Frankie Bridge reveals her son Carter has been diagnosed with dyslexia

Frankie Bridge has revealed her son Carter has been diagnosed with dyslexia, as she tearfully shared her struggles with feeling ‘helpless’ after he refused to attend class.

The mother-of-two admitted it had been a ‘battle’ getting help for her son in a candid YouTube video, as she shared her son had a tearful ‘meltdown’ about attending his classes after weeks of struggling in lessons.

Frankie, 36, emotionally shared that she ‘didn’t know what to do’ for Carter to help him, and told her followers he’d repeatedly asked to be home-schooled.

The Loose Women star, who also shares son Parker, 11, with her husband Wayne, later added that she had a meeting with Carter’s school, and they’re now implementing new learning methods to help him in class.

Dyslexia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.

It can affect individuals of all intelligence levels and can result in poor or inconsistent spelling and writing – along with potential struggles following directions or being organised.

In a video posted on her YouTube channel, Frankie revealed that she’d been left exhausted after Carter ‘cried for an hour’ about going back to school.

She explained: ‘Carter had a bit of a meltdown yesterday, about going to school, he cried I’d say at least an hour, which is becoming a new thing, he’s been crying about going back into school quite a lot. 

‘Just finding it really hard, saying things like ”even food tech there’s loads of writing and science and stuff” and it just really breaks my heart. I find it really difficult to keep sending him in every day. 

‘And I know he’s fine when he gets there, he’s doing so much better but I feel really helpless, and I don’t know what else I can do for him really. 

‘I know he wants me to say he can be home-schooled, I don’t think that would work for us, and I think it’s really important for him to socialise. I just don’t think it’s realistic for us as a family, I just don’t know what else I can do for him.’

Frankie added that she’d started ‘Googling courses for parents of children with dyslexia’, and added: ‘I filmed him doing his spellings the other day, we laugh through stuff and make it light-hearted, but I just find it so hard because I know he’s always going to struggle with that stuff…

‘I don’t want him to hate the next eight years of his education, I don’t want to have to force him in everyday and just know he’s gonna struggle all day. 

‘I just feel helpless basically. I need to look in to it, I need to talk to the school.’

Frankie added that even she was unaware of the struggles those with dyslexia have, telling her fans: ‘I think people downplay dyslexia and obviously people have different levels of it but I just never realised how hard it could be, it’s just a lot and I sometimes worry I’m not around enough.’

In a follow-up video on Monday, Frankie then revealed she had spoken to Carter’s school about getting him extra help, detailing how it had been a ‘battle’ to get him similar support at his old school.

She shared that the staff at his current school ‘couldn’t have been nicer,’ and he was going to have an ‘education psychology assessment,’ and he was being provided with equipment such as a computer and reading pen, to help him during lessons.

Frankie said: ‘I had to come into Carter’s school to help some more stuff in place to help him better with his dyslexia at school, because he’s been really finding it hard.

‘It’s been a bit of a battle to get him into school. They just couldn’t be nicer, at the last school it was a complete battle to get them to do anything.

‘But at this school they’re like ”right let’s do this”.’

Frankie had shared last year that Carter was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was eight years old, having only learned about his education struggles when he was told he would have to repeat his entire reception year.

Writing a piece for The i, she said: In the eyes of the system, he wasn’t old enough to be officially diagnosed with anything at the time, but we hoped it would give the teachers a better idea of how to help him. 

‘Everyone’s biggest concern with Carter was his lack of confidence. He was aware that others in his class were able to do things that he couldn’t.’

‘When he finally turned eight last year, he was officially diagnosed with dyslexia. I foolishly saw this as the missing piece. That his teachers and us would now know exactly what to put into place to teach him in a way that he would understand. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t the case.’

She said at the time she and husband Wayne decided to move him to an international school which they knew would be better equipped to suit Carter’s needs.

In the past, Frankie has also spoken candidly about her struggles with anxiety and depression, recently sharing that during a ‘dip’ in her mental health, she feared that her husband Wayne and their sons ‘would be better off with someone else.’

She made the revelation during a discussion about how to best support a loved one through an illness. 

Frankie said: ‘For me, having depression and anxiety, I often feel like you become a bit of a weight on the family. 

‘You don’t need to be cared for in the same way, but I feel like if I’m going through a dip, and my depression is particularly bad, I feel like I’m bringing a bad aura and a bad feeling into the house. 

‘I do often think of Wayne and the kids and think, ”They’d have been better off with someone who didn’t have those issues.”‘

A visibly emotional Frankie went on to explain that she wishes her family could be around someone who is ‘naturally happy all the time and didn’t have those dips.’

She said: ‘I feel sorry for them sometimes that they have to deal with me. 

‘You do feel like a bit of a burden sometimes, but obviously it’s very different to being physically looked after.’