Vindication?

A few weeks ago D had to go to for an Educational Psychologist's assessment. He first had one 2 years ago as his handwriting is slow, laborious, unreadable and he does as little as possible of it. Back then he was given permission for extra time (slightly slow processing speed) and either a scribe or a laptop to do the written work. I rang the Ed Psych who did this assessment and asked if I needed a new one for this year's exam-fest. Apparently the reports last 2 - 3 years so she just sent me a covering letter basically saying carry on as before.

The college where D goes on Wednesday evenings for his Maths A2 classes - yes he's only just 16 but you can't keep a smartie-pants down - decided they'd like their own Ed Psych to have a look at him. And they didn't even offer to charge me for the privilege - as D is under their usual age remit they would have been within their rights to (£300 +).

The report came back yesterday. His handwriting speed has improved from 4 words per minute (wpm) to 10 wpm. His typing speed has improved from 9 wpm to 19 wpm. 19wpm is the average HAND writing speed for his age so the report said that access to a laptop/PC for exams was a definite must. She also saw first-hand how he needs time to sort his thoughts out and put them in to some semblance of order, so he can still have extra time (up to 25% extra). Also his spelling, although better than the majority of his peers, is slightly down compared to his other cognitive abilities - all above average of highly able.

All the way through his school career, which finished 4 years ago thanks to me showing some guts to home educate, he was constantly admonished for shoddy writing and feeble output - it would take him all lesson to write a few sentences. A & I weren't too bothered by the scruffy writing - have you seen ours?! I wish that we had pushed for some form of assessment or that school had mentioned that it might help. Instead we weren't too concerned and they seemed happy to accept that.

My son is no longer the nervous wreck he was 4 years ago. He is no longer too scared to talk to anyone he doesn't know (he used a bit of humour with the Ed Psych lady this time and I was banned from going in with him), he is no longer shouted at for being lazy or not trying hard enough and he has blossomed.

This is the college he is going to in September. D has 2 GCSEs from 2 years ago (Maths - A; Chemistry - B), a pass at an OU short course (S194 - Introducing Astronomy), a pass at CLAIT Dreamweaver (web-site builder thingy), and a B at AS Maths. This summer he is finishing his A2 Maths, GCSE Geography and IGCSE English. This college has accepted him to do 3 more A Levels - Further Maths, Chemistry and Computing - and if he fails his English he can have 2 years to do the GCSE instead of the usual one!

They are also offering free access to the Study Support Unit to help him organise his studies and make sure he's up to speed on all he's supposed to be doing. They're going to give him a laptop for the 2 years he'll be there and provide scribes for his lessons to take notes as D can't cope with doing that and listening to the teacher at the same time. They are putting him into the Gifted & Talented stream and will make sure he gets lots of extra-curricular experience.

They have a University Admissions Co-Ordinator who will make sure he applies to the best universities because he's obviously very bright (their words 5 months ago). D has decided that he fanices Oxford, followed by Nottingham. Not bad for the boy who, 18 months ago, wasn't going to college full-time (adult education classes were it), wasn't going to Uni (Open University instead), couldn't contemplate mixing with his peers at all, and was scared to go out once the schools let out for the day.

So if there's anyone out there who is considering home education for their child(ren), it is no barrier to post-16 education. Nor does it mean that you can't reach for the stars.