Why the need for early intervention

Let me begin by wishing all of us a Happy 2019! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my clients and parents for the support last year, it has been an honour for me to be able to work closely with all of you. I am eager to see even greater progress in the children this year!

And yes, school has reopened. Dear parents and students, how are you coping with the new term? A brand new adventure awaits especially for children in Primary 1 or Secondary 1. While it is exciting, it can be overwhelming and some may find it a daunting experience too. Parents are also finding the best way to support their children in the transition. In the past year, many parents came to me to enrol their children in my specialised tutoring services. "Why should I enrol my child in specialised intervention classes?" and "Why a 'normal tuition class' doesn't work as well?" are some common questions raised. As the title for this post suggests, I will be sharing with you on the need for early intervention/ specialised intervention services, especially for children with dyslexia.

"Dyslexia interventions are the key to ensuring that effective reading approaches are provided to meet the needs of this population." (Reading Horizons, 2019)

National Reading Panel (NRP) has established the 'five pillars' of effective reading instructions. These 5 elements are the basic components of reading instruction for all children in all classrooms. Children with dyslexia/ reading difficulties may lack in at least one - or more - of these components, thus making their learning process difficult. This is where additional support is necessary.

Benefits of intervention classes

1) Personalized to meet individual needs as sessions are conducted on a 1:1 or small group basis.

2) Explicit direct phonics instruction to tackle the root cause of dyslexia. A child will learn the letter/sound relationships and be able to use these relationships to blend to read/ spell decodable words.

3) Instructions are broken down and learning resources given in bite-size to allow the child to grasp the concepts well from the start and learn at his/her own pace

4) Multisensory and interactive to engage all senses in the brain and cater to the different learning styles of every individual.

5) Sequential and structured instructions will allow a child to grasp simple concepts first before moving on to more complex ones.

6) Consistent feedback and positive reinforcement will help boost one's self-esteem and confidence level in the mastery of skills, which may be less forthcoming in a mainstream class setting.

The above six components form the foundation of the Orton-Gillingham reading approach, which is said to be the 'gold standard' for literacy intervention for children and adults.

"Children who received intervention earlier made the most significant gains in reading and spelling compared to their peers." (Lim & Oei, 2015)

Early intervention is also strongly recommended for children at risk or 'suspected' for dyslexia. Very often, help and support are rendered slowly as specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia may not be deemed severe or urgent. Some parents or educators may feel that child just lacks the exposure and with time, the child will 'catch up' with his peers. As a result, there is a huge delay in assessment. Lim and Oei (2015) conducted a research on children with dyslexia receiving O-G intervention in Singapore. Results revealed that children who received intervention earlier made the most significant gains in reading and spelling compared to their peers who received intervention at a later age. There may be several reasons for the relationship between intervention gains and age beginning intervention. One possibility is that the child requires more intensive remediation in order to unlearn some learning habits that s/he has picked up over the years (Harm et al., 2003). This can, however, still be achieved with a customised, individualised learning plan.

These findings have important consequences for poor readers receiving early intervention, before their literacy problems become more difficult to address. Remember, your support and encouragement - and the right help - can go a long way in helping them settle into a new environment. Feel free to drop me a message to find out more.

Here's to an amazing 2019 :)

- Ms Cherie

References

Harm, M. W., McCandliss, B. D. & Seidenberg, M. S. (2003). ‘Modeling the success and failures of interventions for disabled readers’, Scientific Studies of Reading, 7(2), 155–182.

Lim, L., & Oei, A. C. (2015). Reading and spelling gains following one year of Orton-Gillingham intervention in Singaporean students with dyslexia. British Journal of Special Education, (4), 374. doi:10.1111/1467-8578.12104

Reading Horizons. (2019). Dyslexia interventions. Retrieved from https://www.readinghori zons.com/dyslexia/dyslexia-interventions