Boy's dyslexia spotted days before his exams

A boy who struggled with lessons during his entire school life was told he was dyslexic, only four days before his vital GCSE exams.

AR, 16, and his mum today spoke of their frustration that it took his school, Hellesdon High, so long to discover the condition.

It was only after one teacher suspected the cause of his difficulties was dyslexia that the school carried out tests, which confirmed his condition.

Mrs R said: "We went to every parents' evening and they said his handwriting needed improving and so did his spelling.

"He said it was hard being at school but he went every day, although he used to get told off because he didn't do his homework.

A said: "I needed to do well because I wanted to go to college, so I put my mind to it, but I would have done better if I'd had help with my coursework."

A picked up D grades for French, science and history, but did not do so well in English, maths and information technology. He has, however, been accepted on a catering and hospitality course at Norwich City College, and staff there have promised to help him overcome his dyslexia.

Barry Whiting, chairman of the Norfolk and Norwich Dyslexia Association (UK), said he knew of several examples where the condition had not been identified until the sufferer's late teens.

"The difficulty is that it varies from person to person," he said. "If a child is severely dyslexic it stands out like a sore thumb. But if the person is quite bright they can compensate and operate at an average level without it being spotted.

"It's easier to identify back in the early stages at primary school – but it doesn't always get identified at primary school," he said. "When they get to secondary school its assumed that all this has been sorted out, and they get on with teaching subject matter rather than how to spell or write."

Hellesdon High headteacher Mr Gould said: "They do have special dispensation for their exams. "They sometimes have additional time allocated to them. This year the sixth form library was taken over so special arrangements could be made.

"My thoughts would be that these sort of conditions don't develop overnight. If the lad has been diagnosed with a condition that requires remedial action it's a great shame that it wasn't picked up earlier, perhaps somewhere along the line by the teachers or parents. "We are not perfect and we do try to help where there are individuals who have problems. I agree it is a shame that more positive action could not be taken."

With many thanks to the ever popular Evening News .