i’m currently assessing kids to find out what actually they have and then showing parents how to teach them using my teaching materials which are soon to be published. I am doing this through the use of SKYPE although some are people are actually preferring to come vast distances to see me.
Continue Reading 10 comments February 19th, 2010
Thanks for all your info Dawn & time.
When you have a child that never gives up, you want to keep pushing on.
Our daughter Sarah, is an anxious child, loves being at home with her family, home body, and loves the water, beach. Sarah has ADD/ADHD, expressive language difficulties, learning difficulties, however very visual, and learns visually, Sarah is 9yrs old.
I did the Tick box assessment / for the 8-13yrs for Dyspraxia, Sarah’s score was 19.
I also did the Dyslexia late infant or early primary screening sheet Sarah’s score was 12.
I am a little dyslexic myself, so probably from my side of the family.
Sarah has had expressive speech difficulties since she started to talk, Sarah did speech therapy for 6yrs. Sarah is reading well, Sarah is doing tennis lessons at the moment and has really improved, plus we bought a trampoline, as she takes a while to try new things, and the trampoline takes her out of her comfort zone which is good, Dawn suggests the wobble board which is brilliant for balance also. Sarah is learning to surf on a surfboard, we are seeing big improvements in all area’s of her gross motor skills, all these things help her confidence, In the past I have tried Sarah on
Omega fish oil since little, taken her to occupational behavioural optometry, speech therapy, neuro psychologist, you name it.
I would like to say Dawn has up to date research and provides practical resources for children like Sarah who don’t learn the mainstream way.
I wished all states in Australia would adopt Dawn’s methods of teaching children that learn differently, our daughter is very visual and Dawn’s resources are fantastic.
Thanks again
[name withheld, Sydney Australia]
instead of doing the fast forward you can buy earobics DVD at a fraction of the cost and i have found it to be as god.
Dawn
We did look into fast forward, got all the info DVD etc, we were already doing
with our daughter education DVD on the computer Maths and English, fun type learning computer games, from Tandy, Dick Smith etc, our speech therapist
looked into fast forward and said what you are already doing is very similar, our daughter Sarah is very visual, learns visually, Sarah is a whiz on the computer, plus fast forward was big $$$$, also looked into Cell field again big$$$$ and no studies to back up what they say it does, have looked at so many things and tried so much. Thanks again
I do not sell earobics but will try to work out how we can do that. I got hold of them by going to www.earobics.com. Our local SPELD sell them also. You can phone them on 0894743494.
I sell a downloadable dyspraxic pack which contains a book on dyspraxia and a phonics course and lots of other teaching aids. for $39 i think.(!) Get it from www.dyslexia-testing.com.au and type dyspraxia in the store search engine. The book I sell on dyspraxia is only at present available downloadable.
All the things you are doing are good. Skate boarding is very good also or a wobble board, I tell you how to build one in the book,
If your child is dyspraxic i would expect her to score as positive in both the dyslexia and he dyspraxia tick tests.
There are no schools which properly cater for these kids in Australia, unfortunately, so try not to worry too much if she does not keep up. Just remember that primary education is only actually meant to prepare your kid for secondary and high school is only intended to prepare her for life, so concentrate on life skills.
It is so important to find her strengths and concentrate on them rather than just correcting things that she is not doing well at.
And yes if she is dyspraxic she can improve greatly and live a more or less normal life. My step mum is dyspraxic and she was a maths teacher in a top private school.
I am beginning a maths program for these kids but as you might imagine I am quite busy!
I do offer skype assessments now.
Good luck you are doing very well and are obviously a really good mum.
dawn
4 comments January 5th, 2010
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
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
To whom it may concern,
My name is Sophie and I am currently living in Sydney, but will be moving to Perth in the middle of October after a trip back to England. I am currently on a 12 month working visa, which will expire April 2010, but I will then hopefully be able to appy for defacto, in order to allow me to stay for a few more years. I am 24 years old and completed a BA psychology degree in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, in 2005, in which my dissertation was about dyspraxia and the difficulties children have with it. I was tested for dyspraxia at school when I was 17, and undertook a year of exercises to help reduce the problems I suffered from it. The exercises made a huge difference to my life and made me a much more confident person.
This personal experience, as well as my dissertation, has increased my knowledge and interest in the area and I would now love to see what work I could be involved in to help other individuals. I came across your website on the internet and would like to make contact. I know October seems a long way, but I wondered whether it would be possible for me to meet you when I move to Perth, and possibly, at your convenience, do some work experience.
I am leaving to go back to the UK and then onto India on the 25th July, until the 13th October, so it would be best for you to contact me via email. I very much look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely, Sophie Thwaite
7 comments July 29th, 2009
My son is 6 and a half years old and recently his teacher expressed her concerns about him in class. He was assessed by her earlier in the year, showing a high level of intelligence. His reading level is 28. His maths testing was very good. He is a very sociable child. However his writing is very poor and is not a good reflection of his intelligence …
Continue Reading 5 comments May 18th, 2009
My daughter aged 10 has just be diagnosed with global learning difficulties can you please tell me what is the difference between that and dyslexia?
Continue Reading 3 comments May 12th, 2009
We’re soon to be setting up a kids blog and I will be the one running it.
Any kids out there with dyslexia or hey just need to talk someone feel free to e-mail.
I will try my best to answer all your questions and give advice to the best of my abbility, and any of the tequnical questions im not able to answer dawn will be sure to assist.
Continue Reading Add comment April 3rd, 2009
After a recent visit to check on my daughters progress at school, I was quite dissapointed to find her handwriting was a cause for concern. Deep down I knew this was not on the same level as others in her class but put it down to me not doing enough at home with her …
Continue Reading 2 comments March 26th, 2009
I purchased your book a few weeks ago and was most impressed. I am even more convinced that my 5 year old daughter has dyspraxia (still waiting on a paediatricians appointment for definite diagnosis, but at last check, she fits around 30 or so of your criteria on the checklist – definitely motor, with some verbal). At present she attends Prep, but only from 9am-12pm, because the strain on her brain makes her tired! …
Continue Reading Add comment March 3rd, 2009
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Jul | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||
