Six-year-old Areean Aqeel (far left) and Azahan Azani, 11, with their haul of medals from sporting events. Looking on are their proud parents Ezreena Abu Bakar and Aref Zaharin Abd Rahman, and sister Arissa Zerina, four.

A mother shares how a supportive environment can bring out the best in her two dyslexic boys.

LIKE any mum-to-be, Ezreena Abu Bakar was hoping for a healthy and normal baby when she discovered that she was pregnant with her first child 11 years ago.

When Azahan Azani was born, Ezreena and her hubby Aref Zaharin Abd Rahman welcomed the new addition to the family with much joy. The couple were subsequently blessed with another boy, Areean Aqeel, and a girl, Arissa Zerina.

For Ezreena, a home-maker and an online business entrepreneur, her kids are the best things that have ever happened to her. Although she is more than prepared to do anything for them, she was not quite ready for the challenges ahead when she found out that the two boys were dyslexic.

“The first day at kindergarten was just as exciting for my boys as it was for us, the parents,” recalls Ezreena. “We did not know much about dyslexia then, and we didn’t get any negative feedback from the teachers about their learning abilities. My hubby and I thought everything was normal. Perhaps it was too early to detect the symptoms or it might have been because of the lack of awareness on our part as well as the teachers’.

“Problems immediately cropped up for Azahan when he started primary school. Suddenly everything became too difficult for him. He had trouble reading, writing and spelling.”

Although Azahan is intelligent, he simply couldn’t decode the simplest of words.

“The class teacher just brushed it aside, thinking that Azahan was probably a late developer,” says Ezreena. “My hubby and I were misled into thinking that our boy was just a late bloomer, so we decided to be patient with his progress.”

Azahan continued to get the help that any parent would give their children. He was enrolled for extra tuition classes. However, Azahan kept bringing home lots of homework that he hadn’t completed in school.

“I had to sit with him for hours, sometimes past his bedtime, to complete his homework. He kept bringing home more homework. This led me to talk to some of Azahan’s teachers about his problem. Some of them unfairly labelled my son as ‘lazy with some attitude problem’.”

Children with dyslexia face confusion and fear over their condition and even humiliation in the classroom when they are laughed at. This leads to rejection, demotivation and low self-esteem.

When Azahan’s performance dropped drastically in Year 4, and Areean started to display the same symptoms, the family realised they could not solve the problem on their own.

“After doing some research on the Internet, we took our boys to the Dyslexic Association of Malaysia in Ampang Hilir, Kuala Lumpur, to have them professionally assessed.

“They were immediately diagnosed with dyslexia. We were advised to enrol our boys in the association’s special programmes for people with dyslexia,” Ezreena explains.

With support from relatives and friends, Ezreena and her family came up with new ideas to make lessons interesting for the boys. These included playing with traditional toys and making handicraft items from time to time which the boys loved because it was fun. The boys were also roped into outdoor activities such as swimming and cycling, and took part in marathons and triathlons.

“These activities helped them to stay focused and added balance to their lives. We were amazed to see how much it boosted their confidence and self-esteem. It also helped build their social skills. I am happy to note that they mix more easily with others now. Life goes on regardless of their learning disabilities,” says Ezreena.

“They are treated more and more like normal children, and continue to get the right support from their special education teachers in Ampang Hilir.

“There is no greater love for a mother with special kids than to be able to get this kind of support from society,” Ezreena concludes, with a quote from Albert Einstein which says: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

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