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Do you remember your school exams? For most students, exams are a stressful time. For the 10 to 20 per cent of students who have dyslexia or other ‘specific learning disabilities’, exams are obviously even more of a trial. Help, in the form of a reader-writer or extra time to sit an exam, can be available for students with a specific learning disability, if they fit the Ministry of Educations criteria. An important point to note is that this extra help is only for students with a diagnosed specific learning disability, as opposed to a student who is “just a poor reader or writer”.
It seems that this extra help has been mainly going to the country’s richest schools. Last year, just under 1300 students in decile 10 schools (the most well off schools) accessed this support, while nationally only 17 students from the country’s decile one schools (the least well of schools) accessed this help. One of the reasons for this discrepancy maybe the cost of having an assessment of the student carried out. The main way of accessing the need for a reader-writer is through having an assessment done by a level C assessor – usually a psychologist, child psychologist, educational psychologist or a SPELD tutor – and this can cost anywhere between $300 and $700. For a family struggling to just put food on the table this is likely to be an insurmountable barrier.
However, financial help through Work and Income may be available for people who fit their criteria. For a person on a benefit, or on a low income (i.e. a before tax weekly income of less than $669.46 for a sole parent with one child, $705.31 for a sole parent with two or more children, or $801.31 for a couple) and cash assets of less than $1751; a Special Needs Grant or similar may be able to be available to help cover the cost of getting an assessment.
One thing to be aware of is that an application for a reader-writer or extra exam time must be made as soon as possible each year, as it can take several months to get an appointment for an assessment. So if you believe a child in your care may fit the criteria for gaining a reader-writer for their exams, talk to their school’s Special Education Needs Coordinator (SENCO) promptly, as they have a lot more information on the process and criteria involved.
If the cost of paying to get an assessment carried out by a level C assessor is a block for you, feel free to call us at Homebuilders Family Services on 425 7048 and we can talk you through the Work and Incomes criteria and processes.
