Throughout my whole time working with Dave, he had always suspected that I may be dyslexic, as I had slight tendencies that hinted towards this. However, it had never been raised as a possibility by school as my academic level wasn’t in the ‘dyslexic band’. I, myself, had never really considered it either as my little sister had been diagnosed fairly young and what she described I didn’t relate to.
Ava, S4
If you have a child who is dyslexic or who is having difficulties which may be due to unidentified dyslexia, then you will be only too aware of the issues that this can cause in school settings. The three basic skills – reading, writing and counting – can be much more challenging for a dyslexic child to master and dyslexia support needs to be put in place to enable them to access the curriculum at an appropriate level. Dyslexia is not a measure of intelligence or ability and indeed, one of the things we would look for are mismatches between a child’s obvious ability to reason and to express themselves and what they are able to read independently or get down on paper.
We also have very close contact with an expert on dyslexia, Moira Thomson. Find out more about her here
In my early years of primary school, I struggled a lot more than my peers, with reading
Mae, S1
especially. It’s not that I couldn’t understand it, it’s just that I couldn’t read it,
So what is dyslexia?
In January 2009, the Scottish Government, Dyslexia Scotland and the Cross Party Group on Dyslexia in the Scottish Parliament agreed on the following working definition:
‘Dyslexia can be describes as a continuum of difficulties in learning to read, write and/or spell, which persist despite the provision of appropriate learning opportunities. These difficulties often do not reflect and individual’s cognitive abilities and may not be typical of performance in other areas.’
He identified my dyslexia almost straight away and helped me when school wouldn’t. He has helped me to discover what learning style is most suited to me. At first writing stories was very hard for me, I couldn’t write more than a few sentences, I had too many things coming to mind, and couldn’t successfully get what was in my head on the page. This was really frustrating, and I felt as though I would never be able write.
Mae, S1
The unfortunate thing is that schools often find it difficult to provide the level of dyslexia support required, mainly due to resources, (both human and material). As we have said elsewhere, this is not a criticism of schools, teachers or of anyone else working in education – it is simply a matter of fact.
Schools often do provide 1-2-1 support on different occasions throughout a school week however, a weekly tutoring session will clearly increase the amount on 1-2-1 time your child has with an educational focus. As we work to build the relationship, we will find out how your child’s dyslexia presents itself, what support is in place and what more we can do to augment this. In some cases, where appropriate, we have worked, through parents, with the school to ‘join up’ the dyslexia support.
I now love writing stories because I feel I am good at it. I hope this shows to every dyslexic that doubts themselves that it is possible, with perseverance and the correct support!
Mae, S1
What is the right support for your dyslexic child?
Dyslexia Scotland make the following suggestions:-
‘Support should take account of the learning styles and individual needs of the child or adult. Sometimes asking the person with dyslexia to suggest solutions to problems can produce simple but effective results. Things that can help are:
• Early identification and provision of appropriate support as soon as possible
• Peer support for help with reading/writing activities
• Use of mind-mapping or flow charts for project management
• Regular tasks and instructions broken down into graphics
• Use of coloured overlays and coloured paper
• Assistive Technology for reading, writing and recording of information. It is important to remember that everyone with dyslexia is different and that they will not necessarily experience all of the things above. Everyone has different strengths, difficulties and strategies that work for them.’
If your child is dyslexic, or you think he or she may be dyslexic, then we would urge you to take action as soon as possible.
‘Unidentified, dyslexia can result in low self-esteem, stress, behavioural problems, and underachievement. But with the right support, children and adults with dyslexia can reach their potential. Learners with dyslexia will benefit from early identification, appropriate intervention and targeted effective teaching.’ – Dyslexia Scotland
It is unfortunate that often, by the time there is recognition or diagnosis, many negative effects can already have taken hold. A child who is bright and articulate will be aware that his or her friends can do things that they cannot and this can result in low self-esteem and underachievement. A child will often have developed coping or avoidance strategies in order to get through a school day. These can include helpful friends, avoiding drawing any attention to themselves and even exhibiting behavioural problems as a means of deflecting from their difficulties. It can be highly frustrating for a dyslexic child in school.
Dave encouraged me more recently to go and get an educational assessment due to me approaching my national 5’s this year and to my surprise I was found to be severally dyslexic alongside having visual stress. This diagnosis has changed my school life completely and I finally feel like I can perform to my fullest in school, ultimately entitling me to extra time for my exams!
Ava S4
We would recommend that, if you have not already done so, that you visit the Dyslexia Scotland website
Particularly helpful links within the website may be
‘The earlier a child’s skills and difficulties are identified, the better it is for the learning and development of that pupil. This is particularly relevant for the core skills of reading, writing and maths.’
Dysguise
Dysguise offer private dyslexia assessments in Edinburgh. We cannot assess the extent of your child’s dyselxia however, Dysguise officially can. We can recognise the signs of dyslexia and raise a discussion about it, but we at Chambers Tutoring will legally be unable to provide an official assessment and diagnosis.
Dave has been more than supportive with my diagnosis and has made me fully aware about what I am entitled to in school. I am so grateful to have had this educational support and I would say to anyone struggling that it will get better, you’re not the only one even though it may feel like it sometimes.
Ava, S4
Please get in touch to discuss your child’s needs and how we can help with tailored 1-to-1 dyslexia support sessions that start from where your child is in their learning.