Re-reading one of my other blogs, and came across this "poem" that I found some years ago. re-posting it here, because I really like it! :) How do you know if spell-check is always correct? :)
Spelling Chequer
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
~ Sauce Unknown
(Extracted from Sattler, Jerome M. (2001) Assessment of Children: Cognitive Applications. 4th Edition. Pg 717. California, USA)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Countdown timer
I suddenly remembered this product that my colleague shared about when we were discussing about how to teach some of our students the notion of "how much time left". We have students who do not have the notion of time. They can't tell time from the analogue clock (which I find to be more and more common in the digitised world), they also have no idea what is yesterday, tomorrow, or 15 more minutes. And so, in her previous work place, they used a product like the countdown timer shown here (image obtained from here)to help her students know how much more time is left for them.
I guess the benefit of having this countdown timer is that it gives a spatial view of the remaining time, because the red indicator moves as time passes. The beep that sounds when time is up also gives them an auditory indication. I think it might be quite helpful to teach children the passing of time as well as the concepts of "15 minutes more", or "5 minutes left". :)
I guess the benefit of having this countdown timer is that it gives a spatial view of the remaining time, because the red indicator moves as time passes. The beep that sounds when time is up also gives them an auditory indication. I think it might be quite helpful to teach children the passing of time as well as the concepts of "15 minutes more", or "5 minutes left". :)
Changes
Made another change to the template to make it look sunnier! That matches the title of my blog more aptly doesn't it? :p Or perhaps I just can't stay committed to one look! :p I've been wanting to post some blogs on some new concepts I've learnt recently, but have not found the time to! weekends are gonna be even busier now with renovations round the corner!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Autism
This season is the season for understanding Autism and the disorders in its spectrum. My job for the week is to look at the assessment and diagnosis of autism, and I found a book that I really enjoyed reading. I've just gotten past the first chapter or so of this book, Autism and Asperger Syndrome, by Simon Baron-Cohen, and found it helpful in understanding more about the learning difficulty.
In particular, I liked that the book started off with two case studies describing classic autism and Asperger syndrome, which brought to life the difficulties that children with these two different (yet similar) conditions had. Towards the end, it also identified the two similarities and differences of the two difficulties that summed up the details succiently. This I'm going to put here for better understanding
Two similar key features between classic autism and Asperger syndrome
1. Social communication difficulties
2. Narrow interests and repetitive actions
Two key differences
1. In Asperger syndrome, IQ is at least average and there was no language delay
2. In classic autism, IQ can be anywhere on the scale, and there was language delay
Can't wait to read and find out more! :)
In particular, I liked that the book started off with two case studies describing classic autism and Asperger syndrome, which brought to life the difficulties that children with these two different (yet similar) conditions had. Towards the end, it also identified the two similarities and differences of the two difficulties that summed up the details succiently. This I'm going to put here for better understanding
Two similar key features between classic autism and Asperger syndrome
1. Social communication difficulties
2. Narrow interests and repetitive actions
Two key differences
1. In Asperger syndrome, IQ is at least average and there was no language delay
2. In classic autism, IQ can be anywhere on the scale, and there was language delay
Can't wait to read and find out more! :)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
New Template
Blogger has got some new templates for me to choose from, and I decided to give this blog a new look. Browsed through some of their choices, and decided on this look. It felt like the rain pitter-pattering on the window pane. I love to look at the rain from inside the house. I love to hear the pitter-pattering of rain on the window pane. I love dreaming about snuggling on a cosy couch with a cup of hot chocolate and a lovely book when it rains. What do you dream of when it rains? :)
been away
Been away from this blog for sometime. Been away for a really relaxed and recharging retreat, where I (for once) was not involved in any form of service. It really helped me to be refreshed in God and to be recharged physically.
Coming back meant having to catch up with work undone and I am still struggling with that now. Been wanting to go back to my very interesting book on reading, but had been hardly able to do that.
Of course, World Cup matches kept me up some nights! :)
Coming back meant having to catch up with work undone and I am still struggling with that now. Been wanting to go back to my very interesting book on reading, but had been hardly able to do that.
Of course, World Cup matches kept me up some nights! :)
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Semantic-Pragmatic Disorder
My supervisor spoke to me about the possibility of my case having some semantic-pragmatic difficulties. He had difficulties understanding my instructions and questions, and was not able to follow instructions despite explanations and demonstrations. Furthermore, despite being almost 13yo, he had difficulties using simple words such as "cage" and "tank" to add on to his story of his pets. His verbal ability was definitely very low, and at the same time, he seemed to not be able to respond appropriately to the situation (such as instructing him to do something quickly).
Anyway, I checked it up, and found some sites that described semantic-pragmatic disorder. It is closely linked to autism, often described as high-functioning autism, but I think, not to be mistaken for asperger's syndrome.
What is Semantic-pragmatic Disorder?
- my child performed significantly better on the non-verbal reasoning as opposed to verbal
Semantic Pragmatic Disorder
This was written by the mother of a child with semantic pragmatic disorder. I liked how she put the description of how a child with this disorder takes language literally by asking the reader how this child might respond to the idiom "raining cats and dogs"! :)
Anyway, I checked it up, and found some sites that described semantic-pragmatic disorder. It is closely linked to autism, often described as high-functioning autism, but I think, not to be mistaken for asperger's syndrome.
What is Semantic-pragmatic Disorder?
- my child performed significantly better on the non-verbal reasoning as opposed to verbal
Semantic Pragmatic Disorder
This was written by the mother of a child with semantic pragmatic disorder. I liked how she put the description of how a child with this disorder takes language literally by asking the reader how this child might respond to the idiom "raining cats and dogs"! :)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Of life and of being average
And so, I read this speech by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook, and a litigator. He was invited to give this speech at the convocation of the graduating class of NTU 2008.
Interesting read! Don't be average! :)
==================================
Life and How to Survive It - Adrian Tan
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.
You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that they’re wrong.
The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.
I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.
Interesting read! Don't be average! :)
==================================
Life and How to Survive It - Adrian Tan
I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.
My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.
On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.
Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.
And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.
Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.
The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.
You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.
The good news is that they’re wrong.
The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.
I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.
You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.
Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.
So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.
Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.
I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.
After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.
Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.
That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.
If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.
What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.
Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.
What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.
Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.
The most important is this: do not work.
Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.
Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.
There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.
People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.
Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.
Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.
I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.
So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.
Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.
Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.
In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.
I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.
It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.
One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.
The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.
I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.
Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.
Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.
Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.
You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.
Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.
Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone.
You’re going to have a busy life. Thank goodness there’s no life expectancy.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Changes
I've decided to change the heading of the blog. So that I can document about everything I learn and not just about specific learning difficulties :) That will mean that I can blog about more things! Hoping to have more time of my own to explore new things!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
I've been rather busy at work, and had not been able to read up on the book I borrowed. But I do want to finish that, so perhaps I'll use the church retreat time to complete the book.
Otherwise, I had been discussing about a boy with some of my colleagues, and wondering about the best kind of help for him. I believe that he will need multi-disciplinary help at the end of the day, but it would require his family to recognise that he needs some kind of specialised help. From a outsider's point of view, the most logical step is to send the boy for the necessary assessments, and perhaps enrol him into a special needs school if he shows to need it. But, I think, from the family's point of view, they would want to keep him in the mainstream as long as possible, because perhaps, there is a stigma tied to being in a special needs school. Is it more harm and help, I wonder. Sometimes I wonder how I would feel or react if i were to know that my child has a learning difficulty. How would you react? What kind of stigmas are tied to children with learning difficulties?
Otherwise, I had been discussing about a boy with some of my colleagues, and wondering about the best kind of help for him. I believe that he will need multi-disciplinary help at the end of the day, but it would require his family to recognise that he needs some kind of specialised help. From a outsider's point of view, the most logical step is to send the boy for the necessary assessments, and perhaps enrol him into a special needs school if he shows to need it. But, I think, from the family's point of view, they would want to keep him in the mainstream as long as possible, because perhaps, there is a stigma tied to being in a special needs school. Is it more harm and help, I wonder. Sometimes I wonder how I would feel or react if i were to know that my child has a learning difficulty. How would you react? What kind of stigmas are tied to children with learning difficulties?
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Third Trimester
This definitely has nothing to do with learning difficulties / needs.. but it's certainly a think aloud for me.
Why is the immunity system of a mother suppressed in the third trimester? I read in a page that my friend sent me regarding listeria and pregnancy, that the immune system is somewhat suppresed in the third trimester. Is it because the baby is growing bigger and faster? Or are there other factors involved?
Why is the immunity system of a mother suppressed in the third trimester? I read in a page that my friend sent me regarding listeria and pregnancy, that the immune system is somewhat suppresed in the third trimester. Is it because the baby is growing bigger and faster? Or are there other factors involved?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
In searching for more articles related to dyslexia, I came across this post that describes the differences between dysphonetic dyslexia (or known as auditory dyslexia) and dyseidetic dyslexia (or known as surface or visual dyslexia). Individuals with auditory dyslexia have difficulties putting sounds to letters, ie not knowing that the letter "b" makes the /b/ sound. Individuals with visual dyslexia, on the other hand, are unable to recognise irregular words (words that don't sound how they are spelled). For example "school"?
This seems to make dyslexia into two distinct categories, but in my experience, they don't always fall neatly into these two categories. Some children have difficulties both ways and may need years of help before they can read and spell adequately. Given that English also has many borrowed words from other languages, and hence can't always be spelt phonetically, (thus making it even more difficult for the dyseidetic dyslexic to learn), it is little wonder that some children with dyslexia spend years catching up with their peers. Does simple drilling help a child with dyslexia learn irregular words? hmm...
This seems to make dyslexia into two distinct categories, but in my experience, they don't always fall neatly into these two categories. Some children have difficulties both ways and may need years of help before they can read and spell adequately. Given that English also has many borrowed words from other languages, and hence can't always be spelt phonetically, (thus making it even more difficult for the dyseidetic dyslexic to learn), it is little wonder that some children with dyslexia spend years catching up with their peers. Does simple drilling help a child with dyslexia learn irregular words? hmm...
Types of Dyslexia
Came across an interesting read online as I was googling about the different types of dyslexia. Now this makes me want to dig out my uni notes to re-read up on them!
Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed
Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed
Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed
Types of Dyslexia: Three Subtypes are Orthographic, Phonological, and Mixed
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Interesting read!
Read with interest an article in the newspaper today about a British woman who started to speak with a Chinese accent after suffering from a very bad migraine attack. Apparently, her migraine was so bad that it caused the blood vessels in the brain to expand, leading to symptoms similar to those of a stroke. And the change in speech accent because of brain trauma is called Foreign Accent Syndrome. The paper states that brain damage can vary speech patterns by lengthening syllables, changing pitch and causing the mispronouncing of sounds.
It certainly was something very new to me. I guess it must be rather traumatic for the lady, who, after speaking in a certain tone all her life, now has to adapt to another totally foreign tone. She is apparently undergoing speech language therapy now to help her return to her usual speech rhythms and patterns, but I can only imagine that it would take a period of time. I wonder if she'll need to undergo some form of counselling as well.
It certainly was something very new to me. I guess it must be rather traumatic for the lady, who, after speaking in a certain tone all her life, now has to adapt to another totally foreign tone. She is apparently undergoing speech language therapy now to help her return to her usual speech rhythms and patterns, but I can only imagine that it would take a period of time. I wonder if she'll need to undergo some form of counselling as well.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I wanted to find out more about the g Factor
Came across the term g Factor today, and decided to look it up because I remembered having read about it in my uni days. I turned to trusty Wikipedia, and found that
- it meant general factor (abbreviated g) which shows the correlations among mental tests and mental abilities.
- It claims to be able to hold up regardless of the test type or the way in which the test is administered.
- It was a construct developed by Charles Spearman in 1923.
- It is a statistical technique called factor analysis.
Hmm, there are lots more information about it. Shall digest it before posting more. And perhaps dig up my old textbooks! :)
- it meant general factor (abbreviated g) which shows the correlations among mental tests and mental abilities.
- It claims to be able to hold up regardless of the test type or the way in which the test is administered.
- It was a construct developed by Charles Spearman in 1923.
- It is a statistical technique called factor analysis.
Hmm, there are lots more information about it. Shall digest it before posting more. And perhaps dig up my old textbooks! :)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Definition of learning difficulties
While I was musing over what to blog, I thought that perhaps I should find out how learning difficulties should be defined. This would also create the framework to what I would like to find out more about. And so I googled it. It's the fastest way isn't it? :) I like Wikipedia's definition about learning difficulties, although they termed it as a learning disability. Here's what's written on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_disability)
Learning disability (sometimes called a learning disorder or learning difficulty), is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors. The unknown factor is the disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. This disorder can make it problematic for a person to learn as quickly or in the same way as someone who isn't affected by a learning disability. Learning disability is not indicative of intelligence level. Rather, people with a learning disability have trouble performing specific types of skills or completing tasks if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.
A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed. With the right support and intervention, however, people with learning disabilities can succeed in school and go on to be successful later in life.
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Note how it is a difficulty that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. So it's not about how the child is not able to learn because the child does not want to learn, is too lazy to learn, does not ask, does not speak up etc etc. It is neurological in basis. And I like how they say that it is not indicative of intelligence level. Children with learning difficulties are not stupid, they just need to learn in a different way. Learning difficulties, unlike the common flu, cannot be cured, but they can be helped with the correct strategies. This is something I firmly belive in. And I think all educators need to know this.
Learning disability (sometimes called a learning disorder or learning difficulty), is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors. The unknown factor is the disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. This disorder can make it problematic for a person to learn as quickly or in the same way as someone who isn't affected by a learning disability. Learning disability is not indicative of intelligence level. Rather, people with a learning disability have trouble performing specific types of skills or completing tasks if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.
A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed. With the right support and intervention, however, people with learning disabilities can succeed in school and go on to be successful later in life.
======================================================
Note how it is a difficulty that affects the brain's ability to receive and process information. So it's not about how the child is not able to learn because the child does not want to learn, is too lazy to learn, does not ask, does not speak up etc etc. It is neurological in basis. And I like how they say that it is not indicative of intelligence level. Children with learning difficulties are not stupid, they just need to learn in a different way. Learning difficulties, unlike the common flu, cannot be cured, but they can be helped with the correct strategies. This is something I firmly belive in. And I think all educators need to know this.
Why I started this blog
I've decided that it's time for me to start documenting things I've learnt about special needs / learning needs. I'm by no means an expert in this, but I really just want a place where I can write down what I've learnt about the various learning difficulties as well as reviews of related books / articles. Shall endeavour to keep this going as much as I can. We'll see :)
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