Dr. Isabelle Shanti Benjamin, Principal Consultant, www.elcotconsultants.com

Dr. Isabelle Shanti Benjamin is the Founder & Principal Consultant of ELCOT Consultants, a Professional Development Consultancy that conducts teacher training programmes for in-service English Language teachers as well as student workshops in secondary schools and private institutions. Her research work for her Doctoral and Masters dissertations investigated the micro-level reading skills and evaluation objectives of the UCLES ‘O’ Level Paper 2. Using the logic training of her BSc. degree, she developed a powerful text processing methodology for working out answers to comprehension questions in a systematic and procedural approach (not unlike the ‘working’ used for math questions). Her 30-year training experience of empowering both students and teachers in their honing and explanation of reading techniques has given her a deeper understanding of the unique challenges involved in the training of students taking this highly demanding paper which tests complex reading comprehension skills involved in the interpretation of question patterns and linguistic features (even as it has evolved over the last decade with new syllabuses and exam formats). Dr. Benjamin also uses her specialist knowledge to provide vetting and design services for testing instruments, pedagogical consultations on research projects as well as designing of effective training materials and resources. Dr. Benjamin is also currently an external Consultant for the Curriculum Team for English Language and Literacy Division.

HACKING THE TEXT: Empowering Reading Comprehension through Annotation

Annotation, while a highly regarded teaching strategy in many English Language classrooms, is frequently not well-executed or understood. Often what passes for teaching annotation is reduced to a teacher-dominated session of explaining meanings of words in the text with students mechanically noting down these ‘announced’ meanings. In my consultation work with EL departments, I have observed that annotation is often focused only on the semantic level i.e. content words. This approach often results in students giving up whenever they encounter unknown words because they have not been trained to note and exploit contextual clues that indirectly or directly point to the meaning intended by the writer. Competent readers rarely know the meaning of every single word in the texts they read but they do know to how ‘hack’ the grammatical structure and contextual details to theorize potential meanings to be confirmed or eliminated with further evidence and arrive at the meaning intended. This workshop session will help participants develop the linguistic knowledge base needed to identify critical annotation ‘targets’ to effectively train their students to independently notice and exploit pertinent textual clues to clarify or guesstimate the meaning intended by writers.

Angelica Benson, Ed.M., Director of International Development and Public Relations, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes - For over 20 years, Angelica Benson has worked for Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes, a world leader in research and instruction to address learning challenges including dyslexia, hyperlexia, ADHD, and autism spectrum disorder. Ms. Benson is currently the Director of International Development and is based in the Del Mar, California Lindamood-Bell Learning Center. Ms. Benson holds a Master of Education degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego.

A Picture of Success: The Imagery-Language Foundation for Teaching all Children to Read and Comprehend

This session explores the nature and role of imagery in reading and comprehension for all readers, including struggling learners and those with dyslexia. Many children experience weakness in creating imagery, resulting in poor literacy skills. New research suggests that the dual-coding of imagery and language is a critical factor in language comprehension and in word reading. Supported by key behavioral and neurological research findings, and 35 years of instructional experience, this session reveals that imagery is a primary sensory-cognitive power source that can be developed for reading independence in all children, including those diagnosed with dyslexia.

Learning Objectives:

Through interactive discussion designed to reinforce key ideas, participants will:

1. Identify the two types of imagery (symbol and concept) and the symptoms of weak imagery underlying the component parts of reading
2. Examine behavioral and neurological research supporting the role of imagery for students weak in word reading and comprehension, including students with a range of learning difficulties and highlighting those diagnosed with dyslexia
3. Demonstrate the ability to apply the conceptual framework from the discussion to best support a range of individual student learning needs (examples/case studies provided).

Suthasha Kelly Bijay (Preschool Programme Manager)

Kelly joined Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) in 2012, and over the years has worked with a diverse group of pupils. Kelly holds a Master's Degree in Special Educational Needs (MASEN) and Second Upper Honours Degree in Early Childhood Education (BEd Hons). Currently, Kelly oversees the Pre-School Early Literacy Programme (PELP). She supports the development of the specialised curriculum and resources and carries out training for pre-school trainee teachers. She also teaches and finds working with preschoolers, especially those who need additional support meaningful. Kelly has presented in conferences such as DAS Preschool Seminar (2015), and Early Childhood Conference (2016) organised by Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA).

Effectiveness of Incorporating a Structured E-Books Programme to Improve Outcomes for Early Struggling Readers

Using a mixed study design of both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, The study looked at educational therapists’ implementation of shared e-book sessions, projecting e-books onto a screen to extend the shared reading experience, and the impact this had on struggling readers’ early literacy skills and comprehension. Participants included a diverse sample of 20 children and 5 Educational Therapists (EdTs).Following a brief training session to ensure consistency of approach across the sample, teachers conducted 10 e-book shared reading sessions, over a 10-week period. A pre and post informal curriculum-based measure was used and compared with a control group to assess learning. Results suggest that the use of Raz-Kids e-books had helped in improving pupils’ comprehension skills and complemented teaching, learning and reading engagement. It concluded that there is similar effect from shared reading using print books to shared reading using e-books, and that both support children's learning of discrete literacy skills, and that it is beneficial to expose children to both types of books. Literature generally points out that struggling readers experience reduced motivation to read. E-books would therefore add to the importance on engaging such readers and increasing their interest in reading. This research did not show unilaterally that the gains from the e-books programme was above that from the use of printed books but it concluded that a good shared book reading programme would best incorporate both types of books.

DAMARIS CARLISLE, LECTURER-IN-CHARGE, English Language & The Learning Centre, LASALLE College of the Arts, Doctoral Student, The University of Western Australia

As lecturer-in-charge of the English language programme and The Learning Centre at LASALLE College of the Arts, she remains passionate about education and promoting an inclusive campus. Currently working towards a Doctorate in Education, she is investigating issues experienced by learners with special educational needs as they transition to tertiary education.

Lived experiences of learners with special educational needs at university in Singapore

Abstract

Often cited for its academic success, Singapore is in the throes of shifting towards a social model of inclusive education. Since 2003, the Singapore government has incorporated facilities and resources into schools with the aim of helping learners with special educational needs (SEN) integrate into mainstream school (Hean, 2000). With greater accessibility to mainstream schooling, increasing numbers of students with SEN are continuing to tertiary education. In 2014, in recognition of this growth, the Singapore government announced that publicly funded institutes of higher learning would be furnished with a Disability Support Office to support these learners (Siau, 2014). This presentation discusses the initial findings of a qualitative interpretive study set in Singapore. Individual interviews were conducted with second and third-year university students in Singapore who have an assessed SEN. Participants were asked to reflect on their first-year experiences, support, coping strategies, and successes as they transitioned from school to university. After cycles of coding the data, themes were identified. The lived experiences of these learners presenting a wide range of differing needs provide insights into their realities and perspectives (Punch & Oancea, 2014). This, in turn, has possible implications for policy and practice at the tertiary level in Singapore.

Key words: university, special educational needs, first-year experiences, transition

References

Jack Churchill Co-founded Scanning Pens 17 years ago because he’s passionate about technology being a great enabler and support. He is a determined to help young people and adults with dyslexia and other reading difficulties obtain greater access to printed text through assistive technology, both in their everyday lives and exams. He sits on the board of BATA (the British Assistive Technology Association), St Mary’s Calne School and the International Churchill Society. Jack Churchill was diagnosed with dyslexia at school and given the necessary extra support to help level the playing field. He has taken his experience and developed the technology business Scanning Pens which now supports tens of thousands of young people and adults to access text independently. Scanning Pens work has been recognised with many awards including the prestigious BETT Award 2020 Company of the Year.

Breaking Down Barriers with Assistive Tech: Dyslexia & Accommodations

The most common disability is dyslexia. In recent years quite rightly greater focus has been given to supporting invisible learning difficulties. I was diagnosed with dyslexia at school and given the necessary extra support to help level the playing field for me. I have taken my experience and developed the technology business Scanning Pens which now supports tens of thousands of young people and adults access text independently.

The power of being able to quickly and simply access text using a pen scanner is changing the way people learn today. There is now no need to have an adult sit with you all the time.

I intend to show how pen scanners are being used around the world to break down barriers in both dyslexia & testing and I’ll highlight the latest evidence and best practice. The most common disability is dyslexia. In recent years quite rightly greater focus has been given to supporting invisible learning difficulties.

The power of being able to quickly and simply access text using a pen scanner is changing the way people learn today. There is now no need to have an adult sit with you all the time. This session will show how pen scanners are being used around the world to break down barriers for individuals in school, workplace & exams and highlight latest evidence, best practice and product developments.

Jessica Colleu Terradas is a national award-winning Special Education Teacher/Level 3 Classroom Teacher and instructional coach whose work has impacted on more than 200 educationally at-risk Australian adolescents (Grades 7 to 10), being able to improve their literacy and numeracy outcomes, in her 6 year experience. She holds a Masters’ in Education (Special Education) with Edith Cowan University, and is a passionate advocate for students with learning challenges. The students she works with have a great range of learning difficulties, including dyspraxia, dyslexia, autism, learning delays, poor working memory and processing skills. As part of the Intensive Learning Team, Jessica is responsible for implementing remedial interventions for students academically at risk at Como Secondary College (Western Australia).

Jessica has been instrumental in advancing the awareness, understanding and use of evidence-based reading instruction to prevent literacy failures across Australia. Being a sought-after advisor to more than 35 other secondary schools, she continues to impart her knowledge by assisting schools with timetabling, screening processes, recruitment and selection of teaching staff and teacher training. Jessica provides effective leadership in a wide range of educational settings when she presents and participates at formal and informal professional learning events, including teacher led events and national conferences. In 2019, she won one of the 12 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Fellowships in recognition of her success in improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in at-risk students. She invested the $30,000 grant into a school project that aims at building teacher capacity to improve students’ engagement and performance by exploring practical evidence from cognitive psychology.

An Exploration of Instructional Coaching to Build Teachers’ Capacity in Schools

Since 2013, the Intensive Learning Team (ILT) at Como Secondary College has strived to lift literacy and numeracy outcomes in academically at-risk students by running an effective targeted evidence-based intervention. In 2019, we launched a project in alignment with the school’s pedagogical framework that aims at improving the transition of these students to mainstream classes by applying explicit direct instruction features in mainstream classes for a greater impact on students’ learning and behaviour. To ensure changes in practices and increase teacher capacity, the project involves instructional coaching, on-site professional learning activities and the creation of a Professional Learning Community. Focused on based measures, instructional coaching is a differentiated, collaborative process that involves an expert working closely with teachers to improve classroom practice, and ultimately student outcomes. The coach acts as a guide or facilitator and draws on a repertoire of instructional practices, knowledge and experience to bridge teacher capacity related to individualised improvement goals. In implementation, the results expected are an effective, consistent pedagogy across teachers within the school and sustainable improvements in all students’ achievement, especially the most at-risk students.

Participants in this session will identify the features of the Instructional Coaching Cycle based on Jim Knight’s work. They will explore classroom observation and feedback as strategies to school improvement which informs collaborative discussion and support for inclusive schooling. We will also analyse the data collected used to drive facilitated reflection on the effectiveness of the pedagogical practices which were enacted

Dr Kristiantini Dewi is a female paeditrician who completed my degree in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Padjajaran in 2005. Currently she works as a pediatrician in Indigrow Child Development Center (CDC) since 2005 and the International Santosa Hospital Bandung since 2007 and Melinda2 Child Development Center of Melinda2 Hospital since 2014. She is a completed a fellow in clinical attachment in neuropediatric field at the Institute of Pediatric Hospital Kuala Lumpur 2007. As well as a lot of training related to the growth and development of children with special needs. In addition to being Chairman of the Dyslexia Association of Indonesia, she is also a coordinator of Special Services Program development in Indonesia Class Dyslexia, Autism classes and inclusion. Kristiantini has published several educational books for parents, conducted many trainings and workshops for professionals, teachers and parents. She has managed to build very huge parent community across islands of Indonesia so then they can learn and share the knowledge to each other.

Raising community awareness of dyslexia by empowering parents and teachers as important components of society

Dyslexia awareness among Indonesian’s people is still low. As an archipelago country, that has many islands, our challenge to raise awareness equally in every part of the country is really tough. Due to limitation of manpower resource, Dyslexia Association of Indonesia (DAI) committed to empower parents of dyslexic children with evidence-based knowledge about dyslexia, and encourage them to teach and share this knowledge to other parents in their communities. These parents gathered in a so called “Dyslexia Parent Support Group” (DPSG) that sited in every big island. DPSG has been such significant help in creating awareness and promoting inclusive education services in Indonesia. On top of that, Dyslexia Association of Indonesia also reached teachers as one of important component in the society to raise dyslexia awareness among them. A series of Educational Classes and Scholarship of Dyslexia Workshop has been done on Bandung, Jakarta and Aceh that delivered the knowledge of child developmental milestone, dyslexia and its related condition. Those teachers who had completed all courses got credit as Dyslexia Friendly Teachers and they had to spread their knowledge and skill to other teachers in their own communities.

Professor Angela Fawcett is a leading international researcher into dyslexia and other developmental disabilities, encompassing a range of theoretical and applied contributions to this field. Her approach is broad and interdisciplinary ranging from child and cognitive development to educational screening and intervention, as well as development cognitive neuroscience. She is the Vice President of the British Dyslexia Association and also the Former Chair and Director of the Centre for Child Research at the Swansea University, UK.

Embrace Dyslexia: Accentuate the Positives!

For too long research and practice in dyslexia has focused exclusively on the associated deficits. In this talk, I shall present the case for a ‘dyslexia 360’ approach, considering the whole child and adult, and identifying strengths in order to build success. Presenting evidence from studies with adult students, the talk identifies the importance of attitudes and the role of school, teacher, parents, society, the university, the workplace and dyslexics themselves in creating a better future for dyslexics worldwide.

David Fawcett is a Member UK APPG

From Failure to Fulfilment, the Route to Success.

As an undiagnosed dyslexic, David found himself a miserable failure at school on almost everything they tested. He had no alternative but to take a non-academic career, during which he was ‘surprisingly’ successful at each of the roles he was given. In this talk, the keys to success will be discussed.

R. Malatesha Joshi, Ph.D., is a Professor of Reading/Language Arts Education, ESL and Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University, where he teaches and conducts research in literacy development and

Professor R. Malatesha Joshi, Texas A&M University.

literacy problems among monolinguals and bilinguals in different orthographies. Dr. Joshi is the Editor of Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal and the monograph series titled Literacy Studies. He has over 100 publications in high-impact journals and has published about 20 books relating to literacy development. He has received numerous national and international awards such as Erasmus Mundus fellowship and has been invited as a senior research scholar to lecture and present his research in various countries, such as China, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Finland, and New Zealand. Dr. Joshi also has received numerous state, federal, and international grants and at the present time, is the Co-I of more than 10 million U.S. dollars in grants. Because of his contribution to the field of educational research, Dr. Joshi was selected as the 2017 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), their highest award that exemplifies the highest standards of excellence through accomplishment, professionalism, and commitment.

Dyslexia in Different Orthographies

Even though various factors such as home and school environments as well as type of instruction may influence literacy development in children, recent studies also have shown that type of writing systems and orthographies may also play an important role in becoming a fluent reader. In this presentation, I shall present research on dyslexia in different orthographies and how this can be applied to identification and instruction of dyslexia and elated reading problems.

Fintan O'Regan is one of the leading behaviour and learning specialists in the UK. He is currently an SEN and Behaviour Consultant for the Schools Network and an associate lecturer for Leicester University, the National Association of Special Needs, Tribal Education and the Institute of Education.

He is currently the Vice Chairman of UKAP and a member of the European ADHD Alliance. He has been the chairperson of the European ADHD Taskforce, and is a current member of the Special Education Consortium and the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee.

Fintan trained as a secondary science and PE teacher after studying Zoology and Genetics at Sheffield University and remains fascinated by the impact of nurture and nature on human development. He was the Headmaster of the Centre Academy School, regarded as the first specialist school within the UK for children with ADHD/ODD from 1996 -2002. Prior to that, he was a Deputy Head Teacher, the Head of the Science Department and a Science/PE teacher in London, Newcastle and Washington DC. Throughout this period he worked with a range of students and parents. This experience helped to develop a balanced perspective of the issues facing schools, teachers and families regarding behaviour and learning differences.

The SF3R behaviour and learning model developed by Fin forms the principles of his approach regarding proactive short term and long term solutions to behaviour and learning success. He states, “Although it is true that no two children are the same, structured and flexible systems and strategies will yield similar successful outcomes.”

Fintan is an internationally acclaimed presenter and consultant in behaviour, learning and motivation working both within the Education and Health sectors. As well as providing his expertise to audiences within the UK, he has presented throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.

His publications include the; the T.E.S. award winning book Educating Children with ADHD as well as How to teach and Manage Children with ADHD, Surviving and Succeeding in SEN and ADHD, Impact and Intervention, Troubleshooting Challenging behaviour , Challenging Behaviours, The Small Change: Big Difference series; Inattention, Hyperactive and Disorganised and the recently published Successfully Managing ADHD.

Supporting Learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

One teacher recently said with regards to a student with ADHD that “he is like a computer without a printer attached, he knows exactly what the answer is in his brain but he cannot give me the hard copy i.e. the answer on paper”. This presentation will consider a range of systems and strategies in order to address successful learning, behaviour outcomes for children with ADHD.

Dr Elizabeth Ow Yeong Wai Mang, Teaching Fellow, Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, National Institute of Education

Dr Elizabeth Ow Yeong has been an educator in the Singapore mainstream primary school system for the past 25 years. Currently seconded to the National Institute of Education, she focuses on training pre-service teachers, allied educators for learning and behavioural support, as well as in-service teachers in the area of special needs. Her research interests include special needs education and constructivist teaching approaches. In 2017, Dr Ow Yeong was awarded the President’s Award for Teachers for her excellent contribution to education.

Teacher Power!

Research shows that collective teacher efficacy is positively related to improved performance of learners. This is a secondary data analysis study on the local and international studies done on teachers’ provision of support for students with special educational needs. When teachers believe that together, they are capable of developing students to achieve a higher potential. Collective teacher efficacy (CTE) refers to the educators’ shared belief that through their collective action, they can positively influence student outcomes, including those who are disengaged and/or disadvantaged. Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new teaching approaches, set more challenging goals, and attend more closely to the needs of students who require extra assistance. In addition, when collective efficacy is present, educators are better equipped to foster positive behaviour in students and in raising students’ expectations of themselves by convincing them that they can cope and do well in school. The study concludes that teacher power in terms of Collective teacher efficacy is an important factor in enabling students with special educational needs to fare well in mainstream schools.

Prajakta Phadake, Assistant Manager at Dr. Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation (AMF) has completed her Master's in Counselling Psychology and is currently pursuing her Bachelor's Degree in Special Education. For the last nine years at AMF, she has worked in close proximities with helping students with learning difficulties and Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), studying in both, English as well as Marathi medium of instruction.

Prajakta is trained to practice evidence based training methodology for interacting with her students. Her credentials include, 'Mentor for Empower Reading Program: Decoding and Spelling Grade 2', an evidence-based reading program by Learning Disability Research Program (LDRP), The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, as well as 'JUMP Math Program' another evidence-based program by Dr. John Mighton, designed to help children succeed at, and enjoy, learning math. Moreover, she has presented and participated in national and international conferences. At present, Prajakta is involved in conducting assessments and intervention, training teachers, advocating stakeholders of students with SLD, mentoring as well as is a part of a research team.

Developing Curriculum-Based Measures in Marathi: A Promising First Phase

Abstract:

Anjali Morris Foundation (AMF) is a 11-year-old nonprofit entity working with struggling learners in Pune, India. Students who enroll with AMF for intervention support primarily attend schools where the language of instruction is either English or Marathi. The latter is the local language of the region. At AMF, students are first assessed in areas of need and intervention support is provided based on obtained data. Several assessment tools, both formative and summative, are available in English and used regularly at AMF. Progress monitoring is an integral part of the existing practice. Currently there are no technically sound assessment tools available in Marathi and because there is such a dire need, during the 2016-17 school year, AMF embarked on developing formative assessments for universal screening and progress monitoring in reading in Marathi. This multi-year research project is in collaboration with Drs. Roland Good and Ruth Kaminski of Acadience Learning and developers/ authors of DIBELS, and as a first step, tools to measure Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) and Retell in first grade, as well as ORF and Retell for grades 2 and 3 have been developed. This presentation will describe the development of the tools as well the strong preliminary results obtained from administration of the tools to students in grades 1 and 2 during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. Limitations, challenges with establishing validity and future directions will also be discussed.

Keywords: Assessments, curriculum, intervention, reading fluency, native language

Harini Ramanujam is the CEO of Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA). She is been associated with MDA for the past 12 years in various roles. As a special educator and an assessor she has vast experience in identification and remediation of primary children. She is one of the senior faculty in their Teachers Training Division who has trained many teachers across the country in identification of children with Dyslexia and imparting strategies within classroom to overcome the same. She successfully spear headed projects like Tamil Vazhi Payirchi a remediation methodology in Tamizh , AVANCE 360 a work flow software to monitor the children under remediation and in development of MDA Avaz Reader, an assistive device for reading. She also manages their Learning and Research Centre, Ananya. She has all round knowledge and experience in handling children with Specific Learning Disability. She has represented MDA in the International Dyslexia Conference held in Singapore and Portland, Oregon and presented papers. She has also presented a paper in IIT, Delhi on assistive technology.

Tamizh Vazhi Payirchi - A Comprehensive Remedial Program for Tamil

Dyslexia being a language processing disorder, would have an impact on learning in vernacular as well. The design of the Indian education system is such the government run schools teach in the vernacular in the primary classes. People from other states migrate for employment and are unfamiliar with the language. This adds to the complexity in getting educated.

Madras Dyslexia Association has been actively working towards disseminating information on dyslexia and remedial strategies to primary school teachers. While addressing the teachers from Tamil medium school (which include the Tamilnadu government schools), specific queries related to teaching Tamil to children with dyslexia are discussed. These forums established the need for equipping the teachers with remedial strategies for coping with reading, writing, spelling and learning difficulties in Tamil language.

Statistics from the TamilNadu government establish that there are nearly 2 million primary school going children, out of which 200 thousand could be struggling with academics due to Specific Learning Difficulties. This makes it a very stark issue that requires focused solution; what better solution exists than to equip to the teachers to help the children within the classroom.

This paper discusses the pressing need for remediation in Tamil, then goes on to discuss the objectives of the programme-Tamil Vazhi Payirchi (TVP).

Madras Dyslexia Association has taken the Evidence-based approach based on the Orton-Gillingham approach to develop this comprehensive solution. Tamil Vazhi Payirchi has been successfully practiced in over 10 schools. Case studies from these schools are presented in this paper to present evidence of improvement not just in the performance levels of their students but also in their interest levels.

Further on, the salient features of Tamizh Vazhi Payirchi are delineated-the solution includes screening tool to identify the child in a class room environment, a remedial kit, a training programme for the teachers to help the child with in the class room and the support system of a resource room to minimise full time pull out from the school.

The implementation process of the replicable and scalable solution is discussed in detailed. The paper concludes with a description of the plans to reach out to the Tamil medium schools across the state of Tamil Nadu in an economical and effective manner such that society gains from such an impact in terms of increased productivity of the children.

Mohamed Samunn, Dyslexia Association of Singapore

Mohamed Samunn is a senior educational therapist (ET) at Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). He holds a master’s degree in Specific Learning Differences(SpLD) from London Metropolitan University. He provides intervention and remediation lessons to children with dyslexia from grade 1-10. His current research interest is to find technology-infused innovative and lifelong learning solutions for teens and emerging adults with learning differences to enable them to be successful in their post-secondary education and work-life thereafter.

Using Digital Tools in Qualitative Research

Abstract

As society transforms, the introduction of digital technology in every aspect of human life has created new contexts for research and has introduced new tools to conduct qualitative research. As a result, qualitative research practices that are used for decades are being redefined by the use of electronic tools, systems, devices, and digital resources to generate, store, and analyse data. This transformation helps us to understand that the social world can no longer be limited to in-person observations, interviews and face-to-face relationships. Instead, researchers are directed to explore the online self – how the communities work with use of various technologies in their daily lives. This exploration has made every researcher either to be an early adopter or a resister of digital technologies or he/she can still be somewhere in between using some of the digital tools consciously to search databases, write thesis or research articles, check grammar and plagiarism, etc.

This presentation / workshop attempts to give an insight to the participants on how they will be able to mix and match various digital tools available to them considering the affordances and constraints of these tools to conduct an entire research. The participants will be able to grasp how digital tools can support creative conversations between collaborators; meeting and networking; resource sharing and collaborative writing; conducting literature reviews; collecting researcher-generated data; digital recording and transcribing interviews and meetings; computer-assisted data analysis – text, image, audio, and video; data storage and security; citation and document management.

Keywords: qualitative research, digital technology, digital tools, qualitative data analysis.

Meenakshi Sriram has been a Special educator, with Madras Dyslexia Association, Chennai for last 10 years. She is an assessor and a monitor of the resource rooms set up by MDA in various mainstream schools. She is also a part of the training team which trains mainsteam teachers on identifying and working with children with Specific Learning disability. Besides training and assessment she also been working with many such children on after school remediation.

After school remediation-journey from skills to independency

After-school remediation-journey from skills to independency

Learning disability has been a growing problem over the past couple of decades in most countries. The same is the situation in India also. With 2/3rd of children facing difficulties, Extensive efforts have been on for quite a while in the form of teacher training, resource rooms etc.

In this endeavour, with its mission and vision on life long management of Dyslexia MDA has come up with full time pull out program, teachers training programs and resource rooms within the school campus. The remedial centres provide for children with mild, moderate and severe difficulties. Where such a facility is not available the trained teacher provide support within the class room situation for children with mild to moderate difficulty. Despite these continuous support, due to lack of time or for children with severe difficulties or when the gap between the skill and the requirement is large there is a need for afterschool remediation for repetitive and additional reinforcement.

The paper showcases:

1. How a one on one after school remediation program of MDA acts as a bridge between the pull out program and integrating the child into a main stream requirements wherever existing efforts need constant reinforcement
2. Children who need extra support other than that provided by the school are given the continued support to build his skills and integrate him into his class room.
3. Schools where such a facility is not available the children avail the benefits of the after school remediation program.

The paper moves on to showcase how the program moves gradually from building the skills to supporting the child with his school syllabus in a main stream environment and continue the support till he becomes an independent learner. With such a program it can be ensured that no child is left out without intervention and the journey from remedial learning into mainstream education is smooth and the child blossoms into a confident and independent individual

Sara Xu, Senior Clinical and Educational Psychologist, Community Psychology Hub

Sara Xu is a Senior Clinical and Educational Psychologist who has been working with children and youths for over a decade. She was the Deputy Head of the Children's One-stop Psycho-Educational Service at Child Guidance Clinic, and then the Special Education (SPED) Team Lead of the REACH Team (IMH). Since 2018, she has been providing psychological interventions and assessments to preschoolers as part of the Development Support and Learning Support (DSLS) programme, under the Community Psychology Hub and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities.

Selective Mutism in Children

Selective Mutism is a clinical disorder where a child consistently does not speak (or becomes "mute") in certain situations, despite being able to speak in other situations. While Selective Mutism usually gets noticed in children when they start school, the condition can be present at all ages, including adolescence. Anxiety is at the root of Selective Mutism, but individuals with this condition may seem to be deliberately oppositional in withholding speech in certain situations or with certain people. Hence, it is important for professionals who work with these children and youths to be aware of this condition and be equipped with knowledge on how they can support individuals with Selective Mutism. This sharing will cover:

- a brief overview of Selective Mutism

- its signs and symptoms

- a summary of intervention strategies

- classroom supports

Dr Kitty Yuen Han MO is currently working as Assistant Professor of Caritas Institute of Higher Education. She has a long standing interest in the field of special education and social services for dyslexic students and their families. Her background in social work and special education enable her to understand the difficulties facing the specific group of people. She is currently an Associate Editor of International Social Work.

Parental Involvement in School in Mainland China

Parents is seen as important partners in the formal education of their children. There is a considerable body of studies in Mainland China regarding the problems of parental involvement in normal schools. However, there is a dearth of study concerns parental involvement of children with dyslexia in Chinese educational context. Under the Compulsory Education Law, Chinese students with disabilities have the right to enjoy and receive compulsory education. Although there is an effort by the government to encourage inclusive education in mainstream school, student diversity is viewed as problematic in a school setting. In a recent qualitative study, a total of 21 parents of children with dyslexia or hyperactivity attention deficit were interviewed. Children ranged in age from 7 to 12. The findings revealed that parents raised problems about school arrangement such as school curriculum and approach were not flexible enough and could not accommodate different learning styles; and all students were evaluated in a standardized test or exam for which it could not allow a student with dyslexia to show his or her acquired knowledge. Parents expressed concern about the current situation of school education. But most parents said that they had no way to express and participate. This presentation intends to reveal the underlying structure, the causation of the observed events, the interacting factors embedded in school environment, and the reflections for improvement.