More kids with learning disabilities

ONE VOICE
By PANG HIN YUE

With the increasing number of children having learning difficulties in an education system not ready to cope with them, private entities are offering alternatives.

WITH the prevailing culture of measuring a student’s worth by the number of As scored in examinations, clinical psychologist Dr Alvin Ng Lai Oon is seeing more patients with learning, emotional and behavioural issues. 

For students who are unable to grasp the basic writing and reading skills in an education system void of interventional therapies, the sense of failure is further heightened by the teachers’ indifference and the non-conducive home environment. Fear, anxiety and stress rob students of the joy of schooling, says Ng.  

“The lack of access to therapy and failure to intervene will cause even more psychological problems, particularly for those who live in rural areas,” observes Ng, senior lecturer in clinical psychology at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Allied Sciences.