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By Serene Luo
FORTY-SEVEN new special needs officers to identify and help students with learning difficulties in schools graduated on Wednesday, the latest addition to help for special needs children.
Thirty-two received their diplomas in Dyslexia Studies, while 15 of them received their diplomas in Autism Studies. These were presented by the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) and the Autism Resource Centre in a joint ceremony.
They have been assigned to the Ministry of Education to mainstream schools, where children with speech or language learning difficulties need more help.
The officers generally help teachers identify students who display signs and symptoms and refer them on to psychologists or doctors.
Once diagnosed, these children get extra help in school, in the form of one-on-one coaching, additional 'tuition' after school, or worksheets tailored to their needs.
Mainstream teachers will be coached to teach in more suitable ways that special needs children can understand, such as with visual aids, demonstrations and repetition of the material.
Chief executive officer of the DAS Robin Moseley estimated that about 20,000 children in mainstream primary and secondary schools here have severe enough dyslexia that they cannot cope with school.
However, the dyslexia problem may be mistaken as trouble-making or laziness by the teachers who are not trained to recognise the signs.
Senior Minister of State for Education Grace Fu, who was guest-of-honour, said the Government would continue 'growing the pool of allied educators' to help the all-round development of students with learning needs.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 5 Nov, 2008.
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