A new support centre for dyslexic children has been surprised by the unexpectedly high number of inquiries from parents, prompting concern that the extent of the learning disorder in Hong Kong has been seriously underestimated.
'When we began promoting our new service last month, we had at least one or two phone calls a day from parents who wanted to know more about the disorder,' said Wendy Leung, head of the centre, which is run by the charity St James' Settlement.
Ms Leung called for more public funding to promote awareness of the learning disorder, which causes difficulties in reading, writing and spelling that begin to show up around the age of five. She said dyslexia was often mistaken for laziness, moodiness or anti-social behaviour.
She said dyslexic Hong Kong students faced the additional hurdle of learning two languages - Chinese and English - plus the added complexity of the pictorial nature of Chinese script.
St James' Settlement said it would hold talks on the subject for parents and provide assessments of suspected sufferers.
Children assessed as dyslexic can enrol in a one-month course designed to help them cope in the classroom.
Ms Leung said parents might opt for longer-term training, as the difficulties associated with dyslexia could take years to overcome.