Dyslexia - Don't Misunderstand the Child

It feels good to help.

My colleague has been sharing with me about her son's learning difficulties and his mischiefs. Since the start of the year when he entered Primary One, Mondays to Wednesdays are spent struggling together to learn 10 words of spelling, things are misplaced, lost, forgotten, etc. So up to yesterday, I checked out the signs and symptoms of dyslexia and forwarded all the information to her. She saw the parallel signs and took action immediately by approaching the form teacher, requesting for forms to be filled for submission to DAS.

So until the first appointment and eventual diagnosis, I'm glad that my colleague is at least made aware and taking the right course of action.

I myself don't know much about this condition. I wonder if our Singapore teachers are trained to watch out for signs to feedback to the parents, rather than point out the obvious like "oh, your child is naughty, doesn't pay attention in class, is restless, runs around everywhere, etc. He failed his spelling test again, please get him to buck up in the next quiz, dictation, etc.". It is sad that not every child is promptly given the right 'strategy' to be guided (before self-confidence & motivation spirals downwards to the point of no return).

Oh, and let me tell you the first consultation and subsequent courses aren't cheap.