Good day to all and greetings from Cebu, Philippines.
I chanced upon this site couple of weeks ago in search for and all sorts of unending questions about my son’s condition. I’am a father of a 7 yrs old son (eldes of 2 boys) who was diagnosed to have epilesy and ATHROPHY of the left brain, slight condition of lazy eyes and has poor eye sight. Our doctor suggest’s that his learning disability. (slow learner, poor reading, math & motor skills, speach delay, comprehension challenges) may be the cause of the athrophy and the epilepsy. He is in mainstream school right now w/o special schooling to address his challenges. Socially he can handle himself at this point, his academic state right now is really challenging, he really needs guidance and continous effort for him to get a lesson. His psychometric test showed that he has an average IQ which, I sadly think is not accurate based on what we are experiencing now.
Basically my intentions in writing here is to find out if anyone out there has the same condtions us my son and what are the steps or actions done to help improve the condition. I understand that this is a site mainly for US based readers. But can you recomend a support group/site for the Philippines mainly in Cebu.
Thank you in advance for all your comments
God speed to all.
Re: child with learning disability and epilepsy
hi janice, your response is very much appreciated. my son is seeing a pediatric neurologist and is on a medication called trileptal combined with topomax. he has attacks every once a month. He currently wearing contact lenses as prescribed by his eye doctor. I will certainly look up the website you mentioned, I reckon that my son has dyslexia with what i have been reading from this site. once again thank you very much for your time and assistance.
Godbless.
Hello, and welcome! I will have to do some searching to see if there are any resources in the Philippines, but I just wanted to comment on a couple of things. You said that your son’s IQ did not seem to be accurate. But this is what a learning disability means. He has normal intelligence, but he has some processing disorders (and visual and other possible neurological issues) which prevent him from learning up to his potential. The learning disability is not the cause of the epilepsy and atrophy, it is likely the result of it.
Is he being treated for the epilepsy? Did a neurologist see him for the epilepsy? You probably also need to take him to a developmental optometrist if there is one in the Phillipines. He probably also needs speicalized instruction to help him learn to read.
I just located information on the Philippine Dyslexia Foundation which is affiliated with the International Dyslexia Association www.interdys.org :
Philippine Dyslexia Foundation
Wynna Medina, President
#28 7th Street, New Manila
Quezon City, Philippines
Tel: (632) 724-3871
Fax: (632) 416-9285
E-mail: [email protected]
“The Philippine Dyslexia Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit organization established in November 1997 by parents and teachers of children with dyslexia and other related learning difficulties. The foundation aims to ensure that every Filipino individual with dyslexia is able to achieve his/her full potential as a person and citizen. Specifically, the foundation’s objectives are: 1) to be the Philippines’ best source of information on dyslexia and related learning difficulties for the general public; 2) be proactive in promoting public and educational policies that will support the cause of school-age dyslexics: early diagnosis, remediation and accommodations; 3) collaborate with institutions of learning and individual professionals to accelerate Philippine-based research on dyslexia and other related learning difficulties; and, 4) actively support the training and development of teachers and other specialists willing to help people with learning differences. In pursuit of its vision, the Philippine dyslexia foundation raises awareness about dyslexia through advocacy and information dissemination by providing specialised information to parents and teachers.
Any person or institution interested in the work of the Philippine Dyslexia Foundation may join its membership. At present, the members include children and youth with dyslexia, their parents and extended families, teachers, school administrators, medical doctors, psychologists, therapists, school counselors and concerned individuals.”
I would suggest contacting them to find help for your son’s learning challenges. I hope you are able to find the help your son needs.
Janis