Dyslexia

In a nutshell please reassure your friend that dyslexia is not the end of the world, just a part of her daughter's character and there are many dyslexic children here in Dubai. We explained to our son that being dyslexic means that his brain is wired slightly differently to that of other children and that whilst he might find writing a chore, a fortunate consequence is that he is especially good at other things, as are many other dyslexics (although not all, of course). He and his friends understood this explanation at a similar age to your friend's daughter and he is very accepting of it. There are some great dyslexic role models out there - think Richard Branson or Tom (?), the guy who won the Apprentice during the summer! My DS also reads perfectly well and is great at maths. Dyslexia does not mean that children aren't intelligent or incapable of learning; they just learn differently or struggle with some elements or see things differently. My DS has some learning support at school but he will never win any prizes for his spelling. That is okay; he is fortunate to be living in an age of computers and spell checkers. All of his teachers have been very supportive. We have always told him he can do pretty much anything he wants to do and assured him that he is an intelligent little boy and he wears his dyslexia 'label' well. For sure there would be far more support if we moved back to the UK but we are happy with the way things are going here. There are lots of places who do assessments for dyslexia here - you will find plenty if you do a search. We used a South African educational psychologist but I believe she is very. very busy at the moment so perhaps I won't post her details here. The assessment was carried out over 2 mornings after a consultation with my husband and I. It was an amazingly pleasant experience and my DS wanted to go again, so tell your friend not to worry about it (as I did). Friends used Kids First on Al Wasl Road and were very happy with their service. There is a Dyslexia Association which meets regularly at JESS I think, as well as the Lexicon centre which plum2 mentioned. I hope some of this helps. <em>edited by her on 11/10/2011</em>

My son (aged 9) is dyslexic - only discovered when we moved schools within Dubai - the primary school he attended had a DU unit so he received extra lessons to help him cope - I am no expert by any means but I understand there are all sorts of "levels" of dyslexia - my son is not badly dyslexic but its enough to make "normal" learning difficult for him. He has trouble retaining info in his short term memory so has to parrot learn stuff until its locked into his long term memory - well that's a very nutshell description - he now receives extra help at the secondary school he is attending and I have been to date very happy with the support he is receiving. Best of luck to your friend - it is a shock at first but certainly in my experience the help is available in Dubai and her daughter should be fine.

I have no persoanl experience but have heard people recommend the lexicon Reading Center. This is from their website: www.lexiconreadingcenter.org "Lexicon Reading Center provides help for children who learn differently to bridge the gap between the conventional learning methodologies and their unique learning styles to achieve their potential in their academic performance." You can call them on 050 795 4428. They are in JLT. Otherwise an Educational Psychologist might help. Dubai Community Health Centre should have staff that test for Dyslexia. 04 395 3939 HTH