Summer went by quickly like a fast-forward movie. We barely had time to catch our breath and before you know it, the children are back to school and everything is all of a sudden happening in full swing!

Here, I think it is the right time to do a little refresher on what “reading disability” is. The following was written for the benefit of our readers who are teachers or parents of dyslexic children:

Medical Name: Dyslexia (reading disability)

Clinical Features
Cases usually present themselves as seemingly normal children whose reading ability lag behind that of their peers. Characteristics include:

• Poor spelling
• Early word recognition
• Poor grammar (e.g. syntax)
• Poor recall of content read
• Speed of reading extremely low
• Inaccurate reading (e.g. skip lines and words)
• Hesitant reader
• Nervous during reading
• Avoids and dislike reading
• Poor recall of verbally given information/instructions
• Uncomfortable in noisy environment where reception of audio information may be more difficult

(more…)

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I have been invited by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to give a talk on dyslexia in Cantonese in early April. The details are available on the dyslexia-talk. For a long time, parents who do not speak English struggle to make sense of dyslexia without the benefit of having literature that explains this medical condition adequately. As a result, there is a great deal of misunderstanding and unnecessary fear.

My hope is that through this free workshop sponsored by S.U.C.C.E.S.S., non-English speaking Chinese parents can now breathe a sigh of relief and come to realize that they are not alone. Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities plaguing school-age children who are learning to read. Help is just around the corner. Dyslexia can be managed successfully and it is possible for dyslexic children to learn to read with proper instruction.

See you at the workshop! And don’t forget to register.

This past Saturday, I attended a conference at UBC on early Mandarin bi-lingual learning. It was a wonderful experience for me as I was able to catch up with some former colleagues and make new friends at the same time. The enthusiasm amongst the attendees was contagious and I was so glad that my friend, the Chief Administrator at Pui Ying Christian Services Society, Saintfield Wong, informed me about this conference and suggested that I attend. (more…)

In this day and age, being dyslexic, if detected early and if appropriate technological support is made available, should not be a major impediment to achieving success academically and professionally.

One young man who was formerly my student is a computer “geek” and he was able to circumvent most of his memory problems (he forgets things) by using hand held devices and his laptop. In my own private practice, I make it a point to “custom fit” our clients with appropriate high-tech tools to help them achieve their learning goals.

Check out the article below on technology and the adult dyslexic. Enjoy!

http://www.bnna.info/adult-dyslexia/modern-technology-and-adult-dyslexia.htm

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Recent research has shown that different areas of the brain are implicated in Chinese dyslexics and English dyslexics.  I have attached a presentation on this topic by Prof. Wai Ting Siok here (media_ppt_2008). The presentation is in both Chinese and English.  You can also find the original paper in PNAS here PNAS vol.105, pp. 5561-5566.  Enjoy!

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