Hi - Due to complications with the current method of purchasing our e-books, we are pleased to announce we will soon be launching a brand new online store.
We will be announcing the launch in the coming weeks.
Best wishes
Dawn
Add comment October 14th, 2008
Can you please advise where you can get testing for motor dyspraxia or dyslexia in Sydney? My daughter has been diagnosed with auditory processing disorder and we are commencing some treatment for this - but I think she may also have motor dyspraxia
Continue Reading Add comment October 14th, 2008
Hi,
I have 2 boys - 11 and 9yrs old. The oldest one has had no developmental or learning difficulties at all. The youngest has had speech therapy and occupational therapy starting from 4yrs of age (speech). The school they attend has copies of all of his therapy. His writing is atrocious, he has excellent spelling and mathematical skills. He transposes letters, can’t write in/on lines, writes in a mix of capitals and lower case, all different size letters, takes forever to write anything and tidy just does not exist in his work books. He also gets severely frustrated especially at school when given a writing task - snapping pencils and crying at times. He failed his yr 3 statewide core skills test for writing (surprise surprise) and I have been unable to find any tutors on the list given out by the gov dept that organises the tutoring to do with the skills tests. So I am at a stage now where I will have to arrange for his tutoring to be done through the school he attends. My issue is this - they have been aware of his diffulties from day dot and have from what I can see just ignored them or put them in the too hard basket. My son is extremely intelligent and inquisitive and tries hard to please as long as he doesn’t have to write anything. I presently have him working on a touch typing CD rom hoping that if I can improve his typing I can convince the school to allow him to do his ‘writing’ on the computer …
Continue Reading Add comment October 14th, 2008
This came through as an email but I thought it may be useful for others.
Hi there,
Recently my partner, heard about dysgraphia while watching a documentary, and explained to me that he thinks he has it. He has struggled with hand writing ever since he was a child, and I know that dyslexia runs strongly in his extended family. He little trouble reading, but when he is writing has trouble forming letters, he swaps letters around in every word, and misspells words even though verbally he can spell them absolutely perfectly. He will run all the letters he writes together unless there are lines on the paper to guide the writing. His biggest trouble is taking notes and copying things down which he has to do a lot for work, and if he forces himself to write neatly it is slow and he forgets what word he is writing. So he basically avoids writing at all costs. I’ve always thought it’s odd how rarely he writes things down, and why he gets annoyed at me when I ask him to write in a birthday card to his mum or jot down a phone number! He also said that when he is reading often the lines of text “bend” or jump, which I’ve heard some people with dyslexia have?
I was wondering what sort of help is available to help him, and how he can go about getting that help? It’s something that has impacted on his life for so long without him realising and has affected his confidence. Now he’s got a feeling about what it might be, and that he’s not the only one out there with this problem, he wants to do something about it. Any advice you have would be of great help! Your website is terrific.
hi,
he obviously has dysgraphia as that only actually means “problems with writing”. what is important is in finding out why.
do the tick box tests for older students in both dyslexia and dyspraxia and see if either of them fit.
in the mean time stop writing and word process. you don’t actually have to write nowadays and most people who find writing hard find word processing easy once they get good at it.
cheers
dawn
1 comment October 8th, 2008
This email was recently sent to me and I have posted it, incase anyone can help with the school suggestion.
Recently my 6 year old was diagnosed with dyslexia and adhd. We have enrolled him into a school that teaches the Orton Gillingham method. We will be moving to Melbourne, VIC and needed to find a school similar if there are any. We hear that you may only need a couple of years if caught early and it’s severity.
I have been searching the web for Australia Melbourne schools but they don’t have any listed for dyslexia.
7 comments September 10th, 2008
There is a big difference between mathematics and arithmetic.
Dyslexics are generally good at mathematics, if taught properly, but not always good at arithmetic.
Continue Reading 3 comments July 29th, 2008
I use the Fun Writing Game” (sold downloadable at $8.00 from this site) to get kids to enjoy writing. Some kids are natural writers and when given this game they blossom into little authors.
Continue Reading 1 comment July 29th, 2008
Before encouraging a pupil to use this times table square as an arithmetic aid, ensure that the pupil understands the concepts of both multiplication and division.
You can test for this by showing times and divide sums and asking the pupil to predict the answer.
CLICK HERE for accompanying file
More on this can be found in chapter 17 of “Dyslexia –How to Win” by Dawn Matthews.
It has been designed to be multi-coloured and some text will be lost if printed out on coloured paper. It will be easy to read, even for those with Irlen Syndrome, because no black is used.
Do not stick it into a math book, as then the pupil will have to be constantly flicking backwards and forwards from math sums to times tables sheet. Please keep it separate so that the pupil can put it next to the sums.
I do understand that this breaks every law of design but the varied colours and fonts are used to make tracking, both up and down and side to side, easier.
It can be used for both multiplication and division.
Find the intersecting point between the bold numbers on the top row and on the side row. Eg. 4×5 find 5 on the left hand side and 4 on the top and follow 5 horizontally and 4 vertically downwards and you will find 20 is the point where these lines meet
eg. 21÷7 Find 7 on the top line and look vertically down the line until you find 21. Then go horizontally across to the left dark numbers and you will find 3. 3 is the answer.
Add comment July 29th, 2008
The following suggestions should help any dyslexic pupil to feel more relaxed and able to work well in your classroom. If you have a stressed dyslexic in your class s/he will not be learning well, could be misbehaving and will not reach his/he true potential in your class.
These tips will help both you and your dyslexic pupil.
Continue Reading Add comment July 16th, 2008
To best understand this first you have to take a look at how primates learn.
When primates are born only 20% of our brains are hard wired up. The rest is made up of millions of separate cells waiting for the baby to learn before they join themselves together. This is not the case with the rest of the mammal kingdom (except for elephants). where 80% of the brain is hardwired at birth. This is why kittens and puppies can learn to be cats and dogs so quickly.
Continue Reading 1 comment July 16th, 2008
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