In Malaysia, the awareness of dyslexia is not up to par as autism awareness. Most parents are not aware of the basic signs or symptoms that their children may show. This problem, if not curbed from the beginning, will destroy the future education of dyslexic. The process of identifying dyslexia is important so that early intervention can be carried out to help dyslexic students. The formal diagnostic process of dyslexia through medical centers and hospitals will take between 6 months to 1 year. This process involves many tests, evaluations and so on to be sure of the existence of learning problems in children. This long process can be aided with the use of the Dyslexia Symptom Intervention Screening (SISD) instrument by parents and teachers. 

In context of this project, we aim to spread awareness among the Sri Serdang community of Selangor. This is due to the increase of remedial and special education classes in government schools in this area. Also, a similar project called "Dyslexia Symptoms Identification Programme" was conducted in 2020 and through the programmes, we have observed that most teachers who are also parents have a weak understanding on dyslexia and how they can help their children. A total of 130 participants attended the programme at Universiti Putra Malaysia. The programme was organized in collaboration with Malaysia Dyslexia Association and Selangor State Education Department (Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri Selangor). 

In this dyslexia awareness program, the Dyslexia Symptom Intervention Screening (SISD) in the form of a book "Buku Panduan Simptom Disleksia" published by UPM Press will be shared to all participants who attend. This instrument has been validated in a total of 39 schools in the Sepang district and successfully identified 5 dyslexic students. The instrument was shared to the Institute of Teacher Education, namely the Malay Language Campus, Kedah Darul Aman Campus and Raja Melewar Campus with a total of 594 student teachers participating. Not only that, this SISD has also been shared in the Dyslexia Knowledge Transformation Program involving 156  national schools throughout Selangor.

1. Form programme committee members

2. Plan and prepare for DYSLEXIA IS REAL: AWARENESS PROGRAMME (Session 1 & 2)

3. Approach and appoint dyslexia field experts for sharing sessions

4. Conduct 1st session - September

5. Gather feedback and testimonials

6. Conduct 2nd session - November

7. Gather feedback and testimonials

8. Documentation and reporting 

i. The 150 participants who attend this program will have basic knowledge of dyslexia so that basic early intervention can be implemented for the children

ii. From the knowledge acquired from this dyslexia awareness program, all parents and teachers can speed up the process of identifying dyslexia symptoms among children.