Justin Clark MEd, MLearningInnovation, BEd, BA
I’m a qualified (graduate and post graduate), experienced teacher who has chosen to specialise in tutoring children and adults with learning difficulties including dyslexia. My experience helping individuals with dyslexia has been highly rewarding. Through the right methods of teaching, the improvements made have real-life benefits for those I tutor.
Dyslexia tutoring requires a different teaching method than those traditionally and currently used in Australia. Individuals with dyslexia need one-on-one private tutoring designed specifically for their particular type of dyslexia. There is no one-size-fits-all, nor is there overnight improvement. Successful dyslexia tutoring requires an expert in the field and continual practice and work.
With children, the biggest obstacle 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, individuals have areas in which they excel (with exceptional IQ in certain areas). But this is not recognised, as it is hard to see when the basic building blocks of English and Maths hinder these students’ ability to demonstrate or reach their potential.
As a dyslexia tutor, my goal is to employ the correct teaching methods to facilitate improvements in reading, writing and mathematics, so 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 to understand the disability. 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 contrast to many dyslexic children, dyslexic adults are often extremely keen to learn and improve. They’re 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 the 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 the learning difficulty. This neurobiological disability causes people to struggle with spelling, accurate and/or fluent word recognition, and decoding. It may also include reading comprehension problems and reduced reaching experience. This can affect background knowledge and vocabulary growth.
I provide dyslexia tutoring Monday through Friday from 8am to 8.30pm (sometimes later). If you, your child, or a member of your family is looking for help with dyslexia, please contact me. I’m more than happy to talk with you and further explain my teaching methods, and the challenges that dyslexia includes, so you can decide if my services and tutoring skills appeal to you.
You may also like to find out more about me, my teaching style, my 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.