A dyslexic child may often make spelling mistakes, omit vowels in words, or find
difficulty in remembering words in general.

MAKE a guess. What do Albert Einstein, Walt Disney and Bill Gates have in common? Apart from being leaders in their respective fields, these people have also prevented dyslexia from hindering them in their personal success.

Probably the most common of all learning disabilities, dyslexia affects the reading, writing and spelling skills of individuals that suffer from it.

This in turn affects their phonological awareness, language acquisition, reasoning skills, and the way they organise information.

The Dyslexic Association of Singapore (DAS) estimates the proportion of dyslexic Singaporeans to stand at 3-5%.

Children with dyslexia may appear to be bright and articulate, but they fall way behind their same-aged peers in terms of reading, writing and/or spelling.

For example, a dyslexic child may often make spelling mistakes, omit vowels in words, or find difficulty in remembering words in general.

While there may be no cure for dyslexics, they can still succeed in life if their parents or educators give them the right intervention at the right time.

It is important for parents and educators of dyslexic children to provide them with the much-needed support, as these kids might feel inferior to their classmates and thus develop negative emotions towards going to school.

As such, unconventional teaching methods need to be used in order for them to absorb material more effectively. At the same time, find out the child’s strengths and weaknesses and encourage him to explore his talent while his weaknesses are being corrected.

Bear in mind that most dyslexic children tend to have accompanying behavioural problems that could make learning a bigger stumbling block for them.

Dyslexia, however, is not to be confused with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), though these may come hand in hand with dyslexia and should be treated differently.

Individuals with learning disabilities aren’t any less intelligent than others – their brains just happen to function differently from the common majority.

In Singapore, the DAS can provide internationally recognised psychological tests to help determine your child’s learning disabilities and how their teaching services will benefit him or her.