Ong (standing fourth right), DASwk head of publicity Feizal K Avarathar (seated far right) and teaching and administrative staff of DASwk with some of the dyslexic students.
HE is 14 and only found out he is dyslexic a few months ago.
He never thought he was. Neither did his parents, teachers, classmates and schoolmates.
Only after he was brought to Kuching in May by the Dyslexia Association of Sarawak (DASwk) and diagnosed, that he knew he had learning disability.
That is Harrison Natanil Seliman, a young boy from Ba Kelalan, whom DASwk is currently helping to overcome his literacy difficulties through intensive programmes and learning support.
Natanil went through his primary education at SK Bakelalan until Primary Six. He was supposed to go to Form One in one of the secondary schools in Limbang in 2014.
However, he decided not to pursue his studies and ended up a dropout.
“I failed my UPSR badly because I have the disability in reading and writing. Because of poor result, I’m ashamed to go to secondary school,” he told thesundaypost.
Upon completing Primary Six, he stayed at home and helped his parents work in their padi farm in Ba Kelalan.
Despite having learning disability, Natanil could still afford to go through a memorable primary school life as he got very good people around him.
He said he couldn’t remember any incident where he was bullied or insulted or looked down by anyone around him for not being able to read or write.
Natanil said all his teachers, parents, classmates and schoolmates were very helpful and understanding.
“I’m lucky to have all the good, supportive and understanding people around me, but unfortunately no one knew I was dyslexic.
“My teachers had been very helpful but they also did not know how to help me anymore.
“All of them (teachers) were very concerned and everyone tried to teach me, but until I came here I never knew I had learning disability,” he said.
Natanil added that he liked going to school very much before — and even now.
When he was in primary school, he attended class everyday even when he was sick or coughing.
“Like everyone else, I wanted to learn, but too bad, I still couldn’t read and write,” he said.
Ong guiding Natanil in reading.
Grateful to DASwk
Natanil expressed his gratitude to DASwk, especially its president Dr Ong Puay Hoon, who he said was so concerned about him that she treated him like her own son.
While in Kuching, he stays with Ong and her family.
Natanil said Ong also sent him to the special education classes at SMK Tabuan Jaya State Sport School every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
On every Tuesday and Thursday, Natanil goes to DASwk’s learning and resource centre for the intensive reading intervention programme in maths, English and Bahasa Malaysia.
Natanil said before he came to Kuching, he could not even do his alphabets properly, let alone spell and read.
“Now, I read and write words which people can understand although it’s still not so good and slow.
“If before I had always felt ashamed and really awkward reading out loud, now I’m more confident.”
During the interview, Natanil was asked by Ong to read and write.
With the latter’s help in using sounds and gestures to identify the letters, he managed to show his potential — reading the picked passages and writing a few uttered words.
Natanil is very happy now because he has started to pick up reading and writing.
“Everyone around me here has been very supportive and helpful and I am very happy to be able to read some words from the book and write something.
“Since I found out I can read and write, I feel much confident. I can’t wait to show and tell my parents and friends I have started to read and write now,” he enthused.
Great potential
Ong said Natanil had great potential if he continued to work hard, adding that he had the enthusiasm to do well in his studies and was also very hard working and helpful.
Because of his enthusiasm to learn, she added, Natanil caught up quite fast.
“His willingness to learn and hard work are very important. Last time, his literacy was zero, which is below kindergarten level.
“Now he gets the basic. He needs more practice to be more fluent. It’s still a long way to go for him though.”
According to Ong, Natanil was taught technical reading and basic decoding skills at the DASwk learning and resource centre.
“For example, to read MUD, we have to use sounds or join and blend the sounds.
“Now we are pushing him towards fluency and prosody. He was taught phonics-based reading and writing in tandem.”
Phonics reading is very important in helping children with dyslexia to learn to spell words.
It will be impossible for a dyslexic to spell any word correctly if he or she is unable to recognise the sounds of the letters used in forming the words.
When a dyslexic is taught phonics, he or she will be able to recognise sounds in words and spell them correctly.
Ong said they also used bottle caps to teach Natanil.
“At 14, it takes longer time to learn but Natanil is fast because he is willing to learn. If given the opportunity, he can be good in other things as well.He wants to be a mechanic but personally I think that is not employment of choice but because of the circumstances.”
Good with hands
Ong acknowledged Natanil was good with his hands, saying he could repair motorcycles, bicycles, water pumps and even rubbish bins.
“I have seen his skills with my own eyes and he also likes carpentry.”
Ong met Natanil when she was in Sekolah Kebangsaan Ba Kelalan for a Social Cohesion Project with a team of researchers from UKM in July 2013.
“Natanil was referred to me for assessment when one of the teachers heard I was from the Dyslexia Association of Sarawak.
“I did an initial screening on his literacy skills and saw that here was a boy typically normal in terms of verbal skills, vocabulary and physical development but very weak in reading and writing abilities in BM and English.
“He had not mastered the alphabet series and did not know any letter sounds,” she recalled.
His teachers, Ong said, told her Natanil was a school athlete and very helpful both at home and in school.
“After I found the boy had signs and symptoms of dyslexia, I made a report that he was not ready to sit for UPSR. I also gave options. One of them was to retain him in Primary Six the following year so he could be taught using the phonic method. But he still sat for the exam and failed in all subjects.”
Some of the children with learning difficulties taking part in one of the DASwk character-building activities.
Timely intervention
In January last year, Ong said she called up the school to find out where was Natanil studying, and was told he did not go to Form One.
Then in January this year when the association carried out a literacy project — Buddy – Read with Me — in Ba Kelalan, she looked for Natanil.
“When the association found out that he was a drop-out, I discussed with the parents to bring him here for intervention. They parents agreed and so, he has been in Kuching since May 11.”
While in Primary Six, Natanil represented his school in the 200m sprint at the inter-school meet and finished second.
Ong said now, some 25 children were receiving the intervention programme at DASwk learning and resource centre.
The teachers usually used visual auditory kinastatic tactile method (VAKT) to help children with learning disability to read and write.
Visual is learning by seeing (images and visualisation); auditory is learning through language (hearing or reading), kinesthetic is learning through moving (doing) and tactile is hands-on learning (touching).
Using these senses to teach children with learning disability not only makes learning easier for them but also more interesting — so children will listen better.
Ong said teachers would use letter names, letter sounds, hand gestures for vowels, muscle to help brain memory.
She said this method would eventually develop children with learning difficulties into automatic readers.
The DASwk learning and resource centre has five trained teachers and one administrative assistant.
The teachers are not only involved in intervention programmes but also tuition.
The centre also organises enrichment programme like dance and music for all children every Saturday morning, and outdoor activities like visiting the museum and orchid gardens once a month.
Ong said DASwk not only helped dyslexic children but also those with other learning difficulties to overcome their literacy difficulties through intensive intervention programmes and learning support.
She pointed out that there could be more children in the rural areas with literacy difficulties but were undiscovered or undiagnosed.
She said so far, they could only diagnose one from the rural area in Natanil, adding that if these children were not discovered and guided, it would be a waste of talents.
“Dyslexics are creative inclined and like normal children, they can excel in various fields. Dyslexic children are able to overcome their language-based disability through guided intervention programmes.
“Like normal children, they have the potential and if we do not provide them with the guided intervention, it’s going to be a waste of potential,” Ong said.