excellent idea for homework

So Aidan normally has relatively boring homework, but for a change I loved this one, any thing ( even if its daft) that gets them thinking about reading is good in my book!

 

So the brief was to read a book in the oddest place you could think of ( with the caution that it must be safe). Aidan wanted to do it up a tree, but the heavy snow put a stop to that idea, so instead he came up with the idea to read in the rabbit run.

I am looking forward to getting into the school some time soon and seeing the other kids photos. Love it!

Heading into school, the possible start of yet another fight

Aidan can not read very well, he struggles to concentrate, and he knows how far he is behind his peers, he is very intelligent and must spend large parts of each day bored silly in class.

However he has always willingly headed out the door to school every day, not a whinge, moan or question. We have never been through any kind of issue where he tries to skive or get out of school. His attitude has always been exceptional, he tries hard at school and tries to follow instructions.

Despite his problems I think all of his previous teachers loved having him, and would fight to teach him again. This may all sound like "proud mother syndrome", but he really is beyond great.

I could actually count the number of times he has been told off by a teacher over the last 6 years on one hand. I get regular stories of his friends losing their golden time or getting multiple detentions, but never from him.

Sadly this has all started to change, over the last couple of months he regularly moans about being bored in class. He will do anything to get time out of school, he just seems to no longer get any joy out of even the subjects he once loved. In fact over the last few weeks he has come home with more and more stories of the teacher telling him off, or telling him he is not trying hard enough.

I am not a mum that goes rushing into the school over every little issue, but sadly after talking to him I think its time to go in for a little chat. I don't have a problem with his teacher I am sure she is great, but she does not seem to understand him or "get" the extra input that he needs.

So watch this space to see what happens next.....

So hard to hear, that word severe

At the DRT today I was talking to Dr Sue about my impression that the school don't seem to think that Aidan has too much of a problem. In particular I mentioned that recently they were explaining that his reading level was roughly age appropriate.

I don't really understand dyslexia and I kind of always thought that Aidan had a very mild dose of it. I know he finds the reading, writing, spelling, coordination, concentration and organisation things all a struggle, but he seems to get on so well.

The lovely Dr Sue gave me a little shock by saying that he has very severe dyslexia, I am not sure why this is such a shock to hear. I am not stupid, and I know his dyslexia will never just go away, as much as I would love for it to bugger off. However hearing it classified as severe is still something to take in.

We have some movement......

Its the first day back and I have the SENCO on the phone before lunch time calling me, how exciting. Firstly the usual stupid special needs thing that all the paperwork we filled out ( which she double checked was the right thing to do with the Ed Psych helpline) was sent back, as they want to assess if he needs to see them directly. Its great to cut out the middle man, but actually telling people you are doing this is a good idea.

So it turns out that she has spoken to the Ed Psych team and already booked the assessment in for him. Now get this, due to a catchment area issue they should not see him till the end of Feb, she persuaded them to let him go to another catchment areas session and has got him an appointment on the 4th Feb.

Its time to gather up all the info and evidence of how he is doing into one place, and to try and make it clear to the Ed Psych that he needs more support.

I am still none the wiser what an Ed Psych actually really does, but the SENCO asked a special needs inspector and they also couldn't define the role, so go figure.

I have not yet heard from lovely new OT, but she obviously spoke to the SENCO when she assessed Aidan a few days before Christmas. It sounds like she thinks Aidan still needs a lot of support and is setting up a new program for the school and has some suggestions for special pens and cutlery to help him.

It feels like we are making progress, but I am terrified that its too little to actually make a real difference. He still struggles so much :-(