DAS visit

Got the chance to visit the Dyslexia Association of Singapore due to the CED module on Catering to pupils with behavioral and learning problems.
The 2 hr presentation and brief tour of the centre gave us an overview of the difficulties faced by dyslexic children and how the centre helps them.

Common symptoms include:

1. later than expected speech development
2. poor vocabularly development
3. difficulty in reading
4. difficulty in learning the names of letters or sounds in the alphabet
5. difficulty in writing
6. difficulty in learning nursery rhymes and playing rhyming games
7. confusion of similar letters such as "b","d","p","q","s","z"
8. confusion of words that look alike "on", "no", "dog", "god"
9. distractibility
10. quick forgetters

Quite disappointed to find out that research regarding remediative methods for children having dyslexia in Chinese language is not as extensive when compared to English language.

More importantly, children who have been identified with this neurologically-based specific learning difficulty have to be motivated and determined in helping themselves accept and deal with this learning difficulty positively. Support and understanding from their family, teachers and peers will definitely encourage them to not give up. Famous dyslexics include Albert Einstein, Agatha Christie, Tom Cruise and SM Lee.
For more information, the site to visit is www.das.org.sg