'Dys'cussing a diagnosis.

I last wrote about diagnosis as labelling from the perspective of a child with undiagnosed Autistic Spectrum Conditions.   This is a common undiagnosed condition, due to the usual high-functioning nature of the condition and so questionable usefulness of such a diagnosis in a school setting; but also because of the later life implications of such a label.  It is a condition which has a predominantly social impact, rather than academic.

There are however many, many occasions when a label is, in my opinion, only a positive development in a child's life and educational experience.
Many children struggle with neurological diversity; the 'dys' group of labels.
This group describes specific learning difficulties in people with otherwise normal range intelligence.   These problems affect only one (or maybe several, they often overlap) area of educational development or communication.
This diagram illustrates the complexity and diversity of this group of very common impairments:






I think I'll write a separate post about each 'dys' as I have experienced them in the next few blog posts, but I can guarantee that every person reading this has themselves, or knows someone, with a degree of specific learning difficulty.  We read descriptions and recognise our own challenges,  or those of our children our partners and friends.  Importantly, we often recognise their strengths too as a feature of the diagnosis.

1 in 6 children have specific learning difficulties.  That's 3 children in each average primary class and often a lot more.  Therein lies the problem AND the solution simultaneously.

Teachers have come across children with these groups of difficulties before and many consequently have normalised the issues.  The children can become low attainers in far too many cases and their neuro-diversity seen as an 'excuse'. 

Children can become frustrated, perhaps bored, stuck in lower ability groups and can develop low self-esteem.  Many children 'switch-off' from their learning, not valuing their own place in the class, not understanding themselves or feeling that their contribution is being recognised. They develop a poor image of themselves as a learner and, as many adult 'dys' learners have noted, they do not begin to value their contribution to society until they reach adulthood and find their own niche, which all too often is too late and many are not able to positively contribute to society.

It paints a damning picture, which, as we become more aware as a society, is hopefully less and less likely to come to fruition.
We can now recognise neuro-diversity early and children can receive the additional support they need in order to achieve.  Once children receive recognition in the form of a written diagnosis, they can begin to better understand themselves and see their learning as different.  They can better value their individualism and identify with others.

Teachers should be able to see the child not as low ability or poorly behaved, but be able instead to see a suite of simple support techniques which can be of support to the child without necessarily impacting on the teaching of the whole class, thus maintaining inclusive teaching.  They can quickly access a wealth of information to effectively support the child rather than watch helplessly as the child fails.
Successful support of children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia alongside autistic spectrum conditions starts with Quality First Teaching.
'Quality First teaching' starts with acceptance and understanding.  It develops through increasing class teachers knowledge and simple adjustments to teaching or resources and it results in true inclusive practise.  It can be (and I have seen this many, many times) life changing for the child at the centre of the diagnosis.
Parents can finally start to believe what they knew all along, that their child is struggling beyond that which is 'normal' during school life, that they do need help and that finally, they might actually get some.

A diagnosis does not 'cure' problems for a child.  A diagnosis does not necessarily mean anything will 'happen', such as any individual withdrawal intervention or specialist 1-1 teaching (although it will in many cases where clear 'catch-up' areas are identified) but a diagnosis can mean that a child, their family and hopefully the child's teachers, can reflect more positively on their struggle.

Together, they can begin to even the playing field.

Check out this graphic.  If ever a picture did say a thousand words, this is it:



Of course, a further solution would be to remove the barrier altogether.....

How many?

The pride of the young mother is tangible, "Jimmy can count to ten!" she declares!
Jimmy recites the numbers beautifully, perfectly in fact, in the adorable sing-song voice only a toddler can achieve.

"Wonderful!" you respond in justifiable congratulation.  "Jimmy, how many bricks am I holding?"

Jimmy obediently chants again; "One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten" and wanders off happily to continue bouncing Peppa Pig on the sofa, his new counting song interchanging with baa baa black sheep. Young Mum is left puzzled, staring at the three bricks you are holding.

It's the one to one correspondence, you see.  A missing link, if you will, for many children who can 'count' by rote and all too often, simply miss the bit where the number is associated with an object.

Later, many children find themselves caught out when they are adding and taking away, calculating using a number line and using concrete material in maths.  Their work is simply incorrect, they are not able to count accurately.  They do not understand the 'oneness' of one.

Maybe they were in the top group in pre-school and reception and moved on to using numbers to calculate BEFORE they were ready.  Heaven forfend.

Don't get me started about moving children on too quickly in order to meet targets!

To help: Count in number sequences from different starting points.  Count in every day life. Leave the counting in 2s, 5s and 10s for a bit and simply find out how many shoes there are on the shoe rack today.  Estimate first, is that reasonable?  Who has the biggest pile of coins, Let's find out by counting, How many more do I have? Can you give me 12 cake cases/18 screws for this project/24 red lego bricks?

Stages: 1. Label each object as you count (one-to-one correspondence); 2. Remember to stop at the last object (this can take a while!) and declare 'How many?' 3. Count accurately without missing numbers, recounting objects by moving objects as you count. 4. Count larger groups of objects by grouping. Here come the 2s, 5s and 10s beloved of the national curriculum.

Another common misconception is found when children begin to 'count on'. In addition, we say "Put the biggest number in your head and count on from there".  Lets say the calculation is 12+4 -not enough fingers to count the whole thing.  The child obediently chants "put 12 in my head" and counts on "12, 13, 14, 15" The answer is 15.

How confusing is that?!!!

To the child, the counting from 12 is the same as counting from 1.

Now, if these children had had enough time to get to know these early numbers, perhaps been able to recognise the link between 12+4 and 2+4, see that both numbers were even perhaps, they may have been able to know more reliably if their answer was reasonable.  But for now "count on from the next number" has to suffice as we try to make sure little Julie learns this process correctly.

My favourite: 

How many squares?

Playing with early number is absolutely vital to successful calculation later.  Recognise odds and evens by making rectangles with objects. Share play coins or counters between the teddies, who has the most? Are the piles the same? Is that fair? Count, count, and count again!

A wonderful website to introduce a fun, creative approach to maths at all levels is nrich. Teachers can use this to help them teach at the new desired 'mastery' level.  Home schoolers have the joy of being able to use this approach without restriction, deepening that understanding of number and the relationships within and throughout.

Enjoy!