A new website on dyslexia (http://spld.heephong.org) is launched by Heep Hong Society today. Through an intriguing storyline, the website introduces fundamentals of the developmental disorder and practical training guidance for parents and teachers to help children with dyslexia. The Society also shares its experience in the conception and execution of the Strict-based Support Model and other online resources of higher reference vale with practitioners and parents.
One in every ten local students suffers from specific learning difficulties. Out of them, over 80% encountered dyslexia, which is a developmental problem that will last for the whole life of those children if no early diagnosis and intervention is received. Dyslexic children find it hard to recognize and grasp frequently used vocabulary, resulting in weak comprehension of text. Their diction in class is always full of mistakes, including wrong spelling, missing strokes, clumsy calligraphy. Some of them also have difficulties in sequential ordering and grasping mathematical concepts. The ensuring poor academic results lead to lack of confidence, low self-esteem, poor social relationship and negative emotions.
To address the problem, Heep Hong Society was invited to participate in the “READ & WRITE: A Jockey Club Learning Support Network” by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 2006 to develop a District-based Support Model and Parent Education CD-ROM, and produce The Language Learning Package for Pre-primary Children, which is applicable to both ordinary students and children with potentially dyslexic problems in kindergartens and nursery schools in Hong Kong. The newly launched website on dyslexia is an integral part of the programme.
In the next three years, through the promotion of The Language Learning Package for Pre-primary Children for wider use at kindergartens to reduce the risk of pre-primary children developing dyslexia, and parent education and district-based support network, Heep Hong Society continues to come to the aid of children with potentially dyslexic problems.
