I just saw this book and it kinda of reminds me that we are at the end of the journey fighting dyslexia. Of course I will never forget the battles fought and so there isn't a need to chronicle them here. Had we continue with DAS, I think they might make her a poster girl, but we turned our backs on them. They had helped to diagnose her dyslexia but were pretty poor at helping her cope.
Her O levels certificate has a mark to show that she was given additional time but by the time she took the A levels she was with everyone. When the cert comes later this year, you cannot tell that she was dyslexic. Well she still is, and playing to her strengths and avoiding her weaknesses, she would avoid subjects that demand too much spelling.
Will I have to give her spelling in NUS? I don't know. May be that's why I didn't think we have scored a total victory against dyslexia but on paper you can no longer tell.
It has taken this item at Amazon Kindle to help me realize the battle is basically over.
Hi, my son was identified as dyslexic recently. I'm still trying to understand as much as possible about the condition. Could you share your experience on supporting a dyslexic child? Why was the DAS program not helping?
ReplyDeleteHope things at DAS are better now but my daughter in her very words found the intervention classes, "completely useless" But it wasn't useless to the other boy in the same class. Perhaps she was put in the wrong class. She was taught match sounds with words exactly her handicap. Painful.
DeleteWe gave up on phonics. She learned to read the old fashioned way using Ladybird Peter and Jane series in P1 without knowing she was dyslexic until secondary one. Basically I think she memorized everything she needs to function. Common words after a while become part of your system but infrequent words is a problem. Every exam we have to give her spelling by the books! All the way to the A levels. In a sense I think she coped like Dr. Lee Wei Ling had - A big memory which can be trained. It is not a function of IQ. So there is plenty of hope. Helps a lot if the child is determined. So as parents you must be totally encouraging. I mean totally! For your sake, my girl put in the work and eventually she finished this marathon with perfect A levels. No reason why your boy can't do very well with plenty of love and support from the family. Don't count on the school. If they come in, it is a bonus. Try to keep your CL but drop it if you must. My girl dropped it for the A levels. I wrote to the MOE via the JC to arrange that. In exchange she no longer get extra time for exams. NUS is accepting her as a non-dyslexic but the condition is never cured. Dyslexics just figure ways to cope.
Thank you PengYou, your experience has given me much hope.
DeleteWe are still waiting for the DAS phonics intervention class to start, so do not know if it's effective. I've also reflected to DAS that phonics was part of my son's 2 years of pre-school curriculum, and he doesn't seem to have benefit much from it.
Right now, i feel that my son greatest problem might be that he is put off by the effort required to read, and is not motivated to engage in school.
Hi Hwee Chin, I assume your son is in P1 or P2. DAS must have tested his IQ too and that is usually not an issue, i.e., he has the potential to learn. When my girl was in P1, I pretty much ignore everything else and just concentrate on getting her to read. If that is fixed everything falls into place. I have little confidence in their system and I notice then they had no successful testimonials to boast. Their place is full of famous dyslexics than their own successes. Kids have good memory capacity. I highly recommend sitting with your boy everyday and read the Peter and Jane series together. Reading with him also show your commitment and interest......then at the appropriate time take him to the library, start with high quality comics which our libraries have lots of. This is applying the skills he would have picked up from the P&J series. It would provide him a sense of achievement and joy. Meanwhile forget about his grades in school. Just keep him interested. You you achieve this, in time he will do well. In a relative system, there are always plenty of demotivated students. A motivated kid is hard to beat but hard to nurture too. Think long term, the short term losses do not matter. I think I have just quickly shared with you the strategy I used with my girl.
DeleteThank you PengYou for sharing your experiences and strategies to manage dyslexia. I really appreciate the practical advices.
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome. I had made some assumptions about your boy dyslexia, so take my suggestions with a pinch of salt. There are forms of dyslexia which my suggestion wouldn't work and they require professional intervention. E.g., check out the book, "The Gift of Dyslexia" by Ronald Davis. It is available in our public and also e-libraries.
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