All About Dyslexia

[seestar]

Hi All,

My P 1 boy is classified as having Learning Disability by the school. I went thru my ‘checklist’ and find him dyslexic & dysgraphic. I have requested for the school councillor to refer him for a testing but she said she will carry out some tests herself.
Weeks later,she came back to informed me that my son is ‘fine’.
She said,"He is alright, a little slow in picking up words…but he can spell…word like SCHOOL"…
I tried searching on DAS but found that I need a referral to get a testing…
Anyone any suggestion ?
Many thanks

[mamii]

Hi seestar, I dont understand what do you mean by your son is "classified as having Learning Disability by the school". Do you mean that happened after the counselor did the test with him ?


As for DAS, during my niece time, i did not remember getting any referral letter, I called them and made an appointment. Perhaps you need a referral letter if you want it done via school ? Call them up and clarify.

[seestar]

Hi Mamii, the school did a routine testing for all the P1 children and my boy was one of the few tested to have ‘learning disability’. They informed me that my boy’s reading and writing was below the MOE standard that is set for 6/7 yr old,hence classified as having learning disability. He attends a separate English class = Learning Support Programme (LSP),when the rest of his classmates are having English lesson.

I have always noticed that he is a little different since kindy …
Hence after I received the letter from school, i read up on lots & lots of books and did some DIY checklist myself.
In April, I had a chat with the LSP teacher as well as the councellor to voice my concern and …
Yes, I will give DAS a call to check out the thorough detail.
Thank you

[Lauracwj]

My girl is refer to KKH from Poly clinic. THe waiting time isn’t as long as we thought.

For P1 student, get poly clinic to referral to NUH, they have a clinic for children from 7 years old to 16 years old. Singapore citizen will get subsidized, else if you go direct to DAS or NUH then you will be classify as private and the price is double or triple then the subsidize rate according to my girl’s teacher.

[Picolo]

august24:

Seems like dyslexia in chinese language is not a very researched field. I can't seem to find much info about it. Is it possible for a child to be dyslexia solely in the chinese language? My child seems ok for all the other subjects, but for MT, simply cannot comprehen even though he has been having tuition lessons since P1. He is now in P5. He understands mandarin and can hold a decent conversation, but simply cannot read a full passage on his own. If you split two chinese 词语 and join it with another, he either cannot recognise the word or read the word wrongly. He can get the word right at 听写 but will not be able to read it the very next day. :scratchhead: Now I'm comptemplating sending him for test at DAS but am not too sure is this the right direction.

Sound very much like my ds2. Your son may have weak pictorial memory, like my P3 ds2. I bought him for a DAS test early this year but he was not diagnosed with Dyslexia (yet) since he did well in all areas except two which were below average. He was below average for Pictorial Memory, which I feel, explains why he cannot remember many many Chinese words easily. Even some very common Chinese sight words take him several seconds just to retrieve. For some words, he knows the meaning but he doesn't know how to read them despite lots of practice. Chinese characters are 象形, and recognition of Chinese characters relies on pictorial memory.


Here's a very small part of my son's DAS report:
xx obtained a Below Average score on the Recognition of Pictures scale, indicating that he has weak visual recognition memory and ability to attend to visual details. His Below Average score stands out as a significant weakness as compared to his other well-developed abilities. In addition, this score suggests that xx might be distracted by competing visual information, and would require strategies to help him focus on interpreting visual information.

xx was tasked to retrieve names of common objects and digits at a rapid speed on the Naming Speed Test (Pictures) and Naming Speed Test (Digits) tests. He scored within the Ve01 Much Below Average and Above Average ranges on the Naming Speed Test (Pictures) and Naming Speed Test (Digits) tests respectively. His performances suggest that whilst he has satisfactory word retrieval ability for digits, he has some degree of word retrieval difficulties for objects.

-------------
A handout on 'Activities to Help Word Retrieval' was given to us. I think it is useful for very young children or pre-schoolers. It lists out some of the fun and engaging games that can be played to improve on this weakness. Sorry if some of the words come out as garbage as I simply copy it from a scanned copy.

Activities to Help Word Retrieval
About the activities
*These activities are intended for children.
* Not all of the activities will suit all children - so be selective.
* Put the emphasis on listening, thinking and speaking.
* The activities are aimed at having the child retrieve known words - not at extending the
vocabulary by teaching new words.
* If possible, use a minimum of visual cues at first If the word to be \"retrieved\" does not come
easily for the child, provide an auditory cue (e.g.,say the first sound or syllable of the word) or
a verbal clue (e.g., \"it rhymes with ...\").
* If auditory cues are not working provide more scaffolding with written sounds or words, and
pictures.
* Give the child time to think, but don't leave it so long that they are struggling to find the
word. Rather than letting them persist unsuccessfully, tellthem the answer, and go on with
the next few items. Then ask them the one that was difficult again.
* Aim for a high success-rate to encourage motivation and confidence.
* Adapt the tasks to suit the (developmental) age of the person.
1. Talkabout words and word-meanings
As natural opportunities arise talk about such topics as 'Why is Big Bird called Big Bird?\" Talk
about people being named after other people. Talk about why certain names might have
been chosen for pets and 1V characters (Cookie Monster, Rugrats, Inspector Gadget Uncle
Scrooge, The Fat Controller, etc). Try to work these conversations in around topics of genuine
interest to the child.
2 Read read read and read!
Here are some suggestions:
Just about every book in the \"Beginner Books\"/Dr Seuss series, including \"I'll Teach my Dog
100 Words\" and \"Hop on Pop\".
Books about rhymes.
Books about opposites.
Books about word classification (i.e, semantic classes): e.g.,vehicles, tools, occupations, etc,
involving knowing the names of objects or entities within a class.
Books about animals and their young, involving knowing the precise names for animals'
offspring (e.g. horses have foals, cows have calves, etc), and the correct names for some
common animals according to gender (horse: mare, stallion. filly, colt).
Books about names.
Books that rhyme e.g. The Diggingest Dog, One Duck Stuck Books that tell a story e.g. The
Cat in the Hat Robert the Rose Horse
Books that contain silly rhymes*, for example 'There's a Wocket in my Pocket\" by Or Seuss. It
includes such silliness as:
\"Did you
ever have the feeling
there's a WASKET
Bowen, c. (199S). Stuck for words? Word retrieval activities for children. Retrieved from 1
http://www.speech-language-therapy.com{wordretrieval.htmlon (9 May 200S).
in your BASKET?
...Or a NUREAU
in your BUREAU?
...Or a WOSET in your CLOSET?
Sometimes
I feel quite CERTAIN
there's a JERTAIN
in the CURTAIN...\"
*Don't read this sort of thing if it irritates you or your child. It's not to everyone's taste!
1 Play impromptu word-games
Games involving transforming one part of speech to another are particularly helpful, e.g.:
Today I am riding, yesterday I ...(rode)
Today I am driving, yesterday I ...(drove)
Today I am sleeping, yesterday I (slept)
Yesterday I rode, tomorrow I will (ride)
4. Incorporate doze-tasks into stO/y-reading
When you read stories, recite rhymes or sing songs, include \"obvious\" sentence completion
routines, e.g. 'Little Jack Horner sat in a ...' (corner); 'Baa baa black sheep, have you any ..'
(wool).
5 Read riddle books and tell jokes
Choose knock-knock jokes, riddles, etc that rely upon accurate word-retrieval to make them
funny. •
Make up silly words for familiar rhymes, e.g.: \"Baa baa black sheep have you any ...spaghetti?\"
\"Humpty Dumpty had a great... grandmother\".
6. Play word-classification games
These games might include ones such as: \"See how many boys' names you can think of in
one minute. Time yourself while you do it\". Other categories that might be fun or interesting
include:
tools animals sports countries
games toys clothes food
drinks vegetables flowers body parts
movies makes of cars colours
1 Play \"name the csteqoty\"
This can be done like a cloze task, for example, \"red, blue, green, orange and pink are all ...\";
\"lions, tigers, monkeys and elephants are all ...\"
8. Play 'pick the word that does not belong\"
For example, \"Which one is the odd one out: cat dog tree mouse
Bowen, c. (1998). Stuck for words? Word retrieval activities for children. Retrieved from 2
http:{{http://www.speech-Ianguage-therapy.com/wordretrieval.htmlon (9 May 2008).
9. Play 'which two words go together?'
For example: \"watch pig nail clocK
10. Play sentence completion ('doze\") games
For example: \"A house is a place to live. An office is a place to ...\" \"A nursery is a place to buy
plants. A Post Office is a place to buy ...\"
11. Play games involving synonyms
For instance, \"Can you think of another word that means big?\" \"Can you tell me another word
for smart?\"
12. Play word-association games
For example: \"pilot goes with ...\"(plane), \"cab goes with ...\"(driver), \"ship goes with ...\"(sailor)
13. Devise simple games involving similarities
For example, 'What is the same about a sheep and a cow?\" \"A train and a plane are both ...\"
14. Play games involving antonyms
Do this as a sentence completion (cloze) activity (e.g., 'The opposite of hot is ...\") or use a
question-and-answer format (e.g., \"What is the opposite of hot?') or as a confrontation
naming task using pictures in which the child has to name \"opposites pictures\" as rapidly as
they can (e.g., hot cold, wet dry, big little, fast slow, deep shallow, apart together).
You can have a lot offun doing this at sentence level:
Adult I live in a little house.
Child: I live in a big house.
Adult: I love cauliflower.
Child: I hate cauliflower.
Adult: I broke the ladder.
Child: I mended the ladder.
Adult My car is old.
Child: My car is new.
15. Play word games involving differences
For example, 'What is different about a bird and a plane? They can both fly, but they are
different because ...n
16. Play What comes next?\"
For example:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday ...
Summer Autumn Winter ..1 2 3 ...
First second third ...
Laa-Laa, Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, and ...
Twinkle, twinkle little ...
Bowen, C. (1998). Stuck for words? Word retrieval activities for children.

Retrieved from 3http: {fwww.speech-Ianguage-therapy.com/wordretrieval.html on (9 May 2008).


My boy is big already, hence the above activities are not very relevant. For me, I have found that preparing flashcards for my Chinese-challenged son is very useful. Need regular practice and hardwork from me though.

[august24]

Picolo:

Sound very much like my ds2. Your son may have weak pictorial memory, like my P3 ds2. I bought him for a DAS test early this year but he was not diagnosed with Dyslexia (yet) since he did well in all areas except two which were below average. He was below average for Pictorial Memory, which I feel, explains why he cannot remember many many Chinese words easily. Even some very common Chinese sight words take him several seconds just to retrieve. For some words, he knows the meaning but he doesn't know how to read them despite lots of practice. Chinese characters are 象形, and recognition of Chinese characters relies on pictorial memory.

Thanks Picolo. I did not manage to send him to DAS for test though as the form has a section which requires the school teacher to submit their observation about him. His form teacher do not think he needs to be referred (he is ok, just need to be focused and not be distracted) while his MT teacher feels that she does not spend as much time as other subject teachers with him thus she should not be the one completing the form.

[3boysdad]

Thank you so much for this informative thread.


Can fellow parents recommend how to find a therapist/tutor trained in the orton-gillingham approach that is able to give reading lessons for primary school child in the home - Bukit Timah area.

Currently all the info is about centres that you have to bring the child to for lessons, wondering if there is an alternative industry, say staff who have left the centres and are giving private tuition on their own.

It is tough on the child to attend primary school (which is tough enough) and then be ferried to lessons regularly.

p.s. other than reading lessons, also interested if there are tutors that can help in say, handwriting…

[MyBaby]

My DS started occupational therapy (somewhere in Balestier) to iron out his handwriting issues when he was in K2. He was with the OT for 6 mths and she discharged him when DS made tremendous improvement. Rather ex, though...

3boysdad:

p.s. other than reading lessons, also interested if there are tutors that can help in say, handwriting....

[Picolo]

august24:

Thanks Picolo. I did not manage to send him to DAS for test though as the form has a section which requires the school teacher to submit their observation about him. His form teacher do not think he needs to be referred (he is ok, just need to be focused and not be distracted) while his MT teacher feels that she does not spend as much time as other subject teachers with him thus she should not be the one completing the form.

Hi august24,
None of ds2's teachers ever told us to send him for any assessment, but I seriously feel that he has some kind of mild learning disability and I thought he could be dyslexic. To most teachers, if the kid is managing the school work quite well, they would not ask their students to be sent for an assessment. On the last day of school last year, I sent the DAS' Teacher Observation Form to ds2's from teacher to fill up and she did. What she did was just to state her observations of my child in class honestly, and that's all was needed (BTW, my ds2's frorm teacher also thinks that my son is quite ok, just easily distracted in class and needs more focus and needs to be more careful in his work). DAS will assess the full observation from the parents and the teacher to decide when they want to see your child.

While I was finding out more info about the DAS form submission, I found out from their website that they were running a seminar in Suntec and there they also provide a free computerised 30 minutes screening. I took advantaged of it and enjoyed a 10 or 15% off the usual $500+ fee for the full DAS assessment, which was scheduled one month later.

My son had a wonderful psychologist Shijia who is young, kind and passionate in her work to attend to him. After the assessment, she explained her findings to us face-to-face and we benefitted a lot from the discussions. From her recommendatons, we move on to find other ways to help him as he is not tested dyslexic.

If you still have lingering doubts about whether your child is dyslexic, I encourage you to send her for an assessment. My husband and I were surprised by the findings as they give another perspective of ds2. It's like a side-mirror to reveal some blindspots to us.

[Picolo]

august24,


My ds2 also has no problems with 听写, and getting 100 or close to it is not a problem if he is motivated to learn it before the test. However, he forgets the newly words very quickly too. He relies heavily on me to ‘tell him stories’ to help him remember the strokes, or break the Chinese character apart. The more dramatic/silly the story, the better he remembers. Eg. for a recently learnt word, 傻 (stupid)，I would tell him a story like: a person (一个人）is silly, that’s why the radical is 人字旁, and because he is a 白痴 （dumb)， he always mistake the horizontal stroke in 白as x. he also has a moustache, which explains the 2 strokes 八 under ‘白". As he keeps making silly mistakes, hence the word 又 （meaning again) at the bottom. But as the poor fella is 傻, even his 又 has an additional stroke. At the end of the story, the character 傻 is formed. The word was taught to him last week but he can still remember it effortlessly today.

In another word 猴，ds2 keeps forgetting the 人字 in the middle, so I remind him that although the monkey is an animal, he thinks he is a 人. After the explanation, ds2 forms a mental picture of the word and he has no problems remembering how to write the word now.