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Things that worked well in school:
- Setting routines in the classroom; consistency is key!
- Use of manipulative and lots of hands-on activities
- Bit-sized tasks, both in class and as homework.
- Daily homework is key. Consistency.

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For pupils with Dysgraphia, the use of word processing instead of writing helps the kid to write better; however given the examination requirement for writing as a test, child still needs to write on paper - unless the assessment of his LD is done, school cannot provide that access arrangement for the child in examinations through.

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Hi Dr Owyeong, where can I purchase/access the core text you mentioned in the lecture?
Answer: The core text can be purchased either at the NIE bookshop OR loaned from the NIE library. Below are the details for access of the text at the NIE library.

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for complex family aka no family support, do whatever you can from the school side...when the child changes for the better, the parents may/may not see and may/may not be "enticed" to come on board...there are parents who are not ready to be parents...need to work with the child to break the cycle

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for complex family aka no family support, do whatever you can from the school side...when the child changes for the better, the parents may/may not see and may/may not be "enticed" to come on board...there are parents who are not ready to be parents...need to work with the child to break the cycle

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give parents time to accept the intervention plan, diagnosis and all...we are not them...it may be a great blow to them...approach from the point of working collaboratively for the good of the child - work the child towards independence...parents tend to be more receptive if we approach them from the perspective of "how may I work with you to support your child to be the best that he/she can be..."

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give parents time to accept the intervention plan, diagnosis and all...we are not them...it may be a great blow to them...approach from the point of working collaboratively for the good of the child - work the child towards independence...parents tend to be more receptive if we approach them from the perspective of "how may I work with you to support your child to be the best that he/she can be..."

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It helps when stakeholders of child with diverse needs communicate openly about expectations and recommended strategies and support plans - for the sake of reinforcement of strategies and management of expectations for all; gone are the days in the name of confidentiality, everything is hushed hushed and top secret in the name of confidentiality...stakeholders need to know and sing the same tune.

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Try  #WISDOM principles in supporting students - both diagnosed and unconfirmed cases as a diagnosis is only the beginning...diagnosis without the collaboration/cooperation of the stakeholders will not be as fruitful as making learning meaningful, joyful and fun. For some the label may be liberating - know the cause, for others, the label may cause them to be "resigned" to the label

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Try  #WISDOM principles in supporting students - both diagnosed and unconfirmed cases as a diagnosis is only the beginning...diagnosis without the collaboration/cooperation of the stakeholders will not be as fruitful as making learning meaningful, joyful and fun. For some the label may be liberating - know the cause, for others, the label may cause them to be "resigned" to the label

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#6 Key Principles in SEN Support:
Work towards Independence
Intervene based on needs, not diagnosis
Strive for equity
Document student profile and support plans
Organise a community around the child
Monitor Progress regularly

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What's the duration for both Lecture 2 and 3 presentation?

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What's the duration for both Lecture 2 and 3 presentation?

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Hi, would like to pace myself for the e-learning. Thank you in adv for sharing the duration for each lecture.

Reply: Please give yourself about 3 hours (as it involves your input in between at times) per session for Day 2 and 3. Thanks.

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Effective Strategies:
1) Attention span - break down the tasks into smaller ones
2) Reading Comprehension - one-to-one
3) Spelling: fewer words
4) Reversals: Charts to refer (wean off slowly)
5) Use of ICT to type comprehension answers instead of writing
6) Encouragement
7) Reduce expectations
8) Close collaboration wit parents
9) SDR/RRP programmes
10) Extra time given to complete or give as homework
11) Repetition of instructions

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Generally when the parents are supportive of the interventions or strategies that the school suggest, the students respond better.

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Strategies that worked are shared at department / level and are practised in class with the students.

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Essential Literacy Approach and Orton-Gillingham Approach

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Essential Literacy Approach and Orton-Gillingham Approach

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Just sharing! Dyslexia Associsation of Singapore has its own localised curriculum for the benefit of our local students.

" Therefore, MAP curriculum and resources were localised to better benefit the Singaporean learners. "

https://www.das.org.sg/images/publications/das-handbook/dashb2014/DASHB2014web.pdf
Reply: Thank you for sharing! The DAS has indeed done much to help our local students and have worked well with the schools.

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Types of learners vs disorders/difficulties

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Types of learners vs disorders/difficulties

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I've been interested on understanding types of learners. Some are auditory learners, some visual, some kinesthetic (i find myself fond of learning through doing things!).Could some difficulties be that it is not just a disorder, rather a preference to how the students learn (i.e. learn better at doing things as it is faster to understand, and I do not like writing and taking down notes because I just hate my handwriting and its tiring)?

Answer: Yes, you are right. That is why it is important to focus on the needs of our learners, rather than on diagnosis.  When we focus on the needs of our learners, we can better support the way they learn and this   means differentiating the way we teach.

Do note that each brain takes in information through the senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, sound) and translates that information

into a response. Thus it is important for us to

• have enough variety in the lesson so that during instruction

each “brain” has sufficient opportunity to learn the material

being presented.

• allow for refreshments or physical movement

• learning is affected by emotions

As I have often said, "If our students do not learn the way we teach, we must teach the way they learn."  That is why SIOP and STP are good teaching approaches to start in our support for students with LD.

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We read that SLI is more prominent in males than females. I noticed in my class the number of SEN students are higher amongst males than females especially for ADHD, ASD and dyslexia. Is there a correlation between LDs to gender? Is it chrimosome-related?
Answer: This is a question that is often asked. Do more males  actually have more LDs? Or is that they're perceived by teachers and other education professionals to have more LDs? There's research to suggest the latter. Some studies have found that based on scientific criteria, there is no gender gap when it comes to learning problems. It is just that teachers recommend twice as many males as females for LD support. The same applies to attention problems—notably attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In fact, research has found that males and females are equally likely to have learning disabilities and ADHD. However, it is also true that males are also more than twice as likely to be identified as having ADHD.

One of the more probable reasons for this discrepancy in numbers could be that our male students who are frustrated and struggle academically are more likely to act out. They may be hyperactive, impulsive, or disruptive in class, while our female students typically show less obvious signs of their academic frustrations.For instance, female students who show only inattention are more likely to be viewed by teachers as simply not interested in the subject matter.

Also, in general, male students tend to draw more negative attention at school. For male students with ADHD, they tend to show more hyperactivity, impulsivity and physical aggression than female students with ADHD; as female students with ADHD may often have different symptoms, including anxiety, depression, daydreaming, and low self-esteem.Hyperactivity in females tends to show up as constant chattiness. All of these behaviours may be typical of females who don't have ADHD as well, so a teacher is less likely to flag a female student as having a special need.

In other words, boys with ADHD are more noticeable than girls with ADHD. And that may explain why more than twice as many of them are identified with the disorder.

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LO are written by all teachers at the start of the lesson and teachers will keep reminding students as the lesson progresses.

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Hi...
I don't exactly have a question but just want to share my concern/observation as a language teacher.

I am the most unsure about SLI as the characteristics of learners in SLI seem to overlap quite greatly with how we as language teachers define 'weaker', 'less ready' students. It would seem like SLI might be very greatly undiagnosed in SG as I can easily think of at least 3-4 students in an average Express class and more than 20% of students in the NA class in my school who seem to have a huge problem with understanding & applying the grammar (syntax) of the EL or even MT language.

As teachers, I don't think we are able to know if a student is 'weak' in the language or that he/she happens to have SLI. How are we able to know the difference without a referral to a speech pathologist/other professionals? Does it mean that many students in my school should consider a referral? Maybe there should be something done at the primary school level for more referral and diagnosis for students who have this learning difficulty.

It seems like there is a high level of awareness of dyslexia but not SLI. My own nephew was asked to be referred to a professional for suspected dyslexia by his K2 teachers. Will there be more done to increase the awareness of SLI at the pre-school and primary school level?

Thank you for reading! Sorry for this long post.

Answer: Thanks for your sharing. What I would recommend is working on needs rather than on 'diagnosis'. For SLI, it is often not isolated but co-morbid with other needs as well, and for every child, even with 'similar diagnosis', they may have different needs and as such, will require different types of interventions, customised to addressing their needs. That is why,  although I have curated this course to increase your awareness of the different types of LDs,  it is more for awareness and not for the purpose of 'diagnosis'. Usually for students at the Primary One level or much younger, sufficient exposure and practice will be important as when they are just introduced to language, they will need to build up a firmer foundation first. It is with all the necessary support given by teachers and caregivers, and yet there is still a gap in needs, then more professional support will be needed in making a referral.

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Hi, can I ask if the brain can be trained to overcome certain learning difficulties like dyslexia and Dyscalculia , can the person be 'cured' , like the brain will function normally? Or the person must suffer the symptoms throughout their lives?
Answer: There is no 'cure' but over the years, several neuro-scientific studies have shown that the auditory regions of the brain synchronise with external auditory stimuli. That is to say, the brain is able to naturally adjust the frequency of its brain waves with the oscillations or the rhythm of what it listens at each moment. So the more we can train our brain, the better we will be able to learn better.  However, one must be cautious in terms of looking for 'brain training'.  There are many "brain training" programs, with slick marketing behind them, that purport to improve or even cure dyslexia by having the student complete exercises that target working memory and brain training. The research literature is clear that these techniques do not generalise to reading, spelling, or comprehension (or math).  What we can do is to stimulate the learners in multi-sensory ways to help in their learning. The article below may be of interest to you in looking into a study on the brain of someone with dyslexia.

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/11/29/503693391/researchers-study-what-makes-dyslexic-brains-different

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Going the extra mile for the student (differentiated worksheets/coursework) can mean a lot for the student. Student will feel "included" with the class, yet will feel that received the help he gets, passively.

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It takes a whole village to raise a child

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It takes a whole village to raise a child

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Knowing how to support our students is necessary to ensure that learning takes place. It helps to have teachers teaching the same group of students practise and sing the same tone for consistency. (so that students are not stressed out over varying instructions and practices)

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Providing quiet and condusive environment for reading activities and the use of Audio books.

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Dyslexia - for EL only or applicable to other languages that uses alphabets? 

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Dyslexia - for EL only or applicable to other languages that uses alphabets? 

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Hello! I'm seeking clarification if dyslexia is applicable to only English language, or do students with such conditions also face similar issues in languages that use the same alphabet-sound/ phonetic system, for example Malay, Italian, French?
Do students with dyslexia also face similar issues with symbol-based languages like Chinese?
Thank you!

Answer: Research suggests that the brain development and weaknesses in people with dyslexia are similar no matter what language they speak. However, the challenges may not look the same in each language.

What researchers have learned so far is that writing systems vary extensively not only in their visual appearance (e.g., alphabetic vs. logographic and visual complexity) but also in many other factors such as orthographic depth and morphological complexity.  As such, prevalence rates of dyslexia may vary somewhat across writing systems, perhaps influenced by these differences. It is important to note, however, that prevalence rate is highly sensitive to the criteria used to define dyslexia. For dyslexia, there appears to be a core dysfunction present across writing systems that reflects the phonological deficit hypothesis and this may be driven by more subtle sensory processing deficits.

Please see if the 2 articles uploaded are useful to you in some ways to answer your questions further.

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This is the second article uploaded which looks into the nature and causes of Dyslexia in Different languages.

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Hello! Can the lecturers share a little bit about what are the interventions/support that specialists do in their dyslexic and dyscalculia programmes? I saw some footages of movement-based activities and use of pictures in Aaron Austin's intervention (Overcoming Dyslexia video), but couldn't really make sense of what they were doing.
Thank you!
Answer: Thank you for your request.  What you have described in most probably the multi-sensory approach that is used to help children with dyslexia learn better, by activating all their senses in the learning process.

There is of course the more established Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach, which is a step-by-step technique that teaches kids how to match letters with sounds, and recognise letter sounds in words. However, more are moving away from just this approach and opting for the multi-faceted and multi-sensory ones as many a time, children with dyslexia or dyscalculia have other additional needs as well. Eg. The Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) have moved beyond from just the OG approach and opted for multi-faceted approach, but still grounded on OG principles. Lessons are still taught in accordance with the Orton-Gillingham principles at the DAS:

Emotionally sound - Lessons tailored to students’ abilities

Structured, sequential and cumulative - Concepts are broken down into smaller parts & taught one at a time, progressively & cumulatively

Direct and Explicit - Instructions, objectives and activities are explicit

Simultaneously Multisensory - Ensure multiple pathways to learning

Cognitive Approach - Students understand why each concept is taught

https://www.das.org.sg/services/programmes/main-literacy-programme.html#our-curriculum

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Dear Dr Elizabeth,

I understand that some of the signs for SLI are as follow:

Limited use of complex sentences with frequent grammatical and spelling errors.

Difficulty understanding figurative language and in reading.

Difficulty in expressive language.

Disorganized storytelling and writing.

At what age can a speech pathologist more accurately identify a child with SLI? How does the assessment for SLI in Singapore looks like?

Depending on the child's background (SES, underlying disability, readiness), I would imagine that there are children who speak later than 2YO, as late as 4-5YO, but they have no language impairment thereafter.

Am I right to say that SLI isn't exactly a learning disability on its own but it predisposes a child to more hurdles in academic performance or social interaction?

Thanks for helping me unpack my understanding on SLI.

Cheers,
Geraldine

Answer: SLI can be assessed between the ages of 3 to 6 years and you are right that environment matters in the initial rate of development of the children. That is why assessment will usually include an interview with the child's caregiver, observation of the child in an unstructured setting, a hearing test, and standardised tests of language and nonverbal ability.
Children with SLI may be intelligent and healthy in all regards except in the difficulty they have with language. They may in fact be extraordinarily bright and have high nonverbal IQs. Children with SLI usually learn to talk late. It is not unusual to first encounter a child with SLI at age 3 or 4 years, with limited vocabulary and short utterances. Later on they are likely to be the kinds of children who are told by well-meaning parents and teachers that they are smart but unmotivated and that they just need to try harder.

I do not have the statistics for SLI for Singapore but we do have research done overseas. One UK study showed that 70% of children tested at age 5 and diagnosed with SLI continued to have low language performance at age 18 to 20.  However, it must be noted that SLI is rarely found in isolation. Over 75% of affected individuals also meet criteria as reading-impaired and/or auditory-rate processing impaired. That is why academic learning would be affected. Please see if this article from DAS helps to share some light on what is done in Singapore.

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Knowledge Check on Auditory Processing Disorder

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Knowledge Check on Auditory Processing Disorder

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Hey all!

Thank you for all your hard work in creating the E-Learning packages :) May I kindly know why the results for this quiz is 0 upon 10 even though I got 4 out of 5 words correct please? Thank you!

Answer: Thank you for letting us know. I will reflect this to the technical support team who is helping to manage this aspect. Apologies for any confusion caused.  The main purpose of the quiz is for self-review and the score will not be counted towards the course assessment. I am glad that you have done well for the quiz. Well-done! All the best to you in your continued learning via the course!

Reply: Thank you so much for your prompt reply! :)

Reply: Please email me at elizabeth.owyeong@nie.edu.sg to let me know your TG so that the technical support side can double check for you.  Currently, they have checked but could not find any fault in the system. Thanks.

Further reply: Apologies for the technical glitch in the above. For the time-being while this is being resolved, please just use the quiz as a knowledge check and ignore the score at this time (please note that these scores do not account for your course grades), as currently the scores may not be correctly reflected.

Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Thank you. Have a good day.

Elizabeth (Dr)

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Hi, I am impressed that many famous and talented people suffered some sort of learning difficulties like dyslexia and dysgraphia, but yet they overcame these challenges. I really wonder how they did it. Unlike now we have a better understanding of these challenges, we can render help to our students. 

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Hi, I am impressed that many famous and talented people suffered some sort of learning difficulties like dyslexia and dysgraphia, but yet they overcame these challenges. I really wonder how they did it. Unlike now we have a better understanding of these challenges, we can render help to our students. 

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Answer: Yes, having a learning disability does not need to be a hindrance, but can be viewed as a gift. That is why we need to help our students focus on their strengths and then use that to help them level up, to work on their areas for improvement. Most importantly of all, we must enable them to believe in themselves, that they can succeed - the runway may be longer for some, but they can succeed. As long as there is at least one adult believing in them, they will have a better chance in succeeding in the end.

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Password needed for response to  Let's know one another  via padlet

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Password needed for response to  Let's know one another  via padlet

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I was prompted for pw to input my response. Not sure if I have missed out on the notification for the PW.
Thank you.
Answer: Thanks for asking. The password is stated as iec4003. Please do log in accordingly. Please see the pic below. Thanks.

Thank you for the reply.

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May I ask when will we have access to Day 2 online lesson? i have lessons on 29 July and am afraid that I will not be able to complete the online lesson if it is on the day itself. (29 Jul). Much appreciated if you can upload.

Answer: All lessons are already uploaded. Day Two and Day Three materials are all in Course Kit. Thanks.

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Be mindful of the lesson pace, not too fast/slow.

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Task 1 video of SLI is unavailable.
Answer: Thank you for alerting me to this. Apologies for any inconvenience caused. The video has now been replaced.