Flag-bearers for special children
The results of the 2013 Ordinary Level (OL) examination were released awhile ago and accolades piled on the high achievers through the media.
In two homes in Colombo, there may not be result sheets with nine As, but the elation knows no bounds and not only the parents but also the children are full of smiles. The achievements seem greater – for two 16-year-old students, Kamal* and Sunil* from a popular boys’ school in Colombo, have not only passed the OL but also moved into the sphere of higher education in the line of their choice. What is special about an OL certificate many would wonder. The elation of these families is the culmination of a challenging upward and obstacle-strewn journey, which began when two little boys were diagnosed with dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a hidden problem with many children struggling through school or dropping out and falling through the system. (See graphic)
Kamal is the youngest in a family of two. As a tiny tot, his speech was not clear and the family was told that he was dyslexic when he was seven years old. He was already in school and his parents were determined to see him through his secondary education.
“Yes, it came as shocker when we heard he had a learning disability,” says his mother. Kamal knew the subject matter but there was an inability to perform to the level of his knowledge.
The school ensured his participation in a lot of extracurricular activity such as speech, drama and singing and sports such as swimming and tennis which also enabled him to interact with others.
School life went on and the OL loomed ahead. While Kamal burned the midnight oil, the arduous struggle to get him accepted as a special-needs student who would be sitting the examination began.
It is a similar tale with regard to Sunil. For his family, the realisation that he was different dawned when he was in the kindergarten.
“The system is just not developed in a resource-poor setting such as Sri Lanka for such families which have children with dyslexia,” points out Consultant Paediatrician Dr. Samanmali P. Sumanasena who is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Disability Studies Department of the Ragama Medical Faculty.
Seeing Kamal at the Intervention Clinic at the Disability Studies Department in September 2013 a few months before his OLs, she came to the conclusion that he had difficulty in reading and writing which could have a negative impact on his OLs.
“He is excellent in mathematics but reading long questions reduces his performance,” she said.
Getting together with Special Education Consultant Tamara Handy the action included making Kamal learn to listen to audio instructions along with the use of a scribe.
Having looked at Sunil as well, Dr. Sumanasena made several urgent recommendations to the Examinations Department, which in turn, rose to the occasion, thinking out of the box, after several visits by the parents with files bulging with documents.
The tension had been tangible when the OLs came round in December.
“The school itself was the examination centre, but while other students walked into a hall, Kamal pored over his examination papers in a separate room,” says his mother, while Sunil’s mother nods her head.
Yes, there had been many a murmur of prayers and whispers of hope.
The day of triumph, however, came later.
It was April 3. With hearts thudding they viewed the results of Kamal and Sunil online.
Kamal had secured As for Mathematics, English and Music; one B, two Cs and two Ss and Sunil had two As for English and Business Studies; one B, three Cs and two Ss.
With Kamal now studying for his London Advanced Level, the subjects being Business, Accounts and Travel and Tourism, Sunil who has a knack for cooking has already secured a distinction in a City and Guilds Diploma course in bakery and patisserie and gone onto the Advanced Diploma while training at a five-star hotel.
While Kamal and Sunil are getting on with their lives, they have become the flag-bearers for all those other children out there with learning difficulties to take their seat at national examinations before being integrated into society.
(* Names changed to protect their identities)
| Strengthening the system
The compliments flow forth about the special arrangements made by the Department of Examinations for these two students with learning disabilities, along with the hope that the system would be continued and strengthened to accommodate more in the years to come. - Question papers in larger font and bold printing with more space in-between lines for clarity. When contacted by the Sunday Times, Commissioner General of Examinations W.M.N.J. Pushpakumara said that starting a few years ago, they have been making arrangements for special children to sit not only the OLs but also the other national examinations such as the Grade 5 Scholarship Examination and the Advanced Level. Applications are called in the case of such children through newspaper advertisements. They can apply through their schools or as private candidates. An Interview Board comprising Examination Department as well as Special Education officials evaluate each and every child, while also perusing the medical reports, the Sunday Times learns.
Technical and emotional support Explaining how the preparatory work in the case of Kamal entailed ‘technical and emotional support’, Special Education Consultant Tamara Handy says that she worked with routines and study skills that can compensate for difficulties in reading and writing and exam-taking skills. There was a good mix of “how to study” and “what to study” along with counselling. “The emotional support involved improving self-confidence, focus and motivation,” she says, pointing out that these children have usually been told that they are “poor/weak” right along. Their disability has been seen more as a sign of laziness or lack of focus. Sadly, these children grow up believing it. Identifying her role as “minimal”, Ms. Handy is quick to point out that she guided them through the process of preparing for the exams, but they did all the work. “The people who need to get the credit are firstly the students themselves and the parents who did whatever they could to support their children. There were also teachers and tutors who taught using accommodations and instructions given by people like me to ensure that the students got the best learning experience.” While commending the Examination Department for the supportive role throughout the application and examination process, she says that some hurdles though were the documentation needed and non-clarity with regard to whom to meet at the department and Education Ministry level. “We do not have standardised assessment tools to test children to ascertain the level of support they need at an exam. Therefore, it is imperative that a thorough evidence based screening process is administered to decide on the support that needs to be given to children with varying levels of disability,” Ms. Handy added. |