Dyslexia

[blondie]

Our son has dyslexia. It was not picked up at his local primary school in Sydney. It wasn't until year 7 at his new high school (private) that we asked for the speech pathologist to please see him and complete an assessment. She came back with auditory processing disorder, we thought OK, now what are the school going to do to help. The answer ? .... a big fat zero. The only assistance available is regular appointment with the speech pathologist at stupid money per hour !!

 

This is not an isolated incident, if your child has dyslexia they will not receive the kind of support that is offered in UK schools. You will have to look for a dyslexia tutor outside of school, it will be expensive and hard to find. I have spoken to british dyslexic tutors who work here, who have long waiting lists and who all, without fail, have been appalled at the lack of recognition and support of dyslexic students.

 

This is just a heads up for anyone who is thinking of moving here and their child requires that extra help.

 

The emphasis is very much on the gifted and talented kids.

[Que Sera Sera]

My OH has Dyslexia , his wasn't picked up until he was at college in the UK. He had no help at all but has managed full and well, got his skills and has had no negative impact here or in the UK.

[VERYSTORMY]

I have to agree. <br>I am dyslexic and did not even know until I was in my early 20's. But UK schools are now very geared to it and have a great set of procedures in place. <br>While in oz I have found it is woeful and even worse at university level. At uni level I have found it varies between no idea of what it is to "oh that". Compared to the UK where I was given a multi thousand grant for specialist equipment, a fibre optic line put between my home and the department, several thousand in software and a department that made massive changes for dyslexics. <br><br>

[JockinTas]

My son is dyslexic. He went to a state school and was given a lot of help from primary school onward. He needed special tinted glasses, extra time for exams and exam papers printed on green paper. Perhaps he wasn't as bad as some dyslexics. He was given special consideration at uni (extra time) and coped fine.

[Que Sera Sera]

Our son has dyslexia. It was not picked up at his local primary school in Sydney. It wasn't until year 7 at his new high school (private) that we asked for the speech pathologist to please see him and complete an assessment. She came back with auditory processing disorder, we thought OK, now what are the school going to do to help. The answer ? .... a big fat zero. The only assistance available is regular appointment with the speech pathologist at stupid money per hour !!

 

This is not an isolated incident, if your child has dyslexia they will not receive the kind of support that is offered in UK schools. You will have to look for a dyslexia tutor outside of school, it will be expensive and hard to find. I have spoken to british dyslexic tutors who work here, who have long waiting lists and who all, without fail, have been appalled at the lack of recognition and support of dyslexic students.

 

This is just a heads up for anyone who is thinking of moving here and their child requires that extra help.

 

The emphasis is very much on the gifted and talented kids.

I also don't agree that the emphasis is on the gifted and talented, sorry but the vast majority don't get into it. My son did but I didn't like the school so went private instead. It sounds like you are moving back to the UK and justifying your reasons. All fine and good but maybe don't try and scare everybody. The school I was going to send my son to in the GATE, was not for us, but I've two friends who have sent their Autistic children there and rave about it. Different children different requirements . Speech therapy seems to be quite common here too. Are you on a PR visa or a tempory one?

Edited February 7, 2015 by Que Sera, Sera

[Stacy053]

Not directly related to this post, however I have recently come across a font designed especially to help dyslexic people. I hope I am allowed to post a link (I have no affiliation) http://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/. I am am not, google 'dyslexic font'

[blossom]

Our son has dyslexia. It was not picked up at his local primary school in Sydney. It wasn't until year 7 at his new high school (private) that we asked for the speech pathologist to please see him and complete an assessment. She came back with auditory processing disorder, we thought OK, now what are the school going to do to help. The answer ? .... a big fat zero. The only assistance available is regular appointment with the speech pathologist at stupid money per hour !!

 

This is not an isolated incident, if your child has dyslexia they will not receive the kind of support that is offered in UK schools. You will have to look for a dyslexia tutor outside of school, it will be expensive and hard to find. I have spoken to british dyslexic tutors who work here, who have long waiting lists and who all, without fail, have been appalled at the lack of recognition and support of dyslexic students.

 

This is just a heads up for anyone who is thinking of moving here and their child requires that extra help.

 

The emphasis is very much on the gifted and talented kids.

 

Times may have changed, but that was how is was when I was diagnosed in school (UK). My parents had to pay for private tutors. Personally I'm not totally convinced the diagnosis was correct in the first place, but that was the school picking it up.

[newjez]

To be honest we didn't get a lot of help in the UK. Extra time was a god send. But we paid for tutors ourselves. There was some remedial work done, but they didn't seem to differentiate between dyslexic kids and dysfunctional kids.

[Bob1]

From the Australian Dyslexic Association website - Dyslexia is recognised in Australian under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and under the Human Rights Commission. The issue with schools is that dyslexia needs to be recognised under the special needs section in every Education Act in Australia for additional funding as is the case with NSW.The Australian Working Party have produced an excellent document "Helping People with Dyslexia: A National Agenda" which outlines key recommendations.

The ADA supports this worthwhile document and the governments written response to the working party clearly states that dyslexia is a recognised disability in Australia.

 

My son is dyslexic, identified in Year 2, received addition modifications in Primary. learning support in High School, use of a laptop from Year 8, extra time in all exams including NAPLAN, now at Uni where he also receives additional time in exams and for assignments. Star quoting the DDA if you get no joy.

[blondie]

I think its horses for courses ... my experience has been negative, time consuming and very expensive. I hear of good schools and woefully bad ones. We live in Sydney and I have met many mothers who could just weep with the frustration of trying to help their kids in school. It was not my intention to scare anybody. My reasons for returning to the UK are numerous, I don't need to justify it. I know that in the UK I could send my son to a specialist dyslexia school and I can't here ... simple.

[blondie]

From the Australian Dyslexic Association website - Dyslexia is recognised in Australian under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and under the Human Rights Commission. The issue with schools is that dyslexia needs to be recognised under the special needs section in every Education Act in Australia for additional funding as is the case with NSW.The Australian Working Party have produced an excellent document "Helping People with Dyslexia: A National Agenda" which outlines key recommendations.

The ADA supports this worthwhile document and the governments written response to the working party clearly states that dyslexia is a recognised disability in Australia.

 

My son is dyslexic, identified in Year 2, received addition modifications in Primary. learning support in High School, use of a laptop from Year 8, extra time in all exams including NAPLAN, now at Uni where he also receives additional time in exams and for assignments. Star quoting the DDA if you get no joy.

Thats fantastic for your son and so pleased to hear it has worked for him. However, I was told by the speech pathologist that works at my sons school that there is no such thing as Dyslexia anymore, they prefer to use the term auditory processing disorder !! My son is year 9, I don't have the time to take on the school and system.

[engaus]

I know a child in the UK going through the exact same issues. School couldn't give a toss about him - wasn't diagnosed until he was in his teens and they used to just deal with him by sending him to detention!

 

I also know of several children that suffered from dyslexia when I was at a private school in melbourne - they had an entire department dedicated to children with issues such as dyslexia. Can't comment on Sydney though!

[Mattwi]

Sorry - but that sounds like complete bollocks to me - which school and what year are we talking here?

[Amber Snowball]

44 minutes ago, Mattwi said:

Sorry - but that sounds like complete bollocks to me - which school and what year are we talking here?

This thread is over 3 years old. Maybe things have improved.

[Mattwi]

Sorry, I was  just researching... planning to head back ... but oldest daughter 11 has been diagnosed quite severely dyslexic after two years of pathway assessments here in the UK.

I hope you are right, if no support over there...kinda stuck here!

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Mattwi said:

Sorry, I was  just researching... planning to head back ... but oldest daughter 11 has been diagnosed quite severely dyslexic after two years of pathway assessments here in the UK.

I hope you are right, if no support over there...kinda stuck here!

Much will come down to the school quite possibly. Some schools can offer  more support, others not so much. I know kids who have changed schools for similar reasons as not enough support at the first school, but much better facilities and support at another and the kids are doing really well. 

Do your homework, research schools in the area you are looking to head to and see what they can and do offer and how it all works re being assessed, having a professional diagnosis etc. 

[Sammy1]

Unfortunately, dyslexia is still not adequately supported in a number of public schools (in my state at least). It's not what I am supposed to say, but it is the truth.

Schools certainly have education assistants who have been funded to work with individual children, however, the truth is that they are used with a number of children in the class who do not receive funding - the parents of course do not know this. Classes are too big and teachers overstretched with a growing number of special needs students without support.

The training of new teachers does not adequately address dyslexia. The result is that we have young grads with no idea or even support from their administrators. Teachers spend more and more time on paperwork and the collection of data, rather than being able to do their jobs and teach.

 

[Quoll]

Unfortunately, dyslexia is still not adequately supported in a number of public schools (in my state at least). It's not what I am supposed to say, but it is the truth.
Schools certainly have education assistants who have been funded to work with individual children, however, the truth is that they are used with a number of children in the class who do not receive funding - the parents of course do not know this. Classes are too big and teachers overstretched with a growing number of special needs students without support.
The training of new teachers does not adequately address dyslexia. The result is that we have young grads with no idea or even support from their administrators. Teachers spend more and more time on paperwork and the collection of data, rather than being able to do their jobs and teach.
 

Quite agree. AFAIK no state allocates disability funding for dyslexia and it’s very much up to the school how they use additional resources to support special other groups.

As an inability to learn to read can be due to any one of a number of reasons it does take a special teacher to have the skill to find out what works for individual kids and the new graduates, as Sammy said, don’t have much, if any, special training and I hate to say it but teaching doesn’t always attract the best and brightest candidates (there are exceptional teachers but, sadly, not the bulk of them!)

[Mattwi]

Thank you  to all for taking the time to respond. Alas, your thoughts seem to back up my own research fairly well.

Here in the UK, I cannot fault the support ( at least one teaching assistant supporting  the teacher full time in every class - x2 in Laura's  class as one of the kids is deaf ) she has had in junior school - and it seems that support will continue into secondary school too. It's quite amazing really, considering the dire state of the rest of services in UK. What does everybody do then? I mean  a % of Aussies have dyslexia too?! It seems crazy that our decision not move back to Australia will be decided by this!

[starlight7]

I think it all depends where you live and that is not the best state of affairs. There seems to be no uniformity at all.  Round where I live I believe there is quite a bit of support but in other areas, particularly some of the rural and outer suburbs, there seems to be nothing at all.

[benj1980]

I worked as a SENCO in the UK and now have the same position in a WA school. Support can be provided for students, it would be limited and you couldn't expect one to one support as dyslexia doesn't bring in funding. This is no different to the UK I might add, I'd be very surprised if your daughter had an TA in every lesson at a secondary school unless there was a child/children with higher needs and ultimately provided funding. I would say that UK schools are a little more advanced with their knowledge of dyslexia and how to support students, perhaps due to the fear of OFSTED analysing their data! The key to dyslexia support is understanding what it is and using strategies in the classroom which accommodate all students. Extra time will be provided in exams like the UK. Good schools in Australia will support your daughter. Bring this up at the enrolment interview etc. I would certainly do your research on schools, it sounds like you have already done this for her secondary school in the UK so why wouldn't you?