All About Dyslexia

[pingsped]

orchid10:

Hi! Im new to this forum. First time posting something. For intro, i have a son with mild dyslexia. Now he is in P2 with school that did not have AE. Would like to ask if anybody know of schools with this specializing. Fyi, im staying aroung east area and would like schools to be around this area. I have seen the MOE listing of schools with AE but it did not state the school specializing in dyslexia, autism or ADHD..

hi orchid10

You can call up schools & speak to the principals. I understand that some AEs specialise in dyslexia or autism while some have no specialisation. If the principal is not knowledgeable abt dyslexia or AE's specialisation, chances are that school is not supportive of special needs in general.

(I'm a therapist & hv spoken to a number of AEs in different schools.)

As a general guideline, it usu takes abt 3-6 mth or abt 18-36 hrs for a child with mild dyslexia to develop phonemic awareness/phonics. Most children with average IQ can read words within 6-12 mth. Most dyslexia reading programmes can teach reading & comprehension skills up to P2 level easily.

Normalisation of spelling & writing skills take a much longer time for children with moderate or severe dyslexia. At upper pri, they may also experience comprehension difficulties due to slow vocab growth and difficulties with abstract concepts, or processing multisyllabic words and/or long sentences.

Some parents report limited improvement after 1st two years of intervention. It may be necessary to switch teachers/therapists after the child masters basic reading skills as they may not teach upper pri comprehension & writing strategies well (enough).

Hope this helps.

regards,
Ping

[orchid10]

Hi Pingsped


Thanks for the sharing your experience

I'm still searching schools for my child. Hopefully before end of the year we will find suitable school for him. Now that i have to call the schools to get to know more abt their specialisation.

Thanks again Pingsped!

[bekithia]

Hi


My son was referred to DAS when he was in Primary 1 as he could speak English well but was not able to spell and his written work was very untidy. He often wrote his alphabets in its mirror image too. At the same time, he was showing much difficulty coping with his Chinese lessons. He went through about 3 terms with DAS and in Primary 2, he was able to spell so well he even topped his class in spelling contests. Right now, he loves reading and is coping well in school.

So I believe early intervention is very important.

[Saints]

Hi everyone,


I just realised that there is this thread on all about dyslexia and am so thankful. I have a child who is dyslexic. I just come to understand that there are various methods to help children with dyslexia but am so confused. Which is better? Has anyone heard of Lindamood Bell? Can anyone tell me what is the difference between this method, Orton and Davis? Has anyone tried Lindamood Bell’s method? Thank you.

[blurqueen]

hi, have you moms heard of the Orton Gillingham method of teaching which they highly recommend for dyslexic children? DAS is also using it.


My son has been attending DAS for more than a year now but I feel rather helpless not knowing how I can teach him on my own as DAS is only 2hrs/wk. For dyslexic children, I feel this little of intervention may not be enough as they're 'fast forgetters'.

I have attended the DAS cert of dyslexia but honestly, for parents with no English teaching background, I leave the class with a lot of insecurity over more complex phonics instructions. Although I must say, I learnt how to create my own teaching materials which is rather fun. But still doesn't seem worth paying >$2,000 for 8 lessons.

I am going to order some teaching/coaching kits from http://www.susanbarton.com so that I can teach my child on my own at home on top of DAS classes to 'fill in the gaps'. You should watch the demo, I am very impressed. She has won many prestigious awards in working with dyslexic children. Everything is so step by step and systematic, comprehensive too. The package also includes teaching materials, aids, tiles and dvds to coach us every step of the way. As long as you have a good sense of hearing, you can teach your own child at home!

The only prob with this, is the price. The whole 10 levels (takes 2-3years for child to complete) will cost some US$2900+US$500ship+7%gst = S$5,200. Yes, I'm shocked at the price! If I can find parents who might want to share, we can help share the cost. As they only allow max of 3 sets of tiles per level, this also means ONLY 3 parents can share a set (myself count as 1 already!). I will make a duplicate for you of all the materials and also include the original pack of tiles for each level.

I have just ordered the first 4 levels, it'll take us some 6-8 months to complete it with our children. And after 3 months, if needed, I'll order the remaining 6 levels. As I'll be keeping the original copies, out of goodwill, I'll bear the cost of duplicating the complete sets. For this first 4 levels, the cost have worked out to be:

US$250+$250+$300+$300 +$200 (ship) +7%GST = S$2000/3 persons =S$660 per person
I'll bear the more than $100 in cost in duplicating the printed materials and dvds etc.

I know this seems like high upfront but when I calculate this into 6 months (most kids take a lot longer to do 4 levels), this doesn't even cost us more than $100 per month in tuition. Working with your child 2x/1hrly per week means your child gets mediation 4hrs a week! You can see greater improvement and stronger foundation in your child's learning. My child actually looks forward to having lessons with me (I think it's a mommy thing he likes). BTW, this works great even with non-dyslexic children who are learning to read or are poor readers/spellers.

Do contact me at 98260767 soonest if you're interested as I can only take 2 more parents to share this because of the tiles limitation to only 3 sets. Also shipment is expected quite soon Can't wait to get started!

[cnimed]

Hi blurqueen,

u may want to check the shipping cost and the total weight of the sets. I think you can get a lower shipping quote if u look around. It could
be a quote for express shipping.

[blurqueen]

deminc:

Hi blurqueen,

u may want to check the shipping cost and the total weight of the sets. I think you can get a lower shipping quote if u look around. It could
be a quote for express shipping.

A bit too late, already paid for this first 4 levels already and it's on its way. I also checked the shipping, it's about 25lbs and shipping charge is already the lowest available, not the express shipping which would cost more.

[Headache2010]

Hi Blurqueen,


Thanks for the recommendation to SusanBarton. Did you take the "test" from the website? It was mentioned that if we couldnt "hear" properly, we will not be able to hear the mistakes made by the child.

It’s not easy for someone who is not trained in phonics… there are more than 1 sound for some of the letters. Example "i"… it’s not only "eee", as in the word, Ice.

One will also need to know if it’s a "long" or "short" sound.

All the best.

[getz]

This course is conducted by a fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham, meant for teachers, but a lot of parents take it to teach their own dyslexic children. All materials given. You can find more info at http://www.msl-orton.com or call them at 67334188.

[cnimed]

Headache2010:

Hi Blurqueen,


Thanks for the recommendation to SusanBarton. Did you take the \"test\" from the website? It was mentioned that if we couldnt \"hear\" properly, we will not be able to hear the mistakes made by the child.

It's not easy for someone who is not trained in phonics... there are more than 1 sound for some of the letters. Example \"i\".... it's not only \"eee\", as in the word, Ice.

One will also need to know if it's a \"long\" or \"short\" sound.

All the best.

Actually none of us learn phonics when we were kids in school. But we can all use and speak English right? Sometimes I wonder if it's really necessary to be so phonics-centric, kwim?

In any case I've learnt phonics from books while trying to teach my son, and it's not that difficult. But for some kids, the problem may lie in distinguishing the sounds, in which case I wonder if phonics is actually of much use to them at all at the early learning stage. Learning through sight words may be more useful to them, with common phonics rules introduced at a later stage as an additional tool for them to use if they want to. Other kids may have problem with deciphering the order of the sounds and just knowing the phonetic sounds are not very useful to them at all since they cannot apply it consistently. We have to also give them tools for how to (re)sequence the sounds.

In my kid's case, it seems that multisensory method works better. Nowadays, I tell my son not to get hung up over phonics anymore. I told him I didn't learn phonics, but it doesn't mean I can't read or write English. Whatever works is good enough for both of us.