FUNDRAISING FOR SPECIALIST TUTORING SERVICES FOR JEGA
Jega is 40 years old and has dyslexia. He is a participant in the Mediacorp documentary, “Write of Passage”, which showcased him receiving life-changing literacy intervention over a 3-month period. Our work with Jega highlighted the need for him to receive a longer period of intervention on top of the 3-months he received. DAS would recommend that Jega receive a further 24-months of support so that he can achieve his life and employment goals.
CNA DOCUMENTARY “WRITE OF PASSAGE” OVERVIEW
Mediacorp Pte Ltd, the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) and DAS International Services collaborated on a documentary series titled: “Write of Passage” produced by Channel News Asia (CNA). The documentary showcased selected adult individuals who have poor literacy. Over a 3-month period, these individuals received life-changing literacy intervention in English with the help of an expert team. DAS agreed to work with “Adults with Dyslexia” and to provide selected candidates with specialist intervention services to support their literacy intervention.
Jega was selected for intervention at DAS where he underwent a psychological assessment and was diagnosed with dyslexia in May 2021. He had specialist intervention at DAS International for 20 x 1.5hr sessions from 25 May to 11 August 2021.
We are delighted with Jega’s progress and his enthusiasm to learn. His progress was very encouraging, and we are impressed with what he has been able to achieve in this short period of intervention which has revealed his true potential in learning. However, his 30 hours of literacy intervention for the documentary series only highlighted the necessity for continued support after the completion of these 20 sessions. Jega’s continued learning journey is critical for his desire to become an independent person and not allow his dyslexia to stand in the way of his life aspirations.
It is unfortunate that Jega received his basic education at a time when dyslexia was little known and effective forms of intervention for the condition was not provided for in mainstream school. Nonetheless, it is heartening to see that despite the immense challenges that Jega has faced, he has not given up on his desire to learn to read.
FUNDRAISING FOR JEGA
DAS bursary fund is dedicated to supporting school students with dyslexia and therefore DAS is unable to provide funding from the existing bursary fund for Jega. It is our recommendation that Jega receives further specialist intervention for his literacy needs, and it is our recommendation that he receive at least another 24-months of intervention (2 x 1.5hr sessions per week) to support his literacy to help him achieve his life goals. To facilitate this a specific donation towards Jega’s education would be necessary. Details of the intervention and costs are provided in Annex 1 & 2. The cost of 3 months of specialist intervention is equivalent to 20 x 1.5hr sessions costing $4, 536, 24-months of intervention would cost $36,288.*
DAS has set up a giving.sg fund to raise funds for Jega. Donations can be made here: https://www.giving.sg/dyslexia-association-of-singapore/literacysupportforjega Donations above $10 made to this specific giving.sg fundraiser will attract a 2.5 times tax deduction for the donor.
* Any funds raised in excess of the amount required to support Jega or if Jega is unable to commit to his specialist intervention, the raised funds will be allocated to the DAS Bursary Fund to support students from low-income families to access DAS services and programmes
STATEMENT ABOUT JEGA’S SITUATION
Jega has been working as a Food and Beverage for the past 15 years. His employer is very supportive, and his manager would like to promote him as they can see his potential, should his literacy skills improve.
Jega’s psycho-educational assessment at DAS determined his persistent literacy difficulties were attributed to his dyslexia. He also hoped that the assessment would allow him to better understand his learning profile and allow him to access an appropriate intervention programme to improve his literacy skills.
Given Jega’s difficulties in literacy as well as phonological awareness, undergoing specialised instruction in a structured, multisensory way would be important. The intervention sessions should:
- provide instructions to teach him how to apply letter-sound correspondence rules and manipulate phonemes with more accuracy and automaticity to aid his reading and spelling; help Jega to progress on to learn to blend phonemes as well as learn syllabication so that he can read multisyllabic words.
- teach him to read sight words that he would likely encounter, such as those used in the hospitality industry would be useful for his work; work on enabling him to understand infographics /advertisements that he may encounter.
Jega is recommended to use technology in two main ways
- Learning to use a computer to type, access information and assisted technology to utilise applications (social media)
- Social media applications that he could benefit from learning to use include Zoom which would allow him to interact with possible
Jega’s desire to learn supported his aim to be promoted from his current position. He wanted to be able to reply to emails confidently and undertake the reading aspects of his work without troubling his colleagues which has been the situation to date. In conversations with Jega, he aspires to work in the corporate world once he overcomes his obstacles in literacy.
Feedback from Jega’s Senior Specialist Teachers Ms Zaiton Bakir and Mr Samunn Abdul Caffoor, as shared by them, highlight his motivation and perseverance they had witnessed during their specialist support sessions and their recommendation for his continued support. DAS is committed to supporting Jega to achieve his potential and be an active and valued member of our workforce and community despite facing challenges he has with Dyslexia.
RECOMMENDATION FOR CONTINUING INTERVENTION
Jega is very enthusiastic about learning, and he has been a willing and eager student. It is recommended that Jega receive at least 24 months of intervention before he would be able to comfortably take on higher responsibilities for his employer.
Jega is supported with an Individualised Educational Plan (IEP) with specific goals and outlines his learning scope. This IEP helps Jega and his Specialist Teachers reach desired goals and aims to support Jega’s growth in his own development. Jega does not have the funds to be able to continue his intervention with DAS, and DAS is unable to support him with our existing bursary funding as he falls out of the scope of funding provided by DAS.
FEEDBACK FROM JEGA’S SPECIALIST TEACHERS ON HIS INTERVENTION PROGRESS
Mr Samunn (Senior Specialist Teacher) & Ms Zaiton Bakir (Senior Specialist Teacher)
Total 30 hours of Specialist Tutoring commencing 25th May – 11th August 2021
Mr Samunn (Senior Specialist Teacher) worked online via the Zoom platform with Jega over 8 sessions to support his literacy skills through assisted technology to enable Jega to independently use the computer.
Mr Samunn notes that: I am happy to note that despite the difficulties faced in written expression, Jega has always shown persistence and determination to improve himself.
My intervention sessions with Jega were systematic, multi-sensory, concrete and involved direct instruction. And he worked hard to overcome and improve the writing challenges he faced daily. The assistive technology-infused personal learning spaces – PLS. I developed for Jega certainly played an important part in managing his dyslexia at work. For example, recording meetings or important conversations to listen to again later if he missed important information, using speech-to-text apps and software so he does not have to write or type this will help him overcome his challenge in spelling, using organization apps or digital organizers to help keep him focused and minimize distractions.
Though the intervention I provided was effective and time-bound, I am of the view that working with Jega for a continued period will give him confidence, boost his self-esteem, and help improve his literacy and technological skills to overcome his dyslexia both in his productivity and leisure lives.
Ms Zaiton Bakir (Senior Specialist Teacher) who worked face to face with Jega over 12 sessions to support his basic literacy skills in the areas of reading, writing and spelling so as to enable Jega to achieve functional literacy.
Ms Zaiton notes that: Jega faces challenges in reading, spelling and writing. He acknowledges that there’s no other way to achieve career success except to improve his English Language literacy ability. His literacy challenges had thwarted his career progression, affecting his self-confidence and self-esteem. With a strong need to improve his English Language literacy skills and being a hardworking person, Jega attended many classes in other organisations to overcome his literacy difficulties. He finally came to the right place where intervention is directly targeted at where he needs the most help in improving his functional literacy skills.
At DAS, he is being taught the right strategies to read, spell and write. Using a multi-sensory approach, he would be able to improve his functional English Language literacy within a targeted time.
Being a conscientious and hardworking person, Jega diligently applies the strategies and skills taught in overcoming his literacy difficulties. From a non-reader who struggles with reading, spelling, writing and understanding he has made an encouraging leap of improvement. As there’s more that needs to be done, Jega acknowledges that the 20 sessions of intervention he presently attended are inadequate. Being an enthusiastic learner, he requires additional sessions to improve his proficiency further. As his teacher, I personally attested that Jega needs to be equipped with the required skills further to elevate his proficiency. He needs to continuously and consistently practice and apply the strategies and skills taught. Thus, extended sessions of intervention are urgently required and highly recommended for Jega.
