Dyslexia and CEM again, aargh.

[Aethel]

My lovely DD2 did a mock CEM this weekend for me. This was purely for familiarity with being in an exam hall, having proper timed sections, keeping going for two papers to see how it felt. She has quite marked dyslexia (v high innate intelligence in top few % on NVR but low average reading speed and writing speed of 60)

Got the results of the mock and her cohort marks were v low, even her NVR was only 55% when usually she does very well at them. She told me the issue was mostly with running out of time in each section despite trying to ensure she didn't get bogged down. She did at least mark something for every question and was careful
Not to get out of line.

I am telling myself not to read too much into this!!! She had no extra time/concessions, was sitting against the tutored minority, her sister who was successful last year didn't do v well at this point...but part of me is very worried that I am setting her up for a huge fall and putting her through too much for nothing by doing this, even with the low-pressure DIY version we are doing. And it's making me worry that the pace of a grammar will be too much, even if she did get through. It's the huge time pressure that seems to be the problem.

Please can someone reassure me that dyslexic but bright children really can be catered for in Grammar, or say something reassuing about the fact I'm putting her in! Does extra time (we're waiting to hear) really make enough of a difference to give them a chance?
We really think she'll enjoy the intellectual stimulation of a grammar, it just frustrates me that the test is so one-sided and speed obsessed. What a system!

[Tinkers]

I suspect it's like any SEN, some schools will handle it better than others.

I do have a friend with a dyslexic DD at a GS and they were the ones to actually diagnosed it as primary school had been rubbish at helping her. She has been well looked after there.

[quasimodo]

There have been discussions about dyslexia and children in grammar schools in the past.This is one discussion.

https://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum ... 40&t=17530" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Aethel]

Thanks... i have already checked with the local GSs and ifentified two who seem to have sensible, sympathetic SEN support (and more importantly,the one that pretends SEN doesn't affect their pupils, and overtly cut-and-pastes their SEN policy on the school website, so as to make it obvious it's not a priority.)

I think I'm just frustrated that my child may not be able to show her potential due to the test structure/ CEM time pressure. Or maybe that's just a way of filtering out children who are slow readers. GS is meant to be about selecting intellectually capable children, but a heavily drilled and less intelligent child may get a better score than an intelligent yet dyslexic one. I've even booked her in for a visual stress test (yes, I know Irlen syndrome is scientifically controversial) just in case that is inpacting on her reading speed. Sigh.

The plus side is we have a decent non-selective backup. Which is not our first choice, but would be OK I think.

[monochromecat]

Our daughter has just got Irlen glasses and they do make a big difference to her, however her tests showed she didn't have dyslexia so Irlens seems to be mainly responsible. There is some evidence too that there are differences in the brain between people with Irlens and without. I think that the controversy is more whether the lenses work and how they work. However it works - even if just placebo it seems to help our daughter. Whether it is enough to counteract the years of struggling to read we will have to see. Fortunately as she has used overlays for some time we were able to get the glasses quite quickly and she wears them all the time. They help with so much more than just reading. Good luck to you and your daughter. I always reckon that the 11 plus isn't aiming to actually accurately select the top x%, it is aiming to select children who can probably cope at a grammar school.

[thirdtimemum]

Hi. Goodness me , I could have wrote your post! I am in exactly the same position as your child. The only difference is that my daughter's reading speed is 'average ' and because of this they have refused her extra time. I just going to pop a new thread on now as I really don't know what to do next. Have you been allowed your extra time??

[Aethel]

Hi Firsttime, we're waiting to hear re extra time from both Berks and Bucks (we live on the border). My DD also has a just-below-average reading speed, but there's a huge discrepency between her NVR ability (high) and her writing speed and phoneme manipulation (low).
I have to be realistic that if she can't make it through she may be better off being top set at the local non-selective rather than struggling at the grammar... we shall see. If she is denied extra time and narrowly misses out I'll have to appeal (grimace). I just want her to have a fair chance at it...

[Aethel]

Update... we have been granted extra time in Berkshire... waiting to hear from bucks (who I know are very stringent). At least I feel she'll have a better chance, and given the info we provided to them both is virtually identical, hopefully she'll get extra time in Bucks too...have to just keep plugging away little and often and see...