Group aims to help children develop their full potential

Press, 24 April 1986, Page 8

Group aims to help children develop their full potential

by

ZSWLOJDL.

MAVIS AIREY

“It the eppot I hatd swgs and a can of maoi yell and doy a thrk book and wot pang go and cum.” Translated, this means “At the airport I had sandwiches and a can of Mello Yellow and bought a truck book and watched planes go and come.” The boy who wrote this story is 10. He is not intellectually handicapped, or even backward: his I.Q. is 104; his vocabulary is that of any other ten-year-old. But when it comes to reading and spelling he is three to four years behind. It is for children like him that SPELD was formed. The anagram stands for Specific Learning Disability. The organisation’s aim is to help children — and adults — whose formal learning development has been less than their potential in certain areas in spite of having adequate intelligence. Although there is not total agreement on the definition of specific learning disabilities, SPELD estimates that 10 per cent of primary school children in New Zealand may be two years

behind their expected level in reading, writing, spelling, or number skills. It describes children with specific learning disabilities as having seri-

ous difficulties with the manipulation of language, either heard or seen, written or spoken, that are not explained by low intelligence, poor teaching, or • lack of socio-cultural opportunity.

They have a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding language. It could be poor short-term memory, or difficulties with right and left, poor co-ordination, or attention problems. SPELD has found that specific learning difficulties are found more often in boys, but the reason for this is unknown. It sometimes runs in families, but it is not the result of environmental circumstances. The first SPELD branch, then known as the Dyslexia Association, started in Christchurch in 1971. There are now 32 branches throughout the country. The national centre is in Christchurch. Under the direction of Dr Jean Seabrook, it under-