All About Dyslexia

[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.

[desichan352]

I’m afraid I have dyslexia as I find it very difficult to copy from a book or board and have to do it word by word. I can’t concentrate in class and will get a headache when i try to do so. I also have a very short term memory and will stutter all the time whether in front of my classmates or parents like repeating a certain word again and again before forcing myself to move on to the next word and don’t have a very wide vocabulary of words. I also take a few hours to learn 听写 or spelling while my friends take only a few minutes. Oh, and when i need to know what letter comes before another, i have to recite the alphabets to do so. Anyone can help me?

[cnimed]

desichan352:

I'm afraid I have dyslexia as I find it very difficult to copy from a book or board and have to do it word by word. I can't concentrate in class and will get a headache when i try to do so. I also have a very short term memory and will stutter all the time whether in front of my classmates or parents like repeating a certain word again and again before forcing myself to move on to the next word and don't have a very wide vocabulary of words. I also take a few hours to learn 听写 or spelling while my friends take only a few minutes. Oh, and when i need to know what letter comes before another, i have to recite the alphabets to do so. Anyone can help me?

desichuan352,
How old are you? I don't think you have dyslexia. Your post is perfect in terms of spelling and order. My dyslexic friends, even as adults, will commit frequent spelling errors even though they are already working for their phD. You can manage multisyllabic words like \"concentrate\", \"vocabulary\", and your sentences are in order.

I also need to recite the entire alphabet to know the order of the letters, and I am not dyslexic.

It's best to get a professional to look into it for you, e.g. an educational psychologist to do an assessment of your needs. From your description, there are other possibilities related to the information processing systems. My guess would be that the stuttering and poor vocabulary are a result, not a primary cause, of other learning issues.

I think as a student, you can referral through the school for an assessment. Why don't you ask your parents to raise this with your school? The assessments will take longer, but they will be heavily subsidized.

My son has to learn in a multisensory way and I teach him what is the way that works for him so that he can learn independently thereafter. My son also used to get a headache, and it turned out to be vision related. If you can read the words one by one, but gets confused when everything is string together in a sentence or on a page, then it may be worth checking out vision issues. There are many vision issues that are little known, not just short-sightedness or astigmatism.

You should consider if you get headaches only during certain circumstances - consider noise level, lighting, reading etc. Some people cannot filter out ambient noise well. This is auditory processing issues and can be diagnosed by an audiologist. One of my neighbours' son was diagnosed with that, as well as with vision issues. Before his diagnosis, he was unable to copy from the board at all, did very badly in school and had very low self-confidence.

You should also consider what are the things that you CAN remember very well - are they things that you hear, things that you touch etc. This will indicate to you the way you learn best. I read extensively to my son when his vision issue makes him unable to read. His ability to filter out ambient sounds is also a bit on the low side, so his learning environment has to be relatively quiet. However his verbal reasoning is very good and he learns a lot through conversations, being read to and the good radio/TV programmes. Because he is not a typical learner, I have to find ways of teaching that suits him, and not expect him to adapt to curriculum because they just don't work for him. He gets confused. I have to bring in bridging materials, as well as slowly get him to adapt to the busier learning environment that he will encounter in primary school.

Finally I want to tell you that finding it hard to learn is not an accurate indication of your abilities. The fact that you have the self-awareness and drive to help yourself shows that you are a motivated learner. What you need now is to find the learning paths that serve you the best.

[JonC]

Anyone knows about Dyslexia in Chinese Language?


Any known intervention therapists in Singapore? So far found none.

What about overseas?