My son has difficulties writing and spelling but speaks 5 languages since the age of 6. Before I drag him to docs, I was thinking about testing that myself.

Does anybody knows of an online Dyslexia test?
Is it anyway so simply tested?

I guess my questions are off topic though.

I'd say you might be onto something here. I wonder how approachable was the specialist giving the exam? How comfortable were you children? Are you sure they both reacted the same way? Were they intimidated by any way by the person? Were they afraid? Shy? Learning difficulties are usually diagnosed after a battery of tests (repeated, not in one day).

Sorry about your troubles, but I would not necessarily consider dyslexia a disability. No doubt the challenge ahead of you is daunting, but may turn out to be the most rewarding thing you will ever do!

As quoted from http://www.dyslexia.com/bookstore/firstchapter.htm

Dyslexics don't all develop the same gifts, but they do have certain mental functions in common. Here are the basic abilities all dyslexics share:
They can utilize the brain's ability to alter and create perceptions (the primary ability).

They are highly aware of the environment.
They are more curious than average.
They think mainly in pictures instead of words.
They are highly intuitive and insightful.
They think and perceive multi-dimensionally (using all the senses).
They can experience thought as reality.
They have vivid imaginations.

These eight basic abilities, if not suppressed, invalidated or destroyed by parents or the educational process, will result in two characteristics: higher than normal intelligence, and extraordinary creative abilities. From these the true gift of dyslexia can emerge -- the gift of mastery.
The gift of mastery develops in many ways and in many areas. For Albert Einstein it was physics; for Walt Disney, it was art; for Greg Louganis, it was athletic prowess.

I would heartily concur with the reply from Klosters girl - good advice. Dyslexia comes in many forms - my daughter was 'diagnosed' with mild dyslexia at her UK school, she had learning support until we left. We thought long & hard about whether to do International School or local school (she's 10) - we went to ISSH for a visit & to be quite frank when we mentioned she had mild dyslexia they were just not very interested. They made it quite clear that any learning support would be extra & 'could not always be guaranteed' - their words not mine. So we were left with either a schlep to Winterthur or local school. We picked local school & have absolutely NO regrets. She has learnt german from scratch on a one to one basis, german is phonetic (this makes spelling easier - think pair pear or pare!), it has been at her own pace (no hothousing, no KeyStages, no targets to meet) & her writing has improved tremendously. We are not aware of any dyslexia problems with her at the moment - goodness she may even be 'normal'! At 6 your sons still have oodles of time to pick up the language (integrate - hah! remember the last thread), & learn to read & write german in their own time. Any problems (or even hiccups) will be picked up by kindergarten/school. Do not take this 'report' you have been given at face value, you need to do more reasearch & weigh up your options.

Maybe your kids were just having a bad day. I have bad days when the pen doesn't want to work in my hands and I find it difficult to read. I think everyone does. I think an overly long test taken once, together, tells you exactly nothing, especially with six year olds. This is just my opinion, but I'm not a specialist.

Google is your best friend - http://www.google.com/search?q=onlin...rlz=1I7SKPB_en

The crazy thing is, when I studied for my teaching degree and took the teaching practice, the standart thing was to teach the future teachers that their class will consist at least of 20% percent of children with learning disabilities. You just have to plan your lessons taking that into the account and know that not providing the appropriate support will result in being fired.

I guess things are different here, but also the approach seems to be different with different schools. A friend had a little Russian girl in her class, with some learning difficulties, and the principal told her not to "waste her time on a slow foreigner". She got fired from that institution later, anyway.

Since you are obligated by law to send your children to school, the school system has to provide educational options for all children. Are your children attending international school because you are here short term? Otherwise I would say local school is a better option. Your children are very young. As for resigning from your job, I wouldn't be so quick to do this.

Just a word of advice, I would not tell the local school anything about the testing, etc. Let your kids start with a clean slate. The school will likely think you are taking your children out of international school for financial reasons.

Their school file would go with them. Long term was the plan, but we are wondering whether a move back to the UK would enable us to get more special support.

The only requirement I am aware of when registering children in local school at 6 years of age is proof of age.

Exactly it's not as if dyslexia confirmed or otherwise means they don't get to go to school anymore.

Why not give the local school a try, it's not as if you're in downtown large city.

Yes the change will be difficult, but so are all at that age, however a few months down the line?

Whatever you discuss with the school ensure they realise a full diagnosis has not yet been made. I'm sure they'll have some tips for the benefit of the kids.

I would try the local school, with lots of support and encouragement.

They will probably have your kids reassessed. There are so many different co-condtions and different types of dyslexia I think that the regular schools are better equipped to deal with dyslexia than international schools, as long as you get a sympathetic teacher.
The other thing is that Swiss school do not push for kids to be reading and writing by the age of 5-6

If you are a teacher then you will know that apart form some of the methods like coloured lenses etc the basics for teaching kids with dyslexia constitute good practice for regular kids learning to read and write. Dyslexic kids need help with phonics and German is more phonetical.

The thing that I found helps-but this is totally without theory to back it up, is to first do a loads of play stuff to try to get the memory of the orthographic image permanently etched in the kids head. So Lots of drawing and shaping the letters in all kinds of medium sand, dough etc. Games to help them recognize the letters. Talking about what they look like, getting them to shape them with their fingers etc.

After that they have to learn to break words down into Morphemes perhaps by using their finger to cover parts of a word. This is the diffcult bit. There are aids to help with this.

Almost all 1st and many second grade kids have problems with letter reversal, spelling etc. Any elementary teacher who reads kid's sentences knows that.


My sister is dyslexic,she also has cross-dominance which runs in the family. She is 50+ and still taking exams for work. She had problems taking notes quickly. She has made great progress recently simply because she bought computer software that translated speech in writing. Strangely enough the way that she progressed was to practice everyday, she just had to read constantly. Her reading is painstakingly slow, but she does it and is very proud of her reading. She is allowed extra time for exams.

This site looks interesting, but Swiss professionals via the school are probably best way to go.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...icial%26sa%3DX

I would be careful with this one. Some school do not recognize that dyslexia exists. Provision depends very much on the school and their resources.
My sister and I had a long feud, she argued with me for years that because my son was cross -dominant ( the Swiss schools evaluated him and sent him for ergotherapy, which was a bit of ajoke) he uses both hands/feet with equal dominance, that he must have dyslexia, he was reading at th age of 4. However, I thought her son, who was in the same school year had a problem because he did not catch onto the ryhming words game that I played with my son. She didn't wsnt my opinion. He was good at sports but suffered through school with ' behavioural problems' until he was a teenager, when they moved school and was finally diagnosed with Dyslexia. My sister blamed herself, she said that she could not recognize it because she was herself dyslexic, it was linked to the auditory memory, he had no cross dominance. This was in the UK, so if you are thinking of moving back research the school and district provision first.

Here's a slide show from one UK school on dyslexia that you might find interesting, but it will bombard you with info and you haven't had a second diagnosis yet.

learningat.ke7.org.uk/pseweb/.../dys%20power%20point%201.ppt

At 6yrs old they will learn and speak swiss german in 6 months

I put my native English speaking 6yr old into local Swiss Kindy (at 5.5) then school at 6, which was 1 year earlier than the normal swiss kids.

After 6 months she speaks and understands Swiss German.
After 12 months she is indistinguishable from the other kids

A 6yr old picks up a new language extremely fast, have no fear!

In Kanton Zurich my 6yr old had to sit a "ripe for school" test to get in 1 year earlier (because Swiss school starts at 7, not 6).

This is actually precisely the method used to teach the alphabet in Swiss state schools.

With all do respect, if you are going to stay in Switzerland for more than a year, then please put your kids in a local schooling system. I have several colleagues who have their kids in international schools, and the ALL have problems. The kids will never find their place in the local surroundings, they are always "outsiders", so many cultures, so many languages, so many disturbed children (moving at a young age takes always a long time to adapt), it is just not good.

I put my daughter in the local school when we moved to Switzerland, on the first day just dropped her off at the school door, gave a mothertongue-german-mothertongue dictionary to the teacher, and wished good luck. One year later she speaks fluent german, has tons of local swiss friends, is one of the best in her class, all is well.

Personally I wouldn't believe that your kids have a learning problem, they are just a bit lost in where they are, and what are they doing here. A local school will put their feet on the ground.

And JUST in case that they would actually have a learning problem, then the local school will judge that, and make sure that they attend a swiss school which takes care of their special needs. It's quite common in Switzerland to put the "less-gifted" children in a school and a training program which fits them better. They will not become rocket science professors, but they will learn to read, write, count, etc. according to their individual capabilities.

If you ask me, international schools should be banned completely. They do nothing but disturb children, perfectly normal, smart kids. They are just unable to put their feet on the ground, go and meet Santa in the local church with the other kids from the block, and most importantly, they will never learn the local language properly.

It's amazing how quickly children can learn a new language, when you just give them a chance.

My 3-year old son was also unbelievable, when my wife started daycaring our neighbours children. After the first day, he already started asking me questions like "was ist das?" After one day! I was totally blown away.

So just throw them in the river of local culture, and THEY will teach YOU how to swim before you know it.

Hello,

There is a school here, Oakhill, run by english speakers especially for children with dislexia and similar. As I understand, it keeps children in their normal school, yet works with them part time to address their difficulties. Really an innovative approach that works with the best programmes to address the difficulties. Google oakhill school nyon and you will find their website. It may be too far for you, but I think it is worth a talk with them, as maybe they can also refer you to someone in your area.

Apologies for two posts, but wanted to add something on international vs. public schools.

A friend, English speaking family, has child with dyslexia. Child started in public school at age 4 speaking French, English at home. They took child out of public by age 8 or 9 as the 2 languages were causing only more problems with the dyslexia (and public shool was not dealing with it at all). They specially put child in international school for one language (english) and child is doing remarkably well. Not only was the one language helpful, but the internataional school was able to monitor and help her special needs, with good coordination, as well as good teachers/specialists as necessary.