Hi NT10
Firstly, I have to agree with Guest 55, you do have a difficult task ahead.
Secondly, Maths is affected by dyslexia- far more than is generally recognised. .
You do not say whether your child has an Educational Psychologist assessment to identify dyslexia. To gauge whether your child is dyslexic and to what degree, some formal assessments should have been undertaken. You should have received a report from the specialist service who diagnosed your child. Make sure you understand fully these reports and the results. They should identify your child’s strengths and weaknesses and ideally give an I.Q. or banded level of achievement.
Half of the population have IQ’s of between 90 and 110, while 25% have higher IQ’s and 25% have lower IQ’s:
IQ Description % of Population
130+ Very superior 2.2%
120-129 Superior 6.7%
110-119 High average 16.1%
90-109 Average 50%
80-89 Low average 16.1%
70-79 Borderline 6.7%
Below 70 Extremely low 2.2%
The higher your child’s ability, the greater your chance of success. Your son is clearly bright as reflected by his NVR score, what you will need to demonstrate is why the Maths was so low and why he is nonetheless suitable for grammar.
Dyslexia or SEN does not preclude children from attending Grammar:
This link gives stats of children on individual school roll and no of children with SEN who are supported at KS4 at School Action Plus (SAP) and School action (SA)
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetable ... s_06.shtml
Select your region and look up the school you are appealing for to get the exact stats.
How is Maths affected? Basically, short term memory problems can cause difficulty with retaining information, comprehension may be immediate but methods of problem solving may not be retained. Difficulty with the ‘language’ of maths can occur also. Dyslexics learn by concept rather than by rote, this is how memory problems are overcome. Basic mathematical functions may be understood but the method forgotten, (my daughter cannot sometimes remember basics such as how to do long division or say the formula for volume) difficulties with sequencing affects times tables – see this link for section of DFES document on Dyslexia relating to Maths
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/readwriteplus/un ... fectmaths/
Regarding “reasonable adjustments” to have a case under the DDA, your child needs to be covered by the Act. Reports, correspondence from medical practitioners or LEA specialist teaching service identifying areas of difficulty will help support a claim under the DDA.
However, you will not only need to prove that additional time should have been given but that this would have enabled your child to display his/her true potential and you will have to demonstrate this. Again study your reports carefully to see if there is any supporting evidence here as to what your child’s ability is.
You do not state if any intervention has been given to support your child in remedying the difficulties identified by the LEA specialist service, if so it seems strange that concessions were not applied for. If no support has been given then, given that his difficulties have been identified then you have to question strongly why no remedial action has taken place.
If you feel that your supporting documentation is weak then you may wish to consider an Educational Psychologist assessment of your own. Bear in mind that they are expensive, are often seen as overkill, and you may not be able to obtain one in time for your appeal hearing. If you do want to go ahead, EP details available on :
http://www.bps.org.uk/e-services/find-a ... oindex.cfm
Any more question just ask..
Good Luck
HP