Justin Clark MEd, MLearningInnovation, BEd, BA
I am a qualified (graduate and post graduate) and experienced teacher who has chosen to specialise in tutoring children and adults with the learning difficulty, dyslexia. My experience in helping individuals with dyslexia has been personally highly rewarding. Through using the right methods of teaching, the results, in terms of improvements, have real life benefits for those that I tutor.
Dyslexia tutoring requires a different method of teaching from the traditional teaching methods currently used in Australia. Individuals with dyslexia need one-on-one private tutoring that is designed specifically for their particular type of dyslexia. There is no one- size-fits-all in dyslexia, nor is there an overnight improvement. Successful dyslexia tutoring requires an expert in the field and continual practice and work.
In fact, with children, the biggest obstacle that I usually face is their revolt against learning and their poor self- esteem as a result of not achieving their potential level of abilities through the Australian school system.
Dyslexia is often talked about as “The Gift of Dyslexia”. This is not, however, how most dyslexic individuals perceive having this learning difficulty. However, the ‘gift’ side of dyslexia is that more often than not an individual with dyslexia has areas in which they excel (with exceptional IQ in certain areas) but this is not recognised and hard to see as the basic building blocks of English and Maths hinder these people being able to demonstrate or reach their true potential.
As a dyslexia tutor, my goal is to employ the correct teaching methods to facilitate improvements in reading, writing and mathematics such that these subjects impact less on an individual’s performance in other areas and in life.
Dyslexia tutoring for children requires a great deal of patience as well as the knowledge and experience required. The first obstacle to overcome with such children is their avoidance of learning. The majority of dyslexia tutoring actually involves learning through games. This is highly effective, not only in terms of ‘re-training the brain’, but also in overcoming children’s barriers to learning.
In complete contrast to many dyslexic children, dyslexia adults are extremely keen to learn, to improve and are very dedicated and involved in the process of re-training their brains. Some, naturally, are sceptical as to the effectiveness of the process, but this is quickly overcome once the results of the work start to appear.
The improvement of an individual’s reading, writing and/or maths with specialised dyslexia tutoring is dependent upon the type of dyslexia, the severity of their dyslexia and the amount of practice and work that is done on a regular basis.
I tutor dyslexic adults and children at my home office in Boondall, a northern suburb of Brisbane. As a dyslexia tutor, I have a thorough understanding of dyslexia. Dyslexia is a neurobiological learning disability. People with Dyslexia struggle with spelling, accurate and/or fluent word recognition, and decoding abilities. It may also include reading comprehension problems and reduced reaching experience. This can effect background knowledge and vocabulary growth.
I provide dyslexia tutoring Monday through to Friday from 8am to 8.30pm in the evening, sometimes later. If you or your child or a member of your family is looking for help with dyslexia, please contact me, I am more than happy to talk with you, explain further my teaching methods, the challenges that dyslexia includes and whether or not my services and tutoring skills appeal to you.
You may also like to find out a little bit more about me, my teaching style, motivations and the level of support I provide.
Justin Clark also delivers training to teachers and parents who are seeking help in teaching children with dyslexia.