Dalia is a sweet child who is nine years old, and recently came to live at the orphanage.
Her language Teacher explained to me that she is far behind in her language studies, and asked me to help her with some simple exercises. Basically, I was asked to put 2 letters together and have Dalia pronounce the sound.
La. Ca. Ma.
Su. Tu.
Vo. Lo. Co.
We did fairly well with 2 letters, although when she regressed I went back to one letter before I could resume stacking the second letter onto the first. Over and over again.
I noticed that she would often read the sound backwards, especially when I added a 3rd letter.
Los became “Sol.”
As I leafed through the book looking for simple words to use, I found a page with the words uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, …
And then Dalia took off in flight.
With rapid fire succession, she whipped through the numbers faster than I have ever heard anyone count … Blowing through 100 and beyond … unwilling to stop. She knew this was her strength, and she just kept going.
I let her go for sometime, however at some point I felt that I should call her back to the lesson. Language is her weakness, and I finally got her back on task.
Very interesting … so week in language, yet so strong with numbers.
Dyslexia came to my mind almost immediately, but her Teacher said that they don’t believe she has that condition since she does not mix her numbers. In fact, she is always the first one with the correct answer in Math class. In any case, they have asked the State to do some testing on her, and hopefully she´ll get the prognosis she needs.
Up to this point they have been focused on making sure that her emotional needs are satisfied, and once that process is well established they will develop an educational plan just for her.
She may have had a rough start, but she has landed in a good place, and is now surrounded by very capable people who can help her heal and learn.
Muchos gracias to those of you who asked me to carry a donation to the orphanage, I gave them a check before I left today. They were most grateful, and I am sure the money will be put to good use.