UNITE SpLD 2022 – RETA Case Management Discussion: What’s the hype with ADHD? (24th Jun 2022)

RETA Case Management Discussion: What’s the hype with ADHD?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) presented by its Predominantly Inattentive, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsivity or Combined traits can affect many children. If left unaddressed, ADHD can disrupt children’s learning, motivation and socialization among family members and peers. Children with ADHD and a learning difficulty such as dyslexia are likely to struggle with academics and social interaction such that they become a big source of concern to parents and educators. What is more concerning, ADHD grows with the child – ADHD can develop as the child develops – and this may increase its severity if not tackled early on. While medication is an option to consider, this may not be the choice for many parents. How then can children with ADHD be helped? At the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS), a group of students with dyslexia and a co-morbid diagnosis of ADHD are supported by Educational Therapists and Educational Advisors to help them with both literacy and behaviour management. Students are not only given phonics instructions and explicit teaching of language skills to remediate literacy difficulties, they are also guided with behaviour strategies to aid in impulse control and hyperactivity so that they can better assimilate in a group setting. This presentation will highlight case studies on students with dyslexia and ADHD, as well as invite experts in this area to share their knowledge in dealing with children with ADHD. The data on case studies were collected through classroom observations and interactions with Educational Therapists. Strategies and suggestions are provided to inspire educators and parents to adopt them so as to form a consistent structure between what is implemented in the DAS classroom and what can be done at home.

Presenters & Panelists Bio
 

HANI ZOHRA MUHAMAD
LEAD EDUCATIONAL THERAPIST AND EDUCATIONAL ADVISOR
RETA FELLOW
DYSLEXIA ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE

Hani Zohra Muhamad is a Lead Educational Therapist and an Educational Advisor (EA). Hani joined the Dyslexia Association of Singapore in 2006 and has over the years been teaching and working with students with dyslexia and other co-morbidities. Hani contributes to the mentoring and training of new educational therapists, as well as support colleagues with challenging students. Hani holds a Masters Degree in Education (Special Education) from Nanyang Technological University (NIE-NTU), a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Management from the University of London (UOL) and a Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (Dyslexia). Hani is a Fellow member of the Register of Educational Therapist Asia (RETA).

SAFINAH HASSAN
LEAD EDUCATIONAL THERAPIST & CURRICULUM DEVELOPER
RETA ASSOCIATE FELLOW
DYSLEXIA ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE

Safinah Binte Hassan is a Lead Educational Therapist based at the Jurong Point Learning Centre. She started her career at the DAS in 2005 as an Educational Therapist and has since held various portfolios. She was one of the pioneers who launched the DAS Pre-School service and played an active role both as a Pre-School Program Manager and Educational Therapist. She has also conducted workshops at DAS Preschool Seminar in 2017 and 2018. Apart from that, Safinah was also involved in the training, mentoring and support of trainee Educational Therapists as an Educational Advisor. Currently, Safinah is a Curriculum Developer with the English Language and Literacy Division (ELL) where she is instrumental in the development and enhancement of the curriculum. She presented at the Unite SpLD Conference 2019. Safinah constantly aspires to provide quality service to dyslexics of all ages.

TINA TAN
ADHD PARENT TRAINER AND COACH
SPARK

Tina is a mother of 3 boys, 19, 18 and 13 years of age. She is Social Work trained. Her second son was diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia at age 6, and ASD at age 10. This led her to be very involved in learning about ADHD and supporting other families who have ADHD children. She is also a freelance parent trainer and coach, and she also designs and runs workshops and training programs on ADHD for SPARK (The Society for the Promotion of ADHD Research and Knowledge). She has a Bachelors degree in Social Work and Psychology from NUS, is an accredited Triple P Trainer with MSF, and is also sitting on the MOE COMPASS Council.

MICHELLE-LYNN YAP
DEPUTY COURSE CHAIR FOR STUDENT MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT (NIEC)

Michelle is currently the Deputy Course Chair for Student Management with the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) at the Ngee Ann Poly (NP) campus, under the Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education (ECDE). She joined NP in Jan 2016 and lectures mainly on childhood developmental needs, as well as supervises Year 3 interns both in the EC and Early Intervention settings. Michelle was the Course Lead for the Specialist Diploma in Early Childhood Learning Support (SDELS) from Oct 2016 – March 2021. As part of her role, she worked closely with the KKH (Consultancy Team) as well as MSF & ECDA to ensure quality and currency of the course, and also coached new practicum supervisors on the Literacy and Social Skills Support packages. Currently, Michelle contributes to SDELS by teaching the Literacy Support content to Learning Support Educators (LSEds) and being a practicum supervisor. Michelle also spent a year with the Community Psychology Hub on practical work attachment (Oct 2020 – 2021) and contributed to the building up of the Inclusive Support Programme Pilot Project, as the Design Lead (Technical Assistance). Prior to joining NP, Michelle was with the DAS for over 11 years as a Senior Educational Therapist, as well as with the DAS Academy as a lecturer and the Director for Continuing Professional Development.