Imagine struggling to fill in a job application, read your medical prescription, or even read your child a bed-time story. This is life for ten percent of people in Bermuda who have the reading disorder dyslexia.

November is Dyslexia Awareness Month. The Royal Gazette recently met with Gill Ramsdale, tutor supervisor and coordinator of the core reading programme at the Reading Clinic on Serpentine Road in Pembroke, to learn more.

The Reading Clinic is a registered charity that was founded to help students who have specific reading disabilities such as dyslexia.

They provide screenings, tutoring for those found to have a problem, family consultations, teacher training, and a specialised math programme.

Q: What is dyslexia?

A: Dyslexia results from specific processing differences in the brain that affects written language. Everyone has a unique style of learning and children with dyslexia are no exception.

Q: How long have you been at the Reading Clinic?

A: I started working with the Reading Clinic in 1985. I became the tutor supervisor in 1987. I had struggled myself with spelling. When I did the course it made so much sense to me. I decided to continue. I loved working with the students, so I continued. I don't think I had a learning disability. I have never been diagnosed. I can certainly empathise with the difficulties that my students have.

Q: When should parents start to worry that their child might have a reading difficulty?

A: We are looking more and more at patterns and how children work with the sounds of the language. If they are not making those links then that is where it breaks down. You could start testing for problems as early as six or seven.

Q: What is the test for dyslexia?

A: There are no tests for dyslexia as such, but there are patterns that indicate how a child uses the sounds of the language. With children ages five and six, you are looking at can they rhyme? Can they figure out what the first sound is in a word? Can they hear the last sound in the word? It is about working with the language pieces. You look at whether they had problems putting language together early on. Do they say 'flutterby' or 'parcark' instead of butterfly or carpark.

All those pieces together can give you an idea that this is a child who may have a problem. It is not one thing in isolation. When your child is five or six, can they do the I Spy game. I spy with my little eye something that begins with 'Suh', for example. Can they name five things that start with 'Ssss'? Can they follow simple directions? Are they hitting their milestones. We don't want to over-diagnose, but you don't want kids sitting in the classroom who have not been diagnosed. It is about looking for those patterns.

Q: What percentage is out there that doesn't get diagnosed?

A: I don't know that figure in Bermuda. I know there was a needs assessment a few years ago. Many of the schools indicated there were a lot more children that needed our help than were actually getting help.

Q: If a parent looks at your check list and says my child isn't doing those things, what next?

A: Have them call the Reading Clinic.

Q: Do you have to go through your school?

A: No we are a parent-based organisation. We would suggest that the parents talk to their classroom teachers and the school principal to see what kind of services are available within the school system. We are supplementary to anything that the school can offer. They need to alert the teachers that they are concerned about their child. But they can also give the Reading Clinic a call.

Q: Is it more common in boys?

A: That is an ongoing debate. I think the jury is still out on that one. Personally, I don't think so. I think possibly boys are noticed more often than girls, because they tend to act out more in class.

Q: Is the Reading Clinic doing anything special for Dyslexia Awareness Month?

A: We have some adverts going in the paper. We are also having a tag day on Wednesday, November 10 and Saturday, November 13. We will be all around the Island doing tagging. Because we are a registered charity, we rely on donations in order to be able to help students. Many of our students are on bursaries. We need to be able to find funds to help with payment of those bursaries. We don't like to turn people away through lack of money. If we don't have the money to give, it becomes quite challenging, to say the least.

Q: How much does it cost to get an assessment?

A: There is a fee for an assessment. It is cheaper to do a partial assessment, if they have what is called a WIAT form from the school. We can offer some assistance in terms of extending payments. We do try and help wherever we can. If the child goes to a government school then they can go through the government school psychologist. That is free, but I know the school psychologists have a large list of people to see. So if people need to come to the reading clinic that is why we get the WIAT to speed the process. But in terms of the tutoring, it is on a means basis. Parents in need of a bursary would have to fill in a bursary application form. We do our best to provide bursaries to those who need them, but it is all about having funds in the coffer.

Q: How many students does the Reading Clinic have?

A: At any one time we have about 75 students. It is on a rolling basis, as children leave, more children come in. Once I have a student, I can generally get them a tutor within a couple of months. That will hopefully change in January when we have a new batch of tutors come on line. We are currently training 26 new tutors. These are interested individuals who want to make a difference in the life of a student with a learning disability.

Q: Is this a new career path for these new tutors or strictly a volunteer activity?

A: They do get paid. They are not volunteers. For a lot of them it is something that they want to do and they have some time they are able to do that. Some of them are working full-time, and can maybe take on a student before school or after school. Some are parents who have time during the school day and see this as a way to stay active in the community. People in Bermuda are so giving of their time and energy.

For more information on the Reading Clinic visit www.readingclinic.bm or telephone 292-3938.