Dyslexia Support in schools

sophianicholas

I would like to know about personal experiences people have on support schools might provide to your dyslexic child. No need to mentioned school names.

My child is in secondary school. The school is given her support in the three hours every oneelse does Irish, but I have the feeling that is not properly orientated to the difficulties she has. My feeling is that the support she is given is by teachers that need to cover hours.

I kind of think the school has not teachers with dyslexic support experience, but I do not know how to handle my feelings against what the school says.

Also if anybody knows what I can do myself to help her : reading material for me on the subject, resources I could use, external help of some short.

spurious

Moving this to Teaching and Lecturing, where I think it will get more responses.

solerina

This is very common, most schools do not have anyone trained specially to help children with SEN, let along specifically with Dyslexia. I would say if you mention the issue to the school it will get you nowhere, there are probably no trained staff available so nothing can be done. In my school there is one person trained to assist student with SEN and she has no SEN hours on her TT.

paddybarry

sophianicholas wrote: »

I would like to know about personal experiences people have on support schools might provide to your dyslexic child. No need to mentioned school names.

My child is in secondary school. The school is given her support in the three hours every oneelse does Irish, but I have the feeling that is not properly orientated to the difficulties she has. My feeling is that the support she is given is by teachers that need to cover hours.

I kind of think the school has not teachers with dyslexic support experience, but I do not know how to handle my feelings against what the school says.

Also if anybody knows what I can do myself to help her : reading material for me on the subject, resources I could use, external help of some short.

Hope this helps
https://www.sess.ie/categories/specific-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/tips-learning-and-teaching

Pinkycharm

We've one teacher who does a lot of resource but we've a team for SEN. All our kids with dyslexia have iPads- rest of the students don't and it actually works well. The iPad reads the book to them or they can magnify writing. I know one of my kids has an app on his that shortens the book (I think) into the main points. They can type their homework and print it in school the next morning, they've access to a wireless printer or some teachers accept by email. Some qualify for a laptop so there is an ICT class where they practice typing notes in a particular subject and make presentations on topics. They get the general help with resource hours then outside of this.

evolving_doors

Here's a small booklet which acts as a starting-point!
http://ncse.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pamphlaet-8-SLD-01_09_14.pdf
Maybe have a think about talking to the SENO before the school id you want any advice or an advocate. They can be quite busy now so expect some delays.

The strategies linked above by paddybarry are pretty comprehensive (how to get the teachers to use them though is another question).
Seeing as we're talking about it on another thread, you could request a meeting with a yearhead or tutor and say you want to know how your child is getting on in class. Maybe suggest that before you meet them the yearhead could get a few points from the teachers about how they are coping with their dyslexia in class as they are concerned about it at home. If anything it'll raise a bit of awareness amongst the teachers and filter to the learning support teachers too.

In terms of the allocated hours, this is an old chestnut, the hours are sometimes use to fill up any teachers timetable. But going by the dept. guidelines (can't find a link) it's supposed to focus on numeracy and literacy... so in an ideal world it'd be a Maths teacher and an English teacher.

Maths - Focus on the language in some of the 'real world' problems, they can be a real obstacle for some students with Dyslexia when they don't know what the question is asking.
English - Planning to approach a question, use of mind maps to consolidate texts studied (visual memory aids rather than text).

It's probably a bit late in the year now, but definitely make it known that you're not happy (but appreciate the help!). First port of call might be to find out who is the Learning Support coordinator / Year head and get the ball rolling for next year. Quite often the Learning Support has no say over timetables so maybe knock on the deputy principal's door and query the timetable for next year if that's the case.

byhookorbycrook

Is there a school support plan in place for her?There should be- this will have targets based on her specific needs. You should have been involved in setting it up- -as should your daughter- so I'd imagine it hasn't been done. I'd be approaching the school now with a view to setting one up for next year.

For resources I'd absolutely recommend a book called Toe By Toe, it's excellent. For yourself, join the Dyslexia Assoc. of Ireland, they are very helpful.

Will she be entitled to a reader and/or a scribe for exams?