Hopes for kids with dyslexia

PUBLIC simplified social understanding has been that dyslexic children have a problem that causes them to switch letters around in their heads when they attempt to read, and as such, they are not very smart and often actually slow.

But this is not very true.

While reading is, indeed, a challenge for dyslexic children, their comprehension abilities is said to be high. Thus, it is not uncommon for giftedchildren to be dyslexic.

In fact, some of the world’s greatest achievers are dyslexic and they have excelled in a wide variety of careers.

Dyslexics do especially well in certain disciplines, including strategic planning, inventing, scientific research, creative writing, engineering, athletics, music and arts and architecture.

Most findings have it that the dyslexic’s dilemma is not a lack of intelligence, but an impaired phonological awareness — that of associating letter combinations with the sounds they are supposed to make.

For instance, the letter combination OU sounds different in words such as bought, courage, young and loud. The dyslexic’s brain jumbles this up and makes translation difficult.

The issue is not that dyslexic children cannot learn. It is that they just learn in a different way.

Indeed, it has been found that dyslexic children test at a higher level of intelligence than others.

Dyslexic children of today will have more opportunities than ever before to achieve full potential, walking in the footsteps of such famous dyslexics such as Bruce Jenner, Henry Winkler, Walt Disney, Winston Churchill, Prince Charles, Jamie Oliver, Thomas Edison, General George Patton, Cher, John Lennon, Henry Ford, Pablo Picasso, Alexander Graham Bell, Steven Spielberg and John F Kennedy, among others.

Like in other countries, there is help and hope for kids with dyslexia in Sarawak as well.

In line with its strong belief that dyslexic children deserve the opportunity to thrive in their educational environment, the Dyslexia Association of Sarawak (DASwk) is embarking on a role-changing mission aimed at re-positioning itself from a welfare-based non-governmental-organisation to that of an academic-based institution recognised for its skills and expertise in the field of literacy development.

Its head of publicity Feizal K Avarathar said now is the right time to embark on this role-changing mission, given the general public’s negative perception towards dyslexia was beginning to change.

He noted that people now were more aware dyslexia is not a disease.

“It’s merely a language-based disability which affects an individual’s ability to read, write, spell and pronounce words. A dyslexic child is able to overcome this disability through guided intervention programmes.”

Feisal said another reason for DASwk to embark on this role-changing mission was that people were getting more aware that dyslexics were not “slow learners” nor “stupid.”

A Malaysian example

He said, in fact, dyslexics were creatively inclined, having excelled in mathematics, engineering, science and arts.

“An example is Malaysia’s Vince Low, an internationally recognised scribble artist.”

He said being dyslexics was not something to be embarrassed or ashamed of, adding that in fact, many famous personalities in the world are dyslexics.

Among them, he noted, were Albert Einstein, Richard Branson, Whoopi Goldberg, while closer to home are Dr Lee Wei Ling, daughter of the late Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore) and Captain James Anthony Tan, a Malaysian who holds the world record of being the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world in 2013.

According to DASwk, among the successful Malaysians with dyslexia are Dato Dr Amar Singh HSS (a senior consultant paediatrician and president of National Early Childhood

Council), Katrina Zawai-Watkins (special education teacher, City College, Norwich, UK), Ahmad Fitri Isahak (head of technology incubation programme, Mimos Bhd, KL) and Pheh Kai Shuen (a lecturer with a university in Perak).

To accomplish its role-changing mission, Feisal said DASwk was now in the midst of sourcing for funds to set up the first Dyslexia Learning Institute in Sarawak.

He said the proposed institute, expected to be fully completed in 2020, would have classrooms, a teachers’ room, an administrative centre, a vocational block and hostel facilities.

The hostel, he revealed, would cater for children and their parents from outside Kuching coming for the assessment and intervention programmes.

Feisal, also DASwk’s head of building fund, said the vocational block would be equipped with facilities to provide trade skills to adolescents and young adults with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.

He said the institute, upon completion, would also provide other services like the intervention classes for children and young adults with dyslexia.

Land for institute

Feisal said the state government had alienated a one and a half acres at Desa Wira in Batu Kawa for the instituite, adding the building cost was about RM4 million.

He noted that a key feature in the proposed building plan was its green concept in line with DASwk’s vision of creating a sustainable teaching and learning environment within the institute.

In the long run, he added, the green concept would reduce operational costs, hence significantly contributing towards the financial sustainability of the association.

To help realise its dream of building the proposed Dyslexia Institute, the association is appealing to the public and corporate bodies for funds.

It is organising a fund-raising dinner at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching on Sept 5.

Feisal said according to a study carried by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) in 2014, some four to six per cent of school-going children in the state are dyslexic.

He said the study also revealed Bahasa Malaysia and English language teachers were neither trained to assess nor conduct dyslexia intervention programmes.

This unfortunate situation, he lamented, had marginalised many dyslexic children from the mainstream education and this inevitably led to distressing outcomes for them.

Feisal said if this situation persisted, the dyslexic children might experience negative learning environments, be subjected to ridicule and humiliation from peers, including those in authority and subsequently drop out of school at an early age.

For this reason, he said, DASwk saw it as very important to have a Dyslexia Learning Institute.

He added that once the institute was fully functional, DASwk would be in an advantageous position to assist the State Education Department address the needs of dyslexic children.

“Once fully operational, the institute will be able to provide dyslexia intervention programmes for children and in-service training to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to guide and support dyslexic children enrolled in mainstream classes or special need classes.

“There, we will also be able to train staff to conduct dyslexia assessment tests on individuals, and dyslexia consultancy by professionals and researchers in the field of special needs education.”

Unique position

Feisal said the current national emphasis on higher order thinking skills (HOTs) had placed dyslexic children in a unique position in the country’s education system.

He noted international studies on dyslexia concurred with the findings from the University of Michigan, USA, which stated: Many dyslexics (in likes of Pablo Picasso, Agatha Christie, Sally Gardner, Steve Jobs and Steven Speilberg) are exceptionally gifted in one or more of the following areas — thinking ‘outside-the-box’ in terms of problem-solving, creativity, hands-on learning and sports.

Many have strengths in their verbal skills, visual-spatial skills, social skills, memory, and music.

At DASwk, acccording to Feisal, everyone believes dyslexic children are potentially gifted.

“We have to give them every help to unlock this hidden potential. This, in itself, means an investment in human development of creative thinking among its people.”

He said it was DASwk’s hope and aspiration to give this four to six per cent of the state’s dyslexic children population a chance to shine and respond to the state education department’s clarion call of Fly Kenyalang Fly.

For the record, DASwk is a non-profit NGO set up in 2005 and registered with the Registrar of Societies in 2007.

It aims to help children with dyslexia and other learning difficulties overcome their literacy difficulties through intensive intervention programmes and learning support.

Since its inception, the association had achieved notable successes.

Among them are having been voted Most Active NGO in Sarawak in 2013 by the Ministry of Welfare, Women and Family Development; conducted dyslexia awareness courses for 700 teachers in Kuching, Sri Aman, Bau, Betong, Sarikei, Dalat, Kapit Bintulu, Miri and Limbang from 2011 to 2013 in collaboration with the State Education Depatrment; organised the First Asia-Pacific Conference on Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities in 2013 and involved in Empowerment Partnership Programme with Mobility International USA and University  of Michigan, USA, in 2013-2014.

DASwk is also the only NGO in Malaysia that provides an online education course on dyslexia for parents and teachers.

Tell-tale signs of dyslexia

Do you have these symptoms when you were in school?

•             Difficulty in sounding out word.

•             Difficulty in reading.

•             Avoid reading aloud.

•             Difficulty to understand what you have read.

•             Suffered from anxiety or headaches when ask to read.

•             Difficulty in spelling and frequently make mistakes.

•             Difficulty in writing down ideas that were in your mind.

•             Confusion with direction words, for example, left-right,

•             north-south-east-west, before-after, up-down.

•             Poor in time and space management.

•             Wrote with difficulty or had illegible handwriting

•             Creative thought.

•             Learn best through hands-on experience, demonstration,

experimentation, observation and visual aids.

•             Talented in art, drama music, sports, mechanics and story-telling.

If you have six or more of the above signs and symptoms, you might be at risk for dyslexia.