About DAS
History of DAS
The Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) is today a vibrant organization with over 130 professional staff who provide a wide array of services for dyslexics not only in Singapore but in the region. DAS specialist psychologists conduct assessment and diagnosis for preschool students to adults. DAS Educational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists provide support for over 1500 preschool, primary and secondary school students in 14 venues all over Singapore. The DAS Academy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the DAS, delivers professional training workshops and courses including a Masters in Specific Learning Differences which is accredited by a recognized university from London. The DAS Academy also conducts regular training courses overseas in Brunei and Hong Kong. Increasingly, the DAS will provide support for dyslexics who also suffer from other Specific Learning Differences such as ADHD, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and Aspergers Syndrome. But this fast expanding organization has humble beginnings ….......
1989 to 1990 - The First Initiatives
1991 to 1995 - The Early Years
1996 – 2001 Establishing the DAS in MOE Schools
2002 – 2005 Surge in enrollment and expansion of services
2010 and beyond – Providing for MOE School-Based Remediation Centres and the Singapore Boys' Home
1989 to 1990 - The First Initiatives
It was in July 1989 that the Rotary Club of Raffles City first proposed the forming of a charitable organization dedicated to helping dyslexics in Singapore. This specific learning difference that affects reading, writing and spelling was virtually unheard of in Singapore then and many dyslexic children were suffering in painful silence.
A public forum on dyslexia was initiated in April 1990. Speakers included the late Mrs Marion Welchman, Secretary of the British Dyslexia Association and founder of the first dyslexia association in the UK at Bath, the late Mrs Jean Augur, Educational Officer at the British Dyslexia Association and Dr Lee Wei Ling, Consultant Paediatric Neurologist and Head of Learning Disorders Clinic at School Health Services.
In October 1990, a second public forum was organized by the Rotary Club of Raffles City and the need to establish an association was tabled. A Pro-Tem Committee was subsequently formed.
1991 to 1995 - The Early Years
The Dyslexia Association of Singapore was registered with the Registry of Societies in October 1991 and the first Executive Committee was formed. Through the help of Rotarians, the People’s Association agreed to provide the Association’s first office at its Kallang premises free of charge and in March 1992, the Rotary Club of Raffles City, together with the Canadian Alumni, raised $25,000 to finance the initial operations of the DAS.
Also in 1992, the DAS Executive Committee held an informal meeting with Mrs George Bush, the then First Lady of the United States during her visit to Singapore. At her request, the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas, presented the DAS with a set of 50 video tapes for teaching.
In October 1993, a golf tournament organised by the Lions Clubs of Singapore Metropolitan, New Central, City and Ladyhill raised a total of $127,000 for the DAS. This allowed the DAS to set up its first learning centre for dyslexic children at the Student Care Services in Clementi. DAS then hired its first teacher, Ms Dawn Brockett, to teach a first batch of 12 dyslexic children.
In 1995, Mrs Goh Chok Tong graciously agreed to become the DAS’s Patron. Dr Lee Wei Ling also kindly agreed to become an Advisor to the DAS. Their support in the years to come has indeed been immeasurable.
Mrs Goh was the Guest of Honour when the DAS Learning Centre at the Clementi Community Centre was officially opened in September 1995. The year culminated with then Senior Minister of State (Education and Health) Dr Aline Wong announcing an MOE-DAS joint effort to help dyslexic children with a grant of $500,000 over three years which would include the establishment of another DAS Learning Centre at Ping Yi Primary School.
1996 – 2001 Establishing the DAS in MOE Schools
The stigma of having a learning difficulty was more or less removed when Mr Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, announced in 1996 that he had mild dyslexia and donated a large sum of money to DAS. This created more public awareness, and there was a flood of enquiries. It also coincided with the commencement of remedial classes at the first DAS Learning Centre in an MOE school, Ping Yi Primary School in Bedok.
MOE-DAS co-operation to help dyslexic students took another major step forward in July 1996 when a jointly-organized Dyslexia Awareness Course for sixty teachers from various primary schools was held. Today, the DAS regularly visit MOE schools to conduct awareness talks for the teachers.
1998 saw the first Orton-Gillingham Course conducted by Mr Ron Yoshimoto. A multi-sensory method of teaching that is ideal for dyslexic children, the Orton-Gillingham method has continued to be the backbone of the educational therapy programme of teachers of dyslexic students in the DAS, MOE and in private practice in Singapore. Mr Ron Yoshimoto, with Ms Wendy Sweeney, another Fellow of the Academy of Orton Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (New York), a total of 6 Orton-Gillingham Courses which trained about 200 DAS, MOE and private teachers was conducted from 1998 to 2003.
The success of DAS’ educational therapy work can been seen from the progress made by 15-year old Koey Yi Xiang, whose life turned around in just two years after he started attending Orton-Gillingham classes at the DAS. He has also formed ambitions in life that he never believed possible. “My dream is to one day work in a multimedia industry designing animation and computer games. I used to think that I would never make it because I was doing badly in school. But now things are better”. With grit and determination, his test scores has been climbing steadily. He is now passing most subjects scoring about 55% on the average. “My goal is to score 70% or more. I know I can do it.”
Also in 1998, the DAS Clementi Learning Centre became the DAS Redhill Learning Centre when it moved into MOE’s Alexandra Hill Primary School. By this time, student enrolment in our learning centres had reached 188. Redhill Centre was later moved to New Town Primary School in 2001. Another DAS Learning Centre was set up in Anderson Primary School in Ang Mo Kio in 2001 This meant that the DAS had three learning centres - Ang Mo Kio Learning Centre in Anderson Primary serving students in the North Zone, Bedok Learning Centre in Ping Yi Primary School serving students in the East and Redhill Learning Centre in New Town Primary School serving students in the South and West Zones.
2002 – 2005 Surge in enrollment and expansion of services
From 1999 to 2001, the DAS student enrollment had stabilized at about 310 students. However, from Term I 2002 to Term IV 2005, the enrollment in all three learning centres surged more than two-fold from 315 to 752 students from nearly 300 primary and secondary schools in Singapore. This was the result of increased efforts in awareness raising, a speedier assessment process and greater efficiency in the DAS’ class placement system.
Retention of students also improved through the student and parents induction programme which was initiated in Term III 2005. Via the programme, students and parents are now able to have a better understanding of dyslexia and the DAS before they embark on our main learning programme. This better understanding and therefore support from the parents is an important factor in students continuing on the DAS programme till they are ready to leave.
The surge in enrollment coincided with an expansion of DAS in terms of professional support services. A team of seven psychologists were recruited and trained in 2002 which ended an assessment waiting list which used to be almost a year. Dyslexic children can now be assessed by one of our DAS specialist psychologists within a month of application.
It is estimated that perhaps 15% of DAS students will also require speech and language therapy services. In 2005, the DAS recruited three speech and language therapists to provide assessments and therapy sessions thus further enhancing the professional support services available to our students over and above our main learning programme.
The DAS took over responsibility for the training of DAS and MOE teachers when the Orton-Gillingham Course was conducted by 3 local DAS trainers for the first time in June 2004. Parents who have been yearning for training to help their children at home also had their wishes answered when the first of an ongoing series of workshops including Dyslexia and Mathematics, Exam Study Skills for Dyslexic students, etc was conducted from January 2004.
A training pathway was also created in 2004 with the launch of the DAS Foundation Course, the DAS Certificate Course and the DAS Diploma Course in Dyslexia Studies. The Foundation and Certificate Courses are accredited with the College of Teachers (UK) while the Diploma Course is awarded by the University of Cambridge International Examinations Board. Parents and teachers can now upgrade their knowledge and teaching skills systematically via the above pathway.
MOE Learning Suport Co-ordinator Ms Goh Mee Eing reflected after attending a DAS Training Course that “ The course helped me better understand the difficulties faced by a dyslexic child and how as a teacher, I can help”.
While awareness efforts have been ongoing in MOE schools, it was found that Malay students were under-represented in the DAS enrolment. Meetings with representatives of Mendaki in 2003 have since led to regular awareness and training activities with Mendaki teachers and parents. Contact has also been made with SINDA. Awareness efforts also expanded to pre-schools and at the National Institute of Education.
During this period, DAS Learning Centres were upgraded when the Bedok Learning Centre was moved from Ping Yi Primary School to larger and better resourced facilities in Fengshan Primary School. Similarly, Redhill Centre was moved from New Town Primary School to Queenstown Primary School in January 2003. In January 2004, the Dyslexia Centre which houses the DAS assessment, training, research and awareness services commenced operations in the Spring Singapore Building at Bukit Merah Central. The renovation, furnishing and equipping of the Dyslexia Centre was sponsored by the Lee Foundation while Mr Jimmy Doctor of the Rotary Club of Marina City provided his expertise in interior design for free. The Dyslexia Centre was officially opened by the Minister for Education Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam in August 2004. The President and First Lady of Singapore, Mr and Mrs SR Nathan show their support for the DAS and dyslexic children when they visited our Dyslexia Centre in November 2005. The Dyslexia Centre has since become the focus of dyslexia in Singapore and the region.
With our Ang Mo Kio Centre fast reaching capacity, we were fortunate to obtain a unit at Bishan Junction 8 Shopping Centre via the National Council of Social Services to start a fourth Learning Centre. This was the first DAS Learning Centre outside an MOE school. Classes commenced in January 2006.
Research tells us that early identification and remediation for poor readers at pre-school significantly reduces the incidence of children who require special services later. Whilst it is difficult to accurately diagnose dyslexics at an early age, it is possible for us to screen for children who may be “at risk” of dyslexia. We will then be able to support these children, regardless of whether they are dyslexic, to improve to a level where they can transit smoothly into Primary 1. The DAS Pre-School Service therefore aims to raise awareness of dyslexia amongst staff and parents at pre-school centres, to conduct training for pre-school teachers to identify and work with “at risk” children and to conduct DAS pre-school classes to showcase the techniques for supporting these children. The Minister of Education Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the Guest of Honour at the Launch of the DAS Pre-School Service on 3 June 2006. The National Council of Social Services provided $300,000 over two years to help the project get started. At the end of 2009, there were 82 preschool students enrolled and DAS Educational Therapists were also teaching in PAP Community Foundation Preschool Centres in Cashew and Radin Mas.
The Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, during his speech at the opening of the Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore’s Cerebral Palsy Centre on 18 September 2004, announced several new initiatives for the MOE. Amongst these are initiatives which will increase funding and teaching support for dyslexic children in MOE schools. Teaching support will be provided via the Special Needs Officers, who are now known as Allied Educators (Learning and Behaviour Support). Recognizing the DAS's experience and professional expertise as a training provider in this field, the MOE signed a five year contract with the DAS to train these Special Needs Officers as part of the National Institute of Education's Diploma in Special Education. The first two batches of Special Needs Officers completed their training with the NIE and DAS in August 2007 and received their graduation certificates from the Minister of State of Education Mr Gan Kim Yong.
Recognition of the quality of DAS services have also come from abroad with DAS receiving increasing requests to conduct talks and training courses overseas. In November 2006, DAS staff spoke on the identification of dyslexic children at the “Helping Children with Dyslexia” Seminar in Jakarta organized by the Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana while in December 2006, we conducted a dyslexia workshop for special education teachers in Kota Tinggi Malaysia, organized by the Alpha & Omega Distant Learning Centre, a non-profit organization. This was followed by a presentation on the assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia in Singapore for the Taiwan Academy of Learning Disabilities during the their 2007 Annual Conference on 3 March 2007 at the National Kaohsiung Normal University. In June 2007, a two day workshop was held at Perling Specialist Hospital, Johore Bahru for medical staff, school principals, kindergarten teachers and parents. And in July 2007, a team of five DAS specialist trainers travelled to Hong Kong to conduct an intensive 12 day training programme for 24 teachers. These teachers were from primary and secondary schools managed by the Tung Wah Group, a large and established charity in Hong Kong. The training was very well received and the training course has since become an annual event.
“You could lead the world in this” says Sir Jackie Stewart.
(Business Times, 5 April 2007).
Dyslexic Formula 1 racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart was impressed by the way in which the problem of dyslexia is handled in Singapore and commended the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) when he visited in April 2007.
Until 2005, all DAS learning centres were in MOE schools. It is also crucial that the DAS bring our services to the heartland areas ! It was with this in mind that the DAS obtained premises in Bishan Junction 8 Shopping Centre, with the help of the National Council of Social Services, to open our fourth learning centre. This was our first learning centre in a commercial property. It has met with great success and today has an enrolment of over 350 students. It was a clear signal that DAS must have more learning centres in easily accessible locations.
In December 2008, the Dyslexia Centre moved out of its premises in SPRING Singapore, Bukit Merah Central to take up residence at the Jurong Point Shopping Centre. Once again, this is with the kind support of the NCSS. The new Dyslexia Centre not only contained the assessment and training centre, it also included DAS' fifth learning centre. In January 2009, DAS opened two new learning centres in the HDB void decks of Tampines Block 424 and Woodlands Block 165. An eighth learning centre was opened in Parkway Parade Shopping Centre in September 2009. The DAS is presently exploring the setting up of a ninth centre in Sengkang.
In July 2009, on the request of the Ministry of Education, Brunei, the DAS conducted a one day seminar on dyslexia for 500 senior officers and teachers of the Ministry. DAS lecturers subsequently delivered a two week Certificate Course in Dyslexia Studies for 24 Special Education Officers. The course was very well received and MOE Brunei has requested that the DAS conduct similar courses in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Also in 2009, the DAS once again raised the bar in terms of professional development in the field of dyslexia in the region when we launched the Masters in Specific Learning Differences which is validated by the London Metropolitan University. Conducted by full-time DAS lecturers as well as overseas experts such as Professor Angela Fawcett, Dr Steve Chinn and Ms Sandra Hargreaves, the Masters is the only one of its kind in Asia. It also raised the professionalism of DAS Educational Therapists who must now complete the Postgradute Certificate in Specific Learning Differences, which is one-third of the Masters programme, as part of their basic training.
And in November 2009, the DAS organized the first international Dyslexia Conference at the SPRING Singapore auditorium. The Minister of State for Education Dr Ng Eng Hen was the Guest of Honour. Over 500 teachers, parents and educational professionals listened to presentations from overseas experts including Professor Fawcett, Dr Chinn, Ms Hargreaves, Professor Bob Burden and Professor John Everett. Dr Mariam Aljunied from MOE's Psychological Services Branch and DAS psychologists and educational therapists were also amongst the presentors.
2010 and beyond – Providing for MOE School-Based Remediation Centres and the Singapore Boys' Home
The commencement of 2010 saw the DAS undertake two new projects. An MCYS survey of the residents at the Singapore Boys' Home found that over 60% of the boys may have a learning difference. The DAS has therefore been contracted to conduct psychological assessments and to provide educational therapy support for 20 of the boys in 2010. This is the first collaboration between MCYS and the DAS.
MOE's response to intervention programme for primary one and two students suggested that 4.2% of each year group, or about 2,000 students, may have dyslexia that warrant intervention. As a pilot project, 98 primary three students from 13 primary schools started receiving support from DAS Educational Therapists at Ahmad Ibrahim, Gan Eng Seng and Zhenhua Primary Schools in January 2010. The project may be extended nationwide based on the success of the pilot project.
“ Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced. “ – anonymous
With the government’s new initiatives, what seemed an incredibly uphill task back in 1989 has become a reality. Recognition of their difficulties, help and support for dyslexic children is now established in Singapore and formalized in Singapore schools. Even so, with an estimated 23,000 dyslexic children in local pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, efforts by the DAS and Singaporeans to reach out to these children must continue.
The heartfelt words of the parent of a dyslexic student on the DAS Learning Programme at Ang Mo Kio Learning Centre reminds us of this. “Now I know my mistake. My son should experience success in life. He needs to feel confident of himself and he should not despair over his learning difficulty. I will not be shy to tell my friends and family that he is dyslexic and he attends classes at DAS ….. If I have one regret, it has to be not seeking help earlier. And if I have to blame someone else, I choose to blame my friend for not letting me know about the DAS sooner!”