my son in one session than I had learnt in his lifetime.
sad but exciting!

He has been described as Dsypraxic.. purely in his motor and coordination issues. His speech and everything are fine unlike some kids on the spectrum. KNowing how it affects him makes it so much easier to manage his behaviour and anxiety because we can better prepare him for situations.

eg in the past for school productions we would drop him off at the hall door with all the other kids and then watch bewildered from the audience as he acted up and then ran away to hide. This time he was so paniced about it but I kept him with me (in a calmer place) in the front row and kept him in a firm hug and told him he didnt have to perform if it was making him unhappy and then when all his class came onstage from the caos of backstage, he just got up and followed them on and performed beautifully.

It explains his complete dislike of party games, team sports and caotic environments etc.

Other OT reccommendations were wearing headphones with calming music.. ear plugs in busy situations.. time out in class to gather himself and firm physical reassurance from his teachers etc.. wobble board and so forth

I am stoked that we have gotten here... bummed it took two years and the lack of inaction or concern from the school. I have lost a lot of faith in the education system... its only because I have kept fighting his corner that he has been recognised as needing a different sort of educative environment. And its a leading school in out area!!! His writing and maths are still dire...

ON the bright side ,,, he now loves school and is growing in confidence.

Am now always on the hunt for learning techniques to keep him interested and on the up.

Also the school... (GRRR) when he was falling further and further behind as a 6yr old and just failing in all areas of literacy and I repeatedly begged for RLTB or whatever its called assistance.. it was put off and put off and then he was turned down. The school has 104 kids and is a wealthy little country school and they were perfectly happy for him to just fail.


How can this happen.. I always wondered how people got through the school system and remained illiterate.. now I know. I think its really sad.

Interesting story
what do you think has changed his feelings about going to school the most?

Hi. Is this forum still active? I've just come across it.

My DS is 6 & 3/4 yrs, & has dyspraxia and dyslexia. Like other have expressed, I'm not impressed with the school system and the blocks put up. Even though the developmental paed recommended the school referring him for MoE Moderate Needs OT therapy, the school hasn't done it. It's a 5 page form - 1st page is cover page, 2nd page the principal signs giving consent, 3rd page the parent signs and lists concerns, 4th & 5th page the teacher fills in.

DS has been receiving speech therapy through Moe since he was 3 years (first through Early Intervention, now through School Focus team). He has great comprehension, but has an articulation difficulty and lacks clarity in speech. His intelligibility is about 80% in normal speech, and virtually non-existent when he's excited or telling a story, as all sounds merge together & get mixed up.

Just before he started school I came across the LDonline.com site, which had a list of potential signs amongst preschoolers that could indicate a learning difficulty. Despite being read to daily as a preschooler, despite lots of rhyming games and phonological awareness activities, he ticked practically everyone - from difficulty rhyming, learning days of week, sequences, buttons, messy eating, learning new skills etc etc. All the books say the earlier learning difficulties are recognised, the better. Yet when I told his new entrant teacher what I suspected she told me not to worry, that boys were often a bit slower, but they caught up by 6year.

When he was having difficulty copying from blackboard, I took him to behavioural optometrist - vision good, but difficulties with eye tracking, accuracy & fine motor.

Speld assessment at 5 yrs, 10mth, but he didn't complete it. He only lasted an hour. When they got to the literacy tests, he avoided them (hungry, thirsty, toilet). Speld assessor recommended RTLB, school didn't follow through.

From what he did complete, speld assessor said good intelligence, above average, yet difficulties with fine motor, pencil and scissor control.

He began speld lessons.

6 year net, stanines 1 & 2. Began RR at level 1 (emergent, magenta level, with only a few sight words).

Developmental paed report said high intelligence, in 90 percentile. fine & gross motor fulfilled dyspraxia criteria. Suspected dyslexia. Not Adhd. Recommended RTLB and Moderate Needs OT. Again school not follow through. Junior school AP, who is also RR teacher, said they hadn't put RTLB referral in for him because he's made progress on RR, now at level 13 (green books, when kids should be at 6 years, he'll be 7 in August). He's starting to rhyme, and realize that if he can write 'cat', then he can write 'fat, hat, bat. Also that his behaviours isnt' disruptive in the classroom, and there are other children with more disruptive behaviours than him. (Apparently he daydreams, or chatter alot when faced with an activity he finds challenging).

Recently been talking with other parents, and have realised school doesn't have to pay for RTLB & Mod need OT, it's just paper work. Also that it seems to be a block & other parents have experienced similar frustrations with getting school to refer to RTLB.

It seems to me that even if the RTLB decides not to accept a child, at least there is still a paper trail, which may be important later down the track. Whereas if the school does the vetoing , & no referrals are made, then there is no paper trail with MoE.

Welcome!
Thanks for sharing your story


Ive found this to be true in my experience also. (I have twins with Aspergers, Dyslexia and Dysgraphia). Because my kids are well behaved at school (as in exceptionally so-due to anxiety of doing anything wrong, not becasue they are super well behaved kids lol) and because they are bright so achieve regardless, they get little help or recognition of their needs. Saying that, luckily we have a superb teacher this year.

Your story is much like mine Swanplant, except that we have just reached level 12 (green) at just turned 8 years, and that is after 2 years of SPELD.

I self referred to RTLB as the school wasn't helpful, ask around to find out which school the RTLB is based. Apparently funding is the issue for our RTLB. When I talked to the RTLB she said that much of their work other than observing and assessing and referring for other assistance as necessary was mainly to train the classroom teacher to teach in a way that the child can learn. She said they sometimes also gave money to a school to pay for someone to work one on one with a child. But the RTLB have to spread themselves around 12 schools and where we are there is simply not the money to help someone that is "only" 2 years behind and already getting outside assistance (SPELD). My eldest also gets 15mins reading with a teacher aide 4 times a week at school and apparently that's as much as they do anyway. All the RTLB money in our group has to spread around the worst kids in those 12 schools, so there must be a lot of children that are far worse. The RTLB did speak to the class teacher but absolutely nothing has changed in the method she explains things - well not that I can see anyway.

I am very angry about the whole system.

Hi,

Just a quick introduction of myself to the thread, My Daughter is 3 in July, and has has a pretty bad start to life, starting with Hip Displacia at birth requiring a hip spika cast, between the ages of 4 months - 7 Months, then Just before she turned 2 we found out she had Coeliac Disease, and not long after she turned 2 she was diagnosed with dispraxia.

Discovering that she had Coeliac and Disparxia was very simular, I was watching Good Morning when there was a segment on Coeliac, and I noted that the symptoms that they mentioned were pretty much exactly the same, so we called her Pediatrian, asked for her to be tested. 2 weeks later we got a phone call saying her blood tests were the highest she had ever seen, and a month later she had a biopsy to be confirmed. For the Dispraxia, I was listening to Newstalk ZB with Paul Holmes talking to a Dislexic expert, and he mentioned that there is also a Verbal Dislexia called Dispraxia, and noted the symptoms, which of course matched my daughter, and before we knew it we were in Speech therapy.

6 Months later and her speech has improved 100%, shes still not quite up with her age group, but shes making great progress.

She quite often gets frustrated as she might be 6 - 12 months behind her age group for speech, she is 12 - 24 months ahead for most other things, so she gets very frustrated at us at times for not knowing what she is trying to say.

Hi GG67,

I agree with you. The school system, education system, whatever, is infuriating.

It's also really annoying, that if a parent does something pro-active, like arrange SPELD tuition (which they pay for themselves), then the school system penalises them, by not referring the kids for (the limited) support services which are provided by Ministry of Ed.

Our school just had a parent review meeting, and there's a lot of parental concern. In the school charter they have all this lovely stuff about "learning skills for life" and "helping all kids", but nothing specific in there for kids with learning difficulties (moderate).

One parent I was talking with, said last year, her son was only seen by the RTLB, because the RTLB was in observing another child in the class, and the teacher asked the RTLB to observe 2 others (even though the Associate Principal for Junior School had said there was no need for the RTLB to see those 2 other kids). The RTLB said both the 2 extra kids were 'at risk of dyslexia'.

She was surprised that the school (Senco) had no information. It seems that every parent ends up 're-inventing the wheel', so to speak. ie, having to do one's own research.

I've got the "4D guide for NZ schools" from the Dyslexia Foundation.

We've had a meeting with the Principal, and next term we want to form a support group/ steering committee, and help try to address some of these issues.

Kids with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, etc are intelligent kids. If supported and encouraged, they can do amazing things. We have so many examples of that, like Richard Taylor (Weta), to Thomas Edison (inventor of light bulb), Albert Einstein, etc. If not supported and encouraged, then the frustration, low self-esteem, etc etc etc, is a real worry.

Very high stress in our household as the younger child is reading at a higher level As if sibling rivalry wasn't bad enough already.

I've paid for the SPELD tutor to come in and talk to the teachers and get a learning plan sorted but she got the brush off, "oh I've read the MOE pamphlet on dyslexia I already know all that". Another complete waste of my money and everyone's time. The learning plan was a complete waste of time and I refused to sign it. There was no plan. I wanted specifics and targets but there was just vague we will try to do this or that. I wanted to see, we will allocate x minutes a day/week and we aim to increase the reading level by y in 6 months, to that we need to ......and the parents need to.... Unfortunately I can't change schools because of custody and work issues and the neither the ex or I like the catholic school which is the next closest school. Oh that I can find somewhere cheap but wonderful to live where I can work school hours, get paid heaps and be within walking distance of work and school. (and get sole custody).

I've had a letter home from the principal last week to ask why I am sending my child to school unwell all the time and wanting a medical certificate to prove my child is well enough to attend class. The sore tummies happened all last year too but they didn't have a problem with it then. They are stress tummy aches you bloody idiot!!!! We already went through a barrage of testing last year with the GP and there was nothing that came up. I'm thinking it's subtle (not)pressure for us to move schools and become someone else's problem.

I was talking to a couple in the park on the weekend and they said their child has dyslexia and told me to apply for the child disability allowance and use that to pay speld. Is dyslexia a disability that qualifies? Do other people get this? I read up on the allowance but I'm not sure we qualify.

hi there my daughter doesnt have what the title suggests but can i chat in here she has Apaxia

*opps i see my hubby already posted in here*

Hi nzleagle and mummyto2,I think it's lucky you had a "diagnosis" so early. I had major concerns about speech but had trouble getting help. Oh yes, just baby talk with the younger sibling, it'll come. It wasn't until the younger sibling had better speech at two than the older sibling at three that we got a referral for speech therapy. And even though the assessment was fairly quick there were no available place for speech therapy for another 6 months.

At the moment I am feeling despondent, I don't feel that my child is getting enough assistance at school, I read the forums on here about reading and maths and realise how far behind my child is.

GC67, being a childcare teacher i know what is "normal" so i go though EVERY chain i can to get the help.i have had her diagnoised early for all the problems she has....Speech is something i knew wasnt right, she didnt coo as a baby and was gettting very angry..she is getting better im still the only one that understands her the most even nzleagle has trouble understanding her but thats cause he is away alot.

If you feel your child isnt getting enough assistance talk to someone get all over them about it.

Just thought i would add here aswell, what my daughter as is apraxia and not dyspraxia which are NOT the same thing...they are different

I have been reading and lurking for the last week. We had a huge bombshell were called into the school last week as I have been having huge issues with DS spelling /reading and literacy for the last few years. I spoke with his teacher again about 6 weeks ago and asked if he could have some testing ..unbeknown s to be they assessed him and formally diagnosed him with Dyslexia.I had in my head spelling and reading testing they percieved it as phyc testing(which they did). It came as a huge shock as at the meeting as I was expecting them to say he just needs abit of extra tuition not expecting to get the diagnosis!!. I asked where to from here and shes a child phyc said its all confirmed and the report will be out to us next week. She has organised for the school to hit the road running next year he has been placed on a very expensive programme that he will be taken out of class for a hour of everyday for the year, its like a intensive decoding of the brain programme, he is very bright in maths and puzzle building but his auditory processing is very low. They have installed in his class for next year a special auditory system that the teacher will speak through and he will have a special application on his laptop that will convert all of his written work(spellcheck and format it all)that will take the stress and frustration out of that.His exams he will have a scroll and be able to do them on a laptop. The school has gone over and beyond and we are very greatful for that. His school has the best learning support centre she said and shes worked in 30 schools in QLD so how lucky are we to have choosen that school!!Things in ife happen for a reason. Second week into school we are meeting with learning support, class teacher and child phyc and she is going to drive the whole way he which is to be taught and dealt with in regards to schoolwork.
What help to your kids in NZ get in regards to special education and help is it funded?
Have any of your kids done the extensive decoding programme did it help?
If you have got through that novel thankyou for listening and we are still getting to terms with it all and finding it very hard , I think its more of a shock as it was really out of the blue and not expected, I just thought he was abit slower in literacy than other kids as behaviourly he has his quirks like all kids but I have always put that down to his EE and food alleries and him being precious

Wow, you are lucky the school is putting so much your son HannahKate. Over here I've had to fight for help at school, we get time with a teacher aide for one on one reading for 15 minutes a couple of times a week. Unfortunately because of the issues with short term memory, maths is also an area that is way behind. We do SPELD, but have to pay for that ourselves and we do this outside school hours.

I also got family to buy the STEPs programme when they specialed it on Yazoom a few months ago http://www.learningstaircase.co.nz/cart/index.php?cPath=25 and through Spectronics we previously purchased Wordshark and Numbershark on the recommendation of the tutor. So at home at least twice a week we have sessions on the computer using the software. Actually the two lots are similar, but STEPS has a NZ accent and the others a British accent.

So yeah, here it seems to be mainly parent driven (or in my case by me). RTLB service just doesn't have enough money to throw at all the kids that need assistance at school. I was told by one teacher that she felt very sorry for my DD as she was never going to learn much at school as there just isn't the funding to cope with her and despite Dyslexia now being recognised many teachers still don't believe it exists and it's just a label.

So despite my best efforts the school does not follow up on recommendations from the SPELD tutor, I'd love to change schools but there are issues with the ex and shared custody etc. The other school doesn't get any more in funding, but the teachers there that I have spoken too seem to have a better attitude to or understanding of dyslexia. As far as decoding goes, we have made huge progess in two years of tutoring - but at the same time her younger brother and her peers have also advanced at normal pace. So instead of being 12 months behind on the first assessment 2 years ago the latest assessment shows 11 months behind. There are times when the progress is fast - it's like all the cogs interlock and others when the tutor feels like we are going 1 step forward and 4 steps back.

I just got the school report today and for enthusiam and effort she excels for everything, but the achievement level in all subjects except art and sport is below standards.

Big hugs GG67

It is so hard when are kids are having problems. We just want the best for them. It is really stressful when you have to fight their corner all the time and the one place (school) when you would hope they would get all he help in the world just doesn't come up to scratch.

Ive realised over the years (my son has ADHD) that it is up to me and his father to push his cause and get all the assistance we can from every avenue. Even then it is slow to come and expensive and time consuming and we both work and have another younger child to take care of as well.

We are waiting to get seen at the Kari Centre in Auckland so that we can finally get some professional assistance with how to manage his behaviour and get some assistance for him on how to manage beter socially and with his peers and dealing with his younger brother.

I am thankful that he doesn't have learning difficulties, he is achieving at levels above his age group for all areas and had a glowing report. It is his social skills and managing othes that he is struggling with.

Learning or behavioural difficulties are both very hard to deal with.

Good luck and keep on with what you are doing, providing the best learning environment you can and all the extra assistance. That's all you can do, she will be what she will be.

Thanks for all your words and experiences. GG67 you just confirmed what I thought about schools in NZ and the support we are getting here far out weighs what we would get in NZ( we were thinking of coming home prior to diagnosis but have had to re evaluate our plans) How much is private SPELD tuition?

Has anyone tried acupuncture for dyslexia?

No there are some schools that are great with teachers with more awareness, check out the website for Cockle Bay school for instance.

The tuition fee varies between areas of the country, they try to have all the tutors within a district charge the same fee. In our area the fee has just gone up 15% but it is still cheaper than the local Danks Davis tutor. There are also tutors that have retired or teachers on maternity leave and are offering tuition privately. In our little part of the world the SPELD district was able to get charitable grants and they have used this to subsidise the assessment costs. They also tutor a number of needy pupils for "free" for one year, the tutor being paid by the grant. I think the hourly rate is still very cheap, but it is hard to find that money every week.

Brain gym exercises is something to get into. anything that crosses the left and right brain interactions, ball throwing catching etc.

Has anyone used DORE? DD1's teacher mentioned them to me but want to see if anyone has any feedback on them. I am suspecting DD1 has dyslexia as a family trait on both sides. Thanks.

I have looked into it and it is very expensive. They have a website. They haso have free information evenings at the Parenting Place in Greenlane that is run by Ian Grant. It takes dedication and commitment to do these excercises twice a day.

the ed psych who tested M told me not to touch DORE with a ten foot pole - he has really poor fine motor skills and dysgraphia and she said it was expensive and for the most part, didn't do what it claimed to and there were no real benefits. i am sure there are people out there it has worked for, but, yeah, from what i can tell there are mixed feelings about it.

Hello lovely ladies. I have a bit of an odd question.

History: I think my daughter could be dyspraxic. She's always had poor muscle tone. Couldn't handle anything but pureed pear or baby rice until 10 months. Delayed speech. Slow to crawl (1 yr) slow to walk (17 months). Clumsy as all heck. So much so her preschool teacher asked me to get her eyes tested at the optometrist. I did and they were fine. And her teacher told me to start saving for the SPELD testing six weeks into school. Her new entrant teacher is the one in charge of special needs at the school. And she said she doesn't know what is up, but something definately is. We think she's got an auditory processing problem, but Greenlane wont test her until she's 7. The audiologist ran a couple of general AP tests after her hearing test, and he said the results were very weird, even for an auditory processing problem, but wouldn't speculate on what it was until the full testing was done.

Anyway, a week into term this year she had a bad day. Was having a little cry at school because the work was hard. Our LOVELY DP who was her new entrant teacher went away and applied for an RTLB which has been approved. YAY! I'd read on here it was hard to get schools to do that, and I didn't even need to ask.

My odd question is, is that Amy can babble in made up words ad um finitum. They were playing this in the car today with other kids, and the others could do a few and then ended up repeating the same sounds. Which is what I end up doing if I'm pretending to speak a foreign language. Amy on the other hand can rabbit on in these intricate complicate and varied sounds for ages. She did this before she could talk. She had this speech delay, but really wanted to talk, so would just babble at you - lots of sounds, and in a really complex, non-repeating pattern. It was very cute and funny, because she'd be expressive and gesture, and it was like she was speaking a whole other language.

Anyway - is that a characteristic of anything like dysrpaxia?

Dore is the outfit I was trying to think of the name of in the other thread. Yes very expensive and the only family I know that used it thought it was great but as an outsider looking in I don't know how much greater the improvement than if the kid had been going to a SPELD or Danks Davis tutor (which they did after). it's probably like a weight loss diet, the results will depend on how well you stick to the plan.

Before you jump up and down with excitement CountryMum, a lot of kids in our area get RTLB referals but not all of them get extra assistance because there is only so much money and the very worst of the kids get allocated the help. But the good thing is that RTLB might be able to point you in the right direction about what you can do to help before you get a formal assessment. RTLB also help the teacher to find a way to teach your child, explaining things slightly differently etc, but it looks like you've lucked onto an excellent NE teacher anyway.

We were advised to wait until 6 before we did the SPELD testing (initially told had to wait until 8) and for us it was the right decision as it is pretty intensive and for my child it was the right age, I think any earlier and she'd have been struggling to understand what was expected in some of the exercises. You don't have to do it through SPELD either just find an Educational psychologist and self refer.

I think it sucks that you have to wait until 7 to get that suspected APD checked, you'd think they would follow it up sooner if they found weird results. I just looked at various DHB's websites around the country and quite a few will test for APD from age 6. I also found a Sound Skills clinic in Greenlane so not sure if you went there or the hospital but it might be something to follow up.

Sorry I don't know much about dyspraxia except that like dyslexia and all those brain things no two people are ever affected exactly the same. I also think that brain gym exercises left brain/right brain stuff helps all these kids and the more that you can before age 7 the better. Your teacher might have a brain gym book she could lend you. My daughter too spoke strangely and it wasn't until my son was talking and could be clearly understood that I realised how far behind she was. Plunket had kept telling me not to worry it'll happen and it was the nurse at one of those preschool mobile ear clinics that referred us to speech therapy and further auditory testing.

I was told she's getting a teacher aid to share between her and another little boy in her class that is similarly troubled. No idea how many hours she'll get, but it's a start. The two of them are doing the quick 60 program together with the DP who isn't teaching for the first two terms. She's a qualified SPELD tutor, so is quite good at seeing things. Thank heavens!

I need to update my siggy. Twins turns 6 last month, and that is when said teacher said would be a good time to get tested. Well, actually after the six year net, so there is more data to start with. Probably wont happen for a while unfortunately.

I have a friend who has found sound skills horrendously expensive. Greenlane is very thorough and free so thats it for us. I know we could get an ed psych assessment for APD, but absolutely no money for that right now.

The advice I'm getting is so varied about the ed psych's Some say don't touch pro-ed, others say it's fine, just philosophical differences. Someone else mentioned indigo something or other. We have one of the best SPELD tutors in the country at our little school so I'm told, but its too expensive for us. Makes me feel quite helpless. I have a good friend who is a teacher that could tutor my daughter for mates rates. Does it need to be a specialist tutor? Would a regular teacher be able to help her?

Thank you for replying to my post - I do appreciate it. My daughter has so many wonderful qualities, its hard to see her trying so hard at school, but just not picking things up like the other kids. I'm sure that is a sentiment often expressed by other parents on this board.

Country Mum when you say Greenlane is that Kari Centre? And if so do you mind sharing your experience either here or PM? I've contacted Kari centre and they've sent me the initial forms but they said can't help with the possible dyslexia side of things. Just really wondering what they have helped you with and whether it would be suitable for us. It's really hard to know which way is the best way to go.

Has anyone here had experience with Read Auckland? I've also spoken to her and she sounds great but was quite expensive esp because I want it for both school boys.

Also what's pro-ed? Just wondering if I should do the ed-psych thing first or just go through speld or just keep looking for a RR teacher who is retired and tutoring... (that might be best for DS1 who is just slightly behind rather than DS2 who is way behind).

Heart breaking isn't it. My DS2 is the same. No one at school sees his great side because he's busy getting in trouble all the time - he hasn't bought his homework books home all week so I had to "dob" him into the teacher this morning and then he tried to go home and after I marched him back to class he had to be peeled off me, crying and pleading while I walked away ...heartbreaking to see him so conflicted and upset.

Oh that's aweful 3boys. Amy has a separation anxiety issue, and is usually fine after I'm gone. But I know as a mother when you see that wide eyed panic/pleading look in your childs eyes as you're going it rips your heart out.

Pro-ed is ed psych and occupational therapy based on the Shore. It's a bit cheaper than SPELD, and some people say its good, and others say it's rubbish. I don't know who is right.

Greenlane is the Greenlane hospital audiology dept. My eldest is deaf in one ear, so the twins were screened to be safe. All their APD reference data is from ages 7+ so they refused to do the testing before hand.

Oh yes! I've heard of them now you say the Shore - a friend of a friend had her daughter assessed through them because of bad handwriting (another of DS's issues) and they were really happy with the results (mother is a teacher). And cheaper than SPELD you say... hmmmm.....

I'd really like DS to get tested for APD. We went through the free SLT clinic at Auckland Uni but they don't really deal with the APD I don't think (although there would seem to be a sort of cross over there). We are booked to go back to the SLT but they haven't contacted us yet (must follow up) so I might just investigate our options through the audiology dept there.

I feel such a newbie in this realm can I ask some questions?

- has your child been assessed to have a learning problem and if so was it through school or privately or....

I really dont know where to start? I have talked to DD1's teacher and she is great but gave the impression there is not much help especially if she is not hugely behind or in need. How do they determine needs?

I think SPELD is reasonably priced given that I pay an hour's tutorial per week ($35 - $50 per hour is the range I've heard) and the tutor must have at least another hour per week of lesson planning, p/copying and resource making etc. I think the cost depends on which area of the country you are in but ours is $10per hour cheaper than Danks Davis and that's the only alternative within a reasonable travel distance. I know that some people have managed to get child disability allowance to help with the costs but WINZ have tightened up on that.

If you feel that your child has a learning issue than you have to push things along yourself. Many teachers are not up to speed with learning problems - this is when you envy Country Mum. I've found that unless your child is many stanines behind his or her peers that there won't be any help until they get to 8. Perhaps some reading recovery or assistance with a teacher aide which is all good but not necessary helping whatever specific issue your child has. There is the whole thing where your child may be just maturing more slowly and will grow out of the issue. Steiner schools don't start their formal reading/writing lessons until 7 for that reason.

As far as I understand funding for assistance, firstly if kids are a little behind the school pays for a teacher aide etc, if the problem is bigger or that need some outside guidance on how to teach your child they call in an RTLB teacher and he/she can help the teacher or teacher aide set up a plan to help your child or in some cases they have some money that can be used to pay for assistance over and above what the school would normally be expected to pay for one child. But that money has to cover all the pupils of all the schools within a set area so only the worst will get access. Schools do not assess your kids for learning difficulties, some teachers may advise you to go "somewhere" but really in my experience you are on your own. You might be able to get a referal to Child Development Services to get an assessment but we went to an educational psychologist via SPELD. I think for peace of mind and knowing what you are dealing with, if the eyes and ears check out, then you owe it to your child to get testing done. Whether you find a way forward yourself or use a tutor like we do, at least knowing what you are dealing with means you can target the issue. And having a report seems to help with getting assistance at school too.

Just remember whatever problems we have with our kids with learning difficulties, parents with gifted kids have the same issues in keeping their kids happy, motivated and learning.

Oh 3boys, that must have been oso hard this morning

Sorry, not sure, but have the school got the RTLB's involved at all?

I have a few LD's this year in my lovely Y3 class. One in particular is under the RTlit (actually, I have 2 with her). 3 others go to onsite lexia (a programme I mentioned elsewhere.

oh! I can answer the APD thing, and why they dont test ealier - it is beause they can't get a 'true' reslutlt until the kids hit about 7, or in some cases, 8. This is soemthing that has come up because both myslef and my child's muym suspect my student of having (along with many other things) APD. Her older son (yr 4) hs very similar LD to my student, and was tested for APD last year - and the results were inconclusive. As mum and dad pay for all these tests, it is pretty important that they don't spend too much dead money.

Anyway, my lovely boy sees the rtlit 3-4 times a week. The Rtlb is currently in the process of testing him (and does a mild apd test for us). I did reccomend to the parents that they visit the behavioural optometrist (another $$ option, but while they aren't rolling in it, they are able to access $ to a certain level). STOKED they did, found a vision issue (he has the CUTEST glasses now, has to wear them for 3 or so weeks before retesting on the behavioural side), so feel that we are on the way to helping him achieve this year. It is going to be a full on, difficult year for him, inasmuch as any year of learning will be, but the more tools we have, the better.

this is SO school dependent. Some schools have TAs that go around the room working in class to support the childen with needs (or to occupy the more able kids while the teacher has intensive time with the learning needs kids). Some have removal groups with specific programmes. Some have both. And some, don't ask me how, have NOTHING.

The thing is for kids to actually get funding, they have to be really, really bad, or have enough things going on to be accepted by the RTlits/RTlbs or similar. Being below national standards is not enough - that worked out to something like 30 bucks per kid or similar when I worked it out last year, and no extra funding was announced for these below NZ kids (makes you wonder why we spent so much money idenitfying the kids we already know are struggling with learning, eh). You are, to a large degree, at the mercy of the direction of the school's ush in learning support.

And GG67 - I SO agree re gifted kids - in fact this is an area I hve already seen worsen under national standards as resources are taken fromt eh more able in some schools to meet the needs of the less able - the problem is the lack of money, pretty much no extra money has been given to support the below NS kjids - and IME many teachers cannnot adequately understand and cater for gifted kids in the classroom programme (as in they give busy work or make them help the lower achieveing kids ALL the time).

Thanks F, and no there is no RTLB involved (I just googled that to find out what they do ). I had a good discussion with my SIL who's daughter is also in a similar situation (she's a couple of years older though). They already have their ed-psych report because of other stuff so she went to Read today and she is going to send her daughter there.

From talking to her and to you guys in here I think what I will do is follow up our SLT and try to organise some APD testing through Auckland Uni tamaki campas. And I will also do the ed-phych report. If I don't go through SPELD I hope they will accept the report if we decide to go through them for tutoring? Just need to find a ed-psych to do it... any suggestions anyone?

With DS1 I think I will just keep looking for someone to tutor him - If anyone has any recommendations in central AK that would be good. I think he just needs some basic stuff covered and a bit of work with comprehension. His teacher seems pretty onto it this year so I will be meeting with her in a couple of weeks and will be able to cover anything concerning me then.


With the eyes. I took DS2 to the optometrist. He was pretty un-cooperative but she concluded he had no issues. But is that different to a behavioural optometrist and wouldn't she have suggested referral if there was anything suspected or maybe not?

I have another friend who is about one to two years further down the track than me with all this stuff. I think I'll also give her a call and see what she thinks.

From what I read about the RTLB I really don't think she will suggest anything that the current teacher isn't already doing? I think he needs more than just group tutoring or a different teaching approach...

3boys, my student is off for his ed psych appt soon, it is one apparently the school rates (we see a range of reports out there in terms of quality) can find out the details next week if you want?

In terms of behavioural optometrists, I know that some people don't 'believe' in them. The one my stendent went to sounded awesome. She was talling the mum how she could tell when the child was lying (well, saying what he thought she wanted to hear) just by watching the eye and pupil movements. I suggested it because I could see tracking issues - he was finding it difficult to copy off the board for handwriting, even when I have him seated in his special near the board desk - and it was very much 1 letter at a time time looking and writing. The question is, is it a vision thing? Or more? At least now we are on our way to finding out. In terms of your DS2, it is ahrd to know, I think some optoms are more embracing of BO's than others.



See, that is what the RTLB would be able to extablish, or reccomend. It gives support to the child in terms of saying - actually, putting him in that group support situation isn't going to help improve skills there, as he learns best when done in a paired situation etc. They can also do the basic testing (mine has done the dyslexsia thingy with my boy and will do a basic APD and others, which means that if the parents want to spend money getting official testing done more in depth, there is an indication for them as to if the money would be well spent or not).

And even a great onto it teacher benefits from having another professional to talk to. I know wiuth my RTLB i have already been able to say to her tried x with him (which has worked with other kids like him) and didn't work - she can follow that up by checking on a learning area, suggest an alternative or in discussion help me realise that it didn't work because x, y, and z had gone on porior to trying it, so it is worth trying again in different conditions.

This is very interesting re vision. My son has ADP/dyslexia and also last week been diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome( which is a type of visual dyslexia).He still has ADP but we are hoping the lenses will help with his reading and whiteboard work to make the whole dyslexia/ADP easier. He is getting tinted glasses(blue) his vision is 20/20 but with the Irlen tinted glasses he can see so much clearer it is amazing the testing and to actually hear the confidence in his voice reading with and without the glasses in truly nothing short of unbelievable.
I am amazed at the help we are getting for our son her in Aussie. He is on the fastforword programme at school so is taken out of the classroom for 1 hr every day religiously to do the intensive programme to decode his brain, the cost to the school per term is $5000 I think it runs for 3 terms. He is also starting a programme called words there way(I think thats what it is called) that is a intensive programme to so a hour a day and also the school have put a auditory broadcast unit in his classroom. He also gets classroom extra help.All of the intensives are timed around the not so important subjects like library(he gets the last 10mins to borrow the books) italian and assembly ABSOLUTELY AMAZING I feel so lucky we are here in Aussie and it has really delayed any plans we had of coming home to NZ. I feel really sad that NZ kids don't get bugger help in schools and its all a out of pocket expense for the parents if you would like extra help with your child.

Wow, that sounds incredible Hwsh we had those resources to.

Yes,my boy will be checked for Irlen Sndrome too, once they see how the glasses go.

Irlens is checked when you go to a behavioural optometrist. One of the two boys that is as far behind as mine was tested in January and now has fancy blue coloured glasses. I think his parents are taking him to Kip MrGrath to try and catch up. His younger brother just started school last term but they are going to wait until the 6 year net result before they decide whether he needs to be tested as well.

I am in awe of the assistance over there HannahKate. Maybe it's worth risking the snakes, spiders, cane toads and the aussies ;-) to move over. I'm guessing learning italian is a South Australia thing?

I would have thought Ed Psych's ran much the same standardised tests so it wouldn't matter who you went to? there is a list here
http://www.dyslexiafoundation.org.nz/dyslexia_assproviders.html

GG - we see a few reports through the schools, and there is a difference in both the quality of the reports, and the time taken to explain them to parents. Much like the difference between GPs etc, any professionals I guess.

That makes sense I guess. Our report is huge, explaining what each tests is and what it is designed to find, the actual results against the standard and then explains what is needed to get the child to reach the standard. I find it overlong, I'd prefer it more concise, but it is fairly easy to understand.

Our report arrives within 4-5 days but I've heard that some reports can take a month to come back so that might be something to ask about too. A month is a long time to be waiting in limbo.

Our special ed lady has said that we are in the best school and our school offers the most support for dyslexia so we feel very lucky that we choose that school pre diagnosis!!!Re the Italian we are in QLD but go to a catholic school so thats why they learn Italian!!
I found this in my googling about NZ school it has some great info on it in regards to schooling and help within the school. DS old school in NZ is on the list. I found the "adjust" one very interesting and by clicking into the subjects very helpful
http://www.4d.org.nz/school/4d_schools.html

funny, ds's school is listed on that website and they do a great big load of NOTHING for him. gets my hackles up!

was wondering if you wise ladies could give me some advice;
my ds was flagged in an educational assessment a few years ago as having 'dyslexic tendencies'. we took him back for re-testing at the start of the year and we haven't got the full report (don't even get me started) but the raw data from it says that he has dyslexia, they esp flagged maths; but then he got an 8 on his PAT which was one of the best marks in his year group, so i am not sure how those things correlate.

his writing is SHOCKING, it has gotten smaller (yaye, finally!) but he doesn't put spaces between words and half of his letters are back to front etc so impossible to read. was just going over his homework and he was asked to invent a machine and label parts and write about it but i cannot for the life of me read what he has written about it because it is illegible.
for that reason, he started this term with a laptop and i've asked them to teach him to type, which he's been doing pretty well with. and he is seeing a tutor once a week who is running a bunch of her own tests and will fill in the gaps in his knowledge, she seems really onto it so i hope he gets a lot out of it.

what i wanted to know was, what should i be doing with him at home? should i also be making him practice his writing, or will that improve with age, or should i just forget about it, or... what? school is useless, talking to them is like talking around in circles, they are hopeless. getting him to write is like getting blood from a stone so i don't want to do it unless i have to, but will do it if there is some benefit....?? or should we just leave it and focus on typing?

Oh, question: I was reading on a facebook forum page about verbal dyspraxia, and something clicked.. With Iz he has words he can use and alot of the time they are unclear to anyone but us. He has used one or two long sentances and then never again. When we sound words out for him, he can echo it, but it never sounds the way we say it. And (the biggest thing) he seems interested in trying new foods but when he gets to it (and its usually an apple or somesuch) he can put it to his mouth but he cant seem to bite it.

I was wondering if because he has the autism and global delays diagosis, is dyspraxia something they would just not see, and blame all of his 'behaviours' on that? Because some of the things ive seen from him seem to match these.

Im really just asking cos I have no idea, maybe someone here does

Has dysgraphia been mentioned TC? Or a daignosis of any sort?
http://www.speld.org.nz/dysgraphia.htm

IME, there is little point in getting a dyspraxic child to write. It pretty much won't improve. I would work on functional writing - ensure that forms that have to be handwritten can be filled in legibly. Otherwise I would pour teaching time into typing. That is the way most communication is done, and a child with a formal diagnosis is given a reader/writer (depending on needs) at college anyway. Typing ability gives them a written voice of their own.

I think it is appalling that you don't have the full report yet teacup. I guess it is more important to have the part where they give guidance on what strategies his tutor should to use to progress him. But seriously I can't believe you don't have a full report. I think ours was here 6 days after the test last year - I understand that this is not the norm as even the tutor was astounded but I'm told it's usually only a matter of 2-3 weeks. If it's important to you I'd send a written request for a copy of the full report giving a deadline - 7 or 10 days and then complain in writing to whatever professional bodies they belong to.

The maths one is called dyscalculia and we have problems in maths but are not getting any help externally with that. There are only so many million times I can hear/help with/sing the 2 times tables before I go mad. Hopefully the three times tables doesn't take three years.

I'd download typing tutorial software and make him write a couple of sentences each day just for practice and for comparison with future time periods to check for improvement or getting worse and then use the laptop if that is the better option for him. Pretty much agree with what felicis wrote.

Has Iz been to speech therapy?