More needs to be done for students with dyslexia

The Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) was heartened to read the report “Pupil overcomes dyslexia, difficult childhood to pass PSLE” (Nov 25).

It featured Da Qiao Primary School pupil Sri John Albert David, who, despite his dyslexia and initial struggles with English and Mathematics, overcame his difficulties and did well to qualify for the Normal (Academic) stream in secondary school.

The DAS wishes to emphasise that dyslexia has an impact not only on the ability of a pupil to learn English, but also on the learning of other languages and academic subjects.

In Singapore, especially, where maths exams have a high percentage of word problems, dyslexic students must first struggle to read and comprehend the word problems before they can tackle them.

Additionally , pupils with dyslexia have specific areas of difficulty that can affect their mathematical performance, such as poor short-term and working memory, reversals in word and number sequencing, and in the reading of word problems.

These difficulties can impede a child’s ability to understand concepts such as number relationships, perform calculations, place value, grapple with timetable and follow through with multi-step calculations.

The DAS notes that no two children are alike, and the above may not apply to all children with dyslexia.

It is imperative, however, that more be done to help students with dyslexia in Singapore to overcome their difficulties in other languages and academic subjects, apart from reading, spelling and writing.