MadMuvva

Hello

I have been told it is more than likely my son has dyslexia. He is 7 years old and in P2. We are going to have another meeting with the school. He currently gets half an hour a week extra shared with 3 other boys, which is nowhere near what he needs. I am going to find out about extra tuition.

Does anyone know (roughly) how things like this are treated in Australia and what provision there is for kids with additional needs. Your own experiences are useful! My hubby who is Aussie, also has it (hereditary) but was treated like an idiot when he was at school in Australia and put in remedial class etc. This is 20-30 years ago and attitudes like that were probably just as commonplace in the UK as Australia. I'm not sure if I can afford private tuition in Australia so keen to find out what state provision there is.

Many thanks

MadMuvva

Hello

One of my children is currently under CAMHS (child and adolescent mental health services). They are looking at Attention Deficit Disorder type problems. Not sure if it's that for sure or whether she will grow out of it. It's a very long process and may never get a diagnosis. However, I am wondering what provision there is down under? Does anyone have experience of this?

Thanks

Damson

Would also be interested in this as my son is currently being assessed for very mild ADD and I don't know if Melbourne would have any better provisions than the UK. Thanks

MadMuvva

my other post is about ADD! My daughter being assessed too.

roaringmouse

From previous threads on this kind of stuff, broadly speaking the support isn't that good in schools. You might be lucky in finding a school that has someone with a good understanding on how to approach additional needs, but the feeling on the whole is it will be difficult.

Extra tuition is something you may need to look into and pay for.

moneypenny20

I've merged them. Anyone with any info will be able to cover both. Good luck with it. From what I've read on here, support is thin on the ground. You could do a search, there have been stacks of threads on the subject. It'll keep you going until people with current info come along.

Jaycee1

I work in Seaford, Victoria in a primary school and funding that would be thrown at you in the UK is just not given even to the most needy here.
To be honest its unbelievable what the government get away with and disgusts me that kids are just expected to struggle along and that teachers get no support.
I do not know any child who gets help for dyslexia. We have kids with extreme low IQ and borderline special school who get only basic funding of about 12 hours a week. You should see the hoops that have to be jumped through to get that. We did have a reading recovery teacher just working with year 1-2 kids to boost reading but she left they did not replace her.
I do know that in the UK from the area we lived in your son would have got about 6-10 hours a week eventually and additional for transition to secondary as we worked with the special needs team/statementing and funding officers for the borough there. If he was severe you could have applied for a statement that clarified his needs and school would have to provide what is written in the statement.
Any other questions just ask or message me.

There is no nice way to say this, but Australia are against allowing children with some additional needs as they cost the government. If you use the search facility above and search for ADD or ADHD this might help.
There are families who got visas and their children had the above diagnosis but it depends on their needs and how they will be in the future.
Once in the system in the UK the local additional needs team would provide a report for your application.
I work with additional needs children and as I have said above its a lottery of who gets funding. As in the Uk if you have a diagnosis or need then school is provided with funding. Its not like that where I am at all. I did support a boy with severe behaviour disorder, ADHD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Autism and he got 20 hours a week school provided the rest of the support as he could not be left alone. There is no inbetween place here its either mainstream or special and special only take children with an IQ of lower than 70.
This is how it is where I am. My friend is in Perth and worked in a base attached to a mainstream school for kids with Autism not sure if there are any other provisions elsewhere in Australia though.
Anything else just ask.

quoll

CAMHS wont be interested unless a child is suicidal basically and, even then, they dont like them that young.

Dyslexia isnt a mental health condition and will not attract funding from anyone - certainly not disability funding (neither will ADHD)

Schools usually have some "remedial" funding to meet the needs of the bulk of kids who dont fall into the disability "bucket" (bottom 2 - 3%) and it is up to the school as to how those resources are deployed. Some schools have Reading Recovery for year 1 kids but then random group stuff for the older kids.

Aatjjj

i dont agree with this my autistic son saw CAMHS for ages and he was not even that bad, also my friend whos son is selective mute sees them regularly....what makes you say this?

quoll

Experience. Having had kids turned away because they didnt fit the profile for service. Possibly because they couldnt get practitioners to fill their vacancies and other states may have better coverage

Dyslexia is not a mental health condition so unless the child were in extremis because of their condition, CAMHS wouldnt see that child as a relevant client.

eddie007

Gorgeous recieved no support in school for his dyslexia and no recongition either... He thrived in primary, due to excellent teaching staff being able to engage him and enthuse him.... He went to high school for a while, but it didnt work... Being at TAFE he gets lots of support he wasnt getting in school... And much smaller classes... He seems to do better in the more adult learning environment....

Mumbles is now in a special needs unit attached to a mainstream school... He is SO lucky ... His education is being taylored to his needs and the staff studnt ratio is amazing... He does lots of "life skills" as well as being made to tackle the basics...that he will need for independent living.... The "fight" is to keep him in...

Before we moved him he was getting a 0.5 wholetime classroom assistant, which was meant to be dedicated. But certainly wasnt.... It was used as the school saw fit... Unfortunately it didnt work.....

Dorothy

I would agree 100% with this. At least in Perth. In Adelaide we were fortunate enough to have CAMHS for our son once a week but once we were here in WA we were told to forget it - no service available for him here (never mind the psychosis, it should go away and if not he can access adult services when he's 18).

Jaycee1

Also the same for us at my primary and sadly very, very true. Overloaded services have to prioritise and the chair thrower will always override. Our kids with extreme low IQ get low level funding of approx. 10 hours a week
Depends where you live. My school serves Frankston Nth and surrounding areas which are seen as lower socio economic and services are stretched...
I agree. One doctor I know of had a 250,000 incentive to work in Frankston for 5 years... the other issue is that we have had 5 YES 5 psychologists at our school last year. I would spend 1.5 hours telling them about Fred and his background/behaviour/issues before they moved on!!! Frustration is not the word!!! Our good ones were seconded or poached

Damson

[QUOTE=Jaycee1;10022532]Also the same for us at my primary and sadly very, very true. Overloaded services have to prioritise and the chair thrower will always override. Our kids with extreme low IQ get low level funding of approx. 10 hours a week

Can I ask what primary school your child is at please, because Mornington/M Martha are the areas we are interested in. With my son, the (possible) ADD is really mild in that it is just a suspicion by his teachers, although I'm not convinced it isn't a personality thing in that he just believes he knows it all, gets bored and switches off- typical bloke! As such, he probably wouldn't qualify for any extra help. Cheers

quoll

[QUOTE=Damson;10022652] Unless he has an intellectual disability then no, he is very unlikely to qualify for any extra help at all (sub 70 across the board IIRC in Vic). ADD isnt going to register on anyone's radar unless he is throwing chairs or attacking people with knives.