Education Fun Fair @ Dyslexia Center Ampang Hilir

Phew! It's been a week and only now I have the inpiration and time and idea to make an entry on this event. Actually we were just filling in some slots as some of current students of Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia could not make it. We had fun nonetheless.

The event was held in collaboration with Deutsche Bank (Asia Pacific region if am not mistaken). They had sponsored PDM for 2 years straight as part of their community service. Their management took the trouble to come from different countries to the event. Eventho yang datang tu berpangkat-pangkat, it was obvious they know siapa yang diraikan dan siapa yang meraikan. Speeches were kept short, almost no protocol yang memeningkan, no kerusi bereben-reben, no bunga-bunga kembang setaman etc. The kids tak sempat sangat nak restless menunggu. I loike. Takdelah macam kononnya nak raikan anak-anak yatim, pastu tukang rasmi lewat barang sejam dua sedangkan budak-budak dah tunggu 2 jam awal. Pastu ucapan panjang berjela. Meja makan dialah yang berbunga lebat, siap berhidang bagai. Anak-anak yatim pulak ala kadar aje layanan. Dah terbalik pulak, siapa nak raikan siapa. Contohhhh........

Bila lah agaknya companyku nan tercinta nak fokus lebih kepada aktiviti sebegini?

Among those who attended. Lunch and tea were by Felda Catering. I loike the fish and that jelly dessert. Yummeh. Takde gambar tho, I was busy makan and berborak. At such event we can share our experience, ask others and do some networking. Iman had serving after serving of fried chicken and sandwich. I don't like sayur, je said. Referring to the sayur dalam sandwich.



The children were divided into 4 groups, Blue (Iman is in this team), Red, Yellow and Green. They sat and eat at their designated table with other team mates. Since most are from the current session (Jan-Mac 2011), Iman, as an ex student (his session was July-Sept 2010) had difficulties mingling around in the beginning. But alhamdulillah, he got on well later.



With his team-mates. Waiting for the games to begin.



Outdoor Game 1, Iman complained katanya sudu ni tak basuh! Ada-ada ajelah dia ni. Kena lari with a golf ball in a spoon and kat tengah-tengah tu ada beam that they had to walk on. Beam walking was one form of occupational therapy Iman had gone through before so dia berjaya berjalan atas tu without so much problem.

It's not everyday I got snapped in a photo! Me, seen in photo giving support to Iman while he waved on. See that man in red ferrari tshirt? That's En Tebby as he looked on. Anyway, we went not in red ferrari but my silver viva :D



Outdoor Game 2, Lari Dalam Guni. Not so graceful start. Rupanya dalam guni tu ada sebelah kasut budak sebelum Iman tercicir! While he was at it, Iman tergolek sekali. I thought he was going to cry. He got up and continue. That's my boy. Oh btw, the lady with Iman dalam gambar above, Teacher Sharifah used to be his class teacher while he was in Ampang Hilir July-Sep 2010 and later his tutor from September 2011 onwards.

Outdoor Game 3. Yang ni complicated sikit. Memula lari half way, pecahkan belon. Then the other half, golekkan bola dengan hoolahoop (benda gelung tu, itu kah nama omputihnya?). Iman memula cam hesitated sebab dia sangat tak suka bunyi yang kuat, contohnya beloh meletup. Walaupun sebenarnya kalau dia menangis or gelak, memang rasanya jiran selang 2 pintu pun senang-senang ajer boleh dengar! But he did that anyway. Sampai je kat seberang sana, terus aje dia annouce 'i am winner, i am winner'

Outdoor Game 4. Acara tarik tali between teams. Blue team won the first round but lost in final round. Just look at my son. Gaya mesti ada! Kelakar pun ada nengok gelagat budak-budak ni. Sampai tercabut kasut pun ada.



The boy in blue, Imran, is PDM's VP's child. The other boy is the brother of one student there. The boy's mother told us that he learned to read on his own at the age of 4! Talk about gifted people. When his brother having some learning difficulties, his parents of course are worried. Who wouldn't right?

You cheeky boy! Having some helping hands while making his way on the monkey bars. This is not one of the outdoor games tho. Must be hard for the lady.. he's around 26-27kg now.

1st indoor game. T-Shirt painting. The theme was 1 Malaysia. Too complex for Iman to digest. He told everyone he was going to draw a fish! Lucky thing, this was what he did. Apparently someone had explained to him that a fish has got almost nothing to do with 1 Malaysia.



2nd indoor game. Rhyming words. This frustrated him so much. He can read but not as fast as the others. Bila kawan jawab dulu, he got all tensed up and stressed! At one time he got the written word but the matching picture was not there, lagilah dia marah. Sabar ye nak...



3rd indoor game. Music activity. As seen in this photo, he was already tired, muka berlemoih and had to be coaxed to participate. This, in fact this was the last game he participated in.

While the 4th indoor game was going on, Iman refused to participate anymore. For someone with ADHD, prominently Attention Deficit, it didn't suprised me at all. In fact I was more suprised he could get along with all 4 outdoor games and later 3 indoor games. While waiting for closing ceremony, he made few things using the center's toys. I managed to snap only one. Robot, he said. While these toys look like nothing to some, they help your child's development. Hand-eye coordination, motor skill and enhancing one's creativity and attention span.



Iman - Yayy, my team won 2nd place. Means I got 2nd biggest prize :D
On top of that, each student (in Iman's case, ex-student) got a backpack. Black is rather too dull for you Iman and I think it can fit my laptop jussstttt fiiineeee! *hint* *hint*



Majlis diakhiri dengan nyanyian lagu 'We Are The World'. Everyone (well, almost) held hands with one another. All the kids went back with prizes and goodies.

Thanks to Deutsch Bank for the moral and monetary support.

And for Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia, I just can't thank them enough. How can I not be so indebted when my son's turning point in life made possible while he was attending classes at PDM's Ampang Hilir Center.

Syukran Ya Allah. Kerana memakbulkan harapan dan usaha hambaMu ini, despite kekhilafan diri tanpa henti. Perjalanan saya masih panjang. Moga dipermudahkan.

if you feel like asking me anything pertaining to my experience, do not hesitate to leave comments or email me at aa.rozilawati@gmail.com .