Dyslexia is a condition said to be caused by the way your brain processes and stores information about identifying the separate speech sounds within a word and how these sounds are represented by different letters and words. When a person suffers has dyslexia, it is difficult for them to read words and/or numbers.
It is important to remember that dyslexia is not an illness; it does not impact, or reflect on, the dyslexic person’s intelligence and willingness to learn. In fact, it is often defined as a gap between the student’s ability and achievement levels. Generally, most dyslexic children can keep up with their peers by putting in extra effort in the early years of their education. However, as they are required to read quickly and fluently to keep up with their work when they get older, they may run into problems at school.
With special and appropriate teaching methods as well as adequate emotional support and educational therapy, a dyslexic child can cope successfully through school and in their adult years. Hence, having an early assessment of dyslexia in a child is incredibly beneficial, especially if you suspect them of this learning disability.
Read on to find out how you can spot dyslexia in your child so that you can send them for a dyslexia assessment in Singapore.
Late Speech Development
A child with dyslexia may begin talking later than the expected age. They may also find it challenging to grasp new vocabulary and words, recall letters of the alphabet or simple rhymes. You may also notice that they have difficulty expressing their thoughts and communicate more with gestures instead of words. Furthermore, they may also experience difficulty finding the words they want to use, mispronouncing long words or transposing between phrases and words when speaking.
Parents need to be more patient with their child at this stage as they could be feeling just as frustrated as you are about their situation.
Reading Difficulties
Children with dyslexia also have a more challenging time sounding out the words and letters they see. Hence they are slower at reading and understanding texts than their peers in class. You may also notice them mispronouncing or mixing up letters in simple words like ‘and’, ‘dog’ or confusing ‘now’ with ‘won’.
This may make them feel less confident about reading, and they will end up avoiding reading aloud in the classroom as a way to cope with the anxiety that they feel. A dyslexic child also finds it difficult to retrieve and summarise the sequence of events in a simple story or rhyme. Hence, they take a long time to complete assignments that involve reading or reading.
DIfficulty With Numbers and Sequencing
Children with dyslexia also find it difficult to follow number sequences, arithmetic symbols confuse them as well. Simple things like remembering the names of colours, days of the weeks and months in order or telling the time can also prove to be challenging for them. Problem sums may be confusing and challenging to most of us. To a child with dyslexia, not only do they have to read the words, they also have to understand the sequence of events, meaning of the words, and translate the information into numbers and symbols to find one correct answer. Thus it is important for us to understand their difficulties and seek to help them with appropriate means.
Illegible Handwriting
In most cases of dyslexia, children present a poorer standard of written work compared to their oral ability, as they may have trouble holding the pencil properly and struggle with remembering grammar as well as punctuation rules.
Even though they have normal or above-average levels of intelligence, a dyslexic child may have messy handwriting, difficulty in ‘finding’ the right word when talking, forming answers to simple questions, and mixing capital and small letters within the words. They may also have trouble copying from the board in class.
He or she may thus have messy handwriting and take longer to complete assignments or class tests. Despite having normal or above-average intelligence, a dyslexic child may encounter difficulty in ‘finding’ the right word or forming answers to simple questions.
Enrol Your Child In Educational Therapy In Singapore
It is rather common for preschool teachers to be one of the first people to notice reading and comprehension issues in a child with dyslexia or dyslexic traits. If your child’s behaviour at school or home indicates any of the above-mentioned symptoms, then we recommend you consult a doctor or educational therapist in Singapore to carry out a dyslexia assessment.
At MindChamps Allied Care, you may contact us for a complimentary parents’ discussion where we will provide more information about the therapy services we offer as well as the ones that would best suit your child’s needs. We can then schedule an initial assessment with our certified psychologists and child therapists to help you understand more about the needs of your child and to come up with a therapy plan in the follow up sessions.
Ultimately, it is important to work closely with the school and medical experts so that your child receives special support and training in phonetics through educational therapy. Educational therapists in Singapore provide support for a child with learning differences to receive intervention in many academic aspects of their life.
At MindChamps Allied Care, we provide individual or group educational therapy classes. Our classes are suitable for children with learning differences in their early years of formal education or children in primary and secondary schools.
Want to find out more about our educational therapy services in Singapore? Reach out to us today or book an appointment to learn more about the dyslexia assessment and educational therapy we provide at MindChamps Allied Care.
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