dyspraxic children

Advice on Special Needs and the 11 Plus Exams

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HP
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:06 pm

Post by HP »

Hi Dyspraxic Mum,

My son who is severely dyspraxic is still only 9. My eldest daughter who is also dyspraxic and dyslexic too sat the selective exam for the Herts Consortium last year and gained a place at her first ranked school. She did have 25% extra time. I supplied an Educational Psychologist report which highlighted her processing difficulties and an Occupational Therapist report which highlighted her difficulties with handwriting. Ironically, it was my son's occupational therapist who advised me on how to go about doing this otherwise we would not have known how to apply for extra time. Our State primary school didn't recognise my daughter as having special needs :shock:

Re your private health, first consultation should certainly be covered on medical health insurance if you are seeking a diagnosis of a condition.

Have a look on www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk which lists common symptons as it may list some that your son has but that you wouldn't think of as being significant.

Be aware that insurance companies won't usually cover ongoing treatment for anything it considers developmental and that other names for dyspraxia include Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD), Perceptuo-Motor Dysfunction, and Motor learning Difficulties.

Also, you say that you are going for a hearing test tomorrow. His hearing could well be within normal limits. Ask about Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) and see if your audiologist has the facility to test for this or can advise where your son could be tested. Also the Audiologist may be able to refer you to a paediatrician , so make sure you raise this tomorrow.

Good Luck.

HP
Dyspraxic mum

dyspraxic children

Post by Dyspraxic mum »

Hi Hp,
Thankyou so much for all your valuable information. We have just got back from the hearing test, it was today, and as you have so rightly said, his hearing is perfectly normal, but she has referred him for the Auditory perception test, as she feels he has a problem in that area. She thinks this will be in 6 weeks time due to the waiting list. Frustrating that it is so long away, but at least I feel now Im getting somewhere. I will look through the Dyspraxia site you have given me, and look for the symptoms my son seems to have.Thank you.
Thankyou too Sarah for your info from what the Grammar Schools have said.
Dyspraxic Mum
HP
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:06 pm

Post by HP »

Hi Dyspraxic Mum

6 wks is pretty good - we've waited 6 months before now :cry:

BTW can't see if you've mentioned what year your son is in, when is he due to sit the 11+?

HP
HP
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:06 pm

Post by HP »

Hi Patricia,

Thank you for the wonderful link re SATS - very useful

HP
Dyspraxic mum

dyspraxic children

Post by Dyspraxic mum »

Hi HP,
I feel pretty good then that its only 6 weeks! My son is in yr 6 and has already sat his 11+. Im just concerned over the time element, as he has said that in the 1st paper, he had to leave 6 out as he ran out of time, and for the 2nd paper had to gues the last 7 very quickly as they had 1 min left. He struggles with time over everything, thats why I was questioning the time element etc, and for this reason possibly having a scriber for him for his SATS.Soon as results etc are through, then its head back down with work for SATS, and helping him through all that.!
HP
Posts: 438
Joined: Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:06 pm

Post by HP »

Hi Dyspraxic Mum

Sounds as though he did ok to be honest. My daughter left 6 on her VR paper even with extra time :o

Have you looked at the link from Patricia re concessions for exams - outlines everything that you need to know for SATs.

When are your results due. Do you have to wait until 1 March or do you find out if you've passed the 11+ earlier - oops sorry I mean if your son has passed (though it does feels as though we are sitting them too :) )

HP
Guest

Post by Guest »

Hi again.Regarding a scribe for SATS (my son is in year 5) and I have started requesting this for next year but have been told that the school has to prove that this his normal working method (Also allpunctuation must be scribed too) - he should be so lucky as his achievement whilst below the average in literacy is not bad enough for him to be statemented so resources are thin on the ground, I have made the point strongly this year that the hand eye coordination difficulties are a physical disability and therefore the school must do everything it can so that he can access the curriculm,we have now got some transcribing help - but as you probabely know it is sometimes not even possible for my son to read what he has written, his teachers are on his side and are encouraging him to write what he thinks and not be too concerned how it looks as it can be transcribed, this has resulted in him using fantastic vocab - if mis spelt but this measures his mental ability not just his very poor handwriting a real boost to his confidence - a Ican do this attitude - surely the most important thing. I wish you and your son every success and hope that whatever school he goes to they recognise the hidden talents that dyspraxia masks. I can put you in touch with a brillant NHS optomotrist specialising in visual processing difficulties to add some weight to your quest.
Dyspraxic mum

dyspraxic children

Post by Dyspraxic mum »

Hello HP and Guest,
We get the 11+ results on the 24th Novemebr, so only 3 weeks to wait!!and YES it does feel like Ive been sitting them. This has been the most stressfull time of my life. To think I may have to go through it all again with my younger one makes me want to puull my hair out!!
Thankyou Guest for your valuble information, it is such a struggle to get schools to recognise problems and I feel it so unfair that they are teaching our kids 5 days a week and should see the problems more than us, and dont do anything about it unless really pushed with hard evidence from GPs professionals etc that we have to pay for, when they should be qualified enough to see there is a problem and then put us in the right direction to get it sorted out, not brush it under the carpet which is how I feel my sons school is doing. What makes it worse is that I am actually paying for his education as hes in private school.If you can pass on the optomotrist details that would be great.
sen

Post by sen »

I have read a number of parents here who have children with SEN who think that their child would not be given a statement because their IQ is too high or that their academic ability is not low enough to warrant additional help. I would like to point out that a statement is put in place not only for academic reasons but for social skills and for additional improvements to aid access to the curriculum.

Children who are having problems at school, of whatever nature, should apply for a statutory assessment for a statement and if they are turned down, and the parents are not satisfied, they should appeal.

A child cannot be denied a statement purely on the grounds of their IQ. Parents who want further help or information should visit the IPSEA website.
Greta

Post by Greta »

I agree entirely with the comments above. We were constantly told by the school that our son was "too good" to be formally assessed and have a statement as he has always been above average and achieved level 5's in SATS in year 5. But the SEN code of practice is clear that achievment in tests alone should not be seen as a reason not to assess / statement. When our son was finally assessed the local service professionals (EP and OT) were in full agreement with us.
I think the problem is more at the school level - they see a child who is keeping up in tests and therefore assume any difficulties can't be that bad. I also found it frustrating that the people who see him 5 days a week didn't seem to see the problems for what they were... but I also realised after he was assessed that the teachers had no understanding of the assessment reports - they didn't understand the terms used and I had to explain them to them. In the end we paid for the OT to come into school and speak to the staff.
I guess to be fair, teachers are just that, they are teachers and not therapists. It just took me a while to recognise how limited their knoweldge of these types of disabilities was!
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