Form Filling Help for Dyslexics

A close friend who is dyslexic phoned up yesterday very frustrated because of ongoing problems he was having filling in a passport application form. It made me realize that the advice I gave him should be posted.

Continue Reading Add comment September 28th, 2009

Press Release: Dyslexic Centre Australia is to launch

In response to thousands of requests from frustrated parents of dyslexic children who struggle at school, we are proud to announce the opening of Dyslexic Centre Australia.

Continue Reading 21 comments September 28th, 2009

Support Groups

Hi Dawn

Thank you so much for the information. It is all a bit daunting now, I am really concerned about how my son will overcome his Dyspraxia. Do you know if there are any support groups in the Sutherland Shire area in NSW?

Kind regards
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
From what i can find out most of the kids being home schooled in urban areas in Australia have kids who are either dyslexic or dyspraxic. If you want to get to meet other people with dyspraxic kids then get in touch with the home schooling network.

If people could set up self help groups I would fully back and support you all.

CHeers
Dawn

4 comments September 28th, 2009

Dyslexia

My daughter and son have severe receptive & expressive sppech delays. My daughter has mild Global Learning probs, Auditory Processing Probs. Ihave been concerned that she may have Dyslexia and her speechy thinks there is a good possiblity she does but doesn’t think its worth diagnosing. I would like to know so wondering who or where do we go?? Thanks Toni

Hi Toni,
Thanks for your email. Unfortunately I live in WA but there is a SPELD organization that do testing. www.splednsw.org.au.

If your daughter has Severe auditory problems then this would account for her delay in speech. Also this used, back when i was training in the Uk 35 years ago, be known as Auditory dyslexia. Things have gotton lost in sea of labels nowadays. If she also has big problems in remembering what words look like, an tries to always sound them out or spell them how they sound rather than how they look, then it is very likely that she does.

There is a DVD that helps a kid overcome Auditory processing problems. its called earobics – www.earobics.com . this should help both of them I think. Its important that she does about 15 minutes a day until the course is complete. It teaches kids to listen and discern between similar sounds and hear against a background noise etc. I have found it to help a lot. I find it works best if the kid wears headphones.

Hope this has helped

Cheers
Dawn

1 comment September 28th, 2009

Visualising words …

I was just looking at one of your documents and wondered why you believe that “Dyslexics, in particular are not able to visualise words”…

Continue Reading 3 comments September 28th, 2009

More help …

Just wanted to say thank you for helping me understand my daughters. Our girls are 15 (twins) and have struggled all their lives with learning. I never explored dyslexia, because I thought it only meant seeing letters backwards…

Continue Reading 2 comments September 28th, 2009

What tests are used to diagnose?

Thank you very much for your response. I heard you on Richard Glover’s Drive programme on 2BL yesterday. If we were to come to you in WA at some stage, what tests would you use to diagnose dyslexia? My son had a diagnosis of dyscalculia but I believe he is actually dyslexic even though his reading is satisfactory. His handwriting and spelling is extremely problematic and always has been (he is 10). If he is to undergo more testing, I would prefer it be with someone who knows what they are doing.
Thanks & regards

Hi,

I developed my test for SPELD here when I wrote the course for TAFE. You have to be dyslexic to do the course since it is targeted for dyslexics. I use that but much more comprehensive. Its not just about diagnosis, its about learning how your kid learns and perceives the world. Once we know how he thinks then we know how to teach him. Unfortunately most testing focuses on the problem and merely identifies that. My testing is solution based. I am looking for the solution not the problem.

Dyslexia is a learning difference so once we can establish his strengths and weaknesses we can develop a teaching program around this.

Dyscalculia merely means that the kid has problems with numbers, its actually Greek for “difficulty with numbers” and as such is not a true diagnosis, in my terms. what you need to know is why he has difficulty with numbers. It could be due to a number of things, including, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Asperger’s Syndrome and other things. All these learning differences need to be taught in a different way from each other.

I am posting details of my assessment on the site soon.

hope this helps
Dawn

7 comments September 28th, 2009

Assessments by Dawn

I am getting a lot of requests for assessments. I myself charge $200 for a complete assessment and report. I also develop an individual learning program for the pupil and produce a disc with any materials that will be needed for the kid, or adults teaching. My materials are very user friendly and anyone can use them whether a qualified teacher or not.

Continue Reading 5 comments September 28th, 2009

Richard Glover Conference

Hi everyone,
Dawn was live on ABC Radio Sydney the Richard Glover conference on dyslexia. If anyone wants to hear what she said and how the program went this is the link. If you click on “Download Midweek conference wednesday september 9th” you can hear it.

http://www.abc.net.au/sydney/radio/

Add comment September 28th, 2009

Dyslexia / Dyspraxia

From a parent

Hi Dawn, I think I love you!! Thank you so much for putting in all the effort to make this possible. I am a mother of a very intelligent 6 year old boy. He should be in year one but because he was born in May of 2003 I was able to keep him down so that he could keep up with the other students. I sent him to a brand new public school last year, his kindy teacher was more concerned with him sitting still and listening to her then to take notice of his school work. I asked for a meeting with the school psychologist, in walks this guy that had no idea where he was, it looked like he had just had a hit of cocaine, he showed no interest in mine or my partners concerns or the problems of my child. It was a wasted 1 hour of my life. I would ask his teacher how he was going and I would get feed back on his behaviour, not on his school work. I was told once that his fine motor skills were poor but that was it. By the end of last year she had manage to get him to behave the way she wanted and wasn’t bothered with him any more. I tried one time to talk to her about my concerns and was promptly told that he was good for her maybe parenting classes is what I needed. Well this year I enrolled him in a different public school and from the beginning it has been handled a totally different way. The teacher has recommended that he has occupational therapy, speech therapy and that he sees a physiotherapist. I was contacted by his school last week in regards to a interview with the school psychologist so on Monday morning my partner and I go to the school to meet with the deputy principal, his teacher and the school psychologist. We were informed that they would be doing an IQ test on him and they asked what kind of problems he seemed to be showing. During the interview, both the deputy principal and psychologist said that it sounds like Dyspraxia; there is a history of Dyslexia in the family. A lot of people have said that they think he is ADD, but it never fitted him. I did the checklist for Dyspraxia and I ticked all but two boxes. The psychologist informed us that the test results will come back with a result of average to above average intelligence. Now is where my confusing comes into it. If his IQ is normal to above normal would that not mean, that he is fine? I really can’t see how you can be intelligent even above normal intelligent and still be told that you have a disability? I am beyond angry about this problem. I am now thinking that I might sue the government in regards to them refusing to see that these children have no form of disability that they learn differently, that it is the government letting these children down. I would never ever want another child, he is so fun, loving, exciting and just beautiful. Why are they so intent on putting the blame on him? Could you recommend in regards to the current education system where I should send him? I could end up in jail if I don’t send him somewhere. I will NOT send him public and have him told that he is stupid which is basically what they are doing. Thanks and regards

The question you are asking is one that most school do not seem to understand her.
If your son has an average or above IQ and is not learning at school it is because your son has specific learning difficulty or what I call a specific learning difference. That means that her learns differently from other kids and therefore needs to be taught differently. it is really simple but not understood here.
i show parents and teacher how to teach these kids in my books. it is not hard but apparently getting education to change is hard.

In the Uk and Victoria people are suing and winning because in fact it is against the law not teach your on properly.

Unfortunately I am not able, and nor are Dyslexia SPELD, to recommend any schools in WA and I have asked for anyone who knows of one that teaches these kids properly to tell me . Nobody has. I am trying to set up a school but it takes time and fund raising.
In the mean time many parents are homeschooling their dyslexic and dyspraxic kids. One home schoolin g organizer told me that most kids being home schooled in the Perth area have these problems.

I live in Rockingham so if you want a proper assessment or , tutoring or help home schooling I do offer all of these. I also help parents work out personal teaching programs if they are taken out of school.

I change $200, through my new organization, Dyslexic Centre Australia and that includes a 2 hours session of working out a personal teaching program, a report and free soft ware.
Cheers
dawn

3 comments September 28th, 2009