Let's Talk Life: Traumatised by violence in Ja

I am traumatised by the daily violence in Jamaica. I have become fearful, timid and lack self-confidence. I don't sleep well at night and am not able to function at work or home. I don't know where to turn for help.

Dear Maureen:

Many people are traumatised by the constant violence in society. Some people have developed sleep problems, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, depression, panic attacks, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The violence is unrelenting and each day we are traumatised anew. What is happening is that some people have become numb towards what is going on, while others have become callous and evil. These are coping mechanisms. Some people write or talk about it. The various media programmes are popular with the people and help them to ventilate their feelings. Talking is good.

Some individuals need to be on medication for their health and are under the care of doctors. Other individuals have focused on church and spirituality. Please see a psychiatrist who will diagnose and treat you.

Son has problems reading

Dear Counsellor:

My son is unable to read and he gets frustrated easily. I would like some strategies to help him to read.

Dear Marcia:

You need to take your son to an educational psychologist to have a psycho-educational assessment done. This will identify his strengths and weaknesses.

The ability to read can be considered one of the biggest academic achievements in the life of a child. Reading opens the door to language, mathematics, science and communication. In the past, many Jamaicans practised reading by using the Bible daily. Each day, a passage would be read and its meaning explained. The principle remains the same. Practise, practise, practise!

In the beginning, a child needs to learn the alphabet and the letter sounds. The letters should be recognisable by vision, hearing and touching. The idea is that all the senses are involved in knowing the letters. Some of the senses are used to associate things with the letters. Use pictures to tell stories. Show your son pictures and let him tell stories about the pictures. He should learn to tell stories in sequence and identify what is happening in a picture. He should also use his imagination to make up stories.

Tell him stories

Tell your son stories of yesteryear and let him read the books that you have used. In Jamaica, we like to tell Anancy stories. Practise spelling with your son. Start with two-letter words, then three-letter words and so on. Let him rhyme words and practise till he knows the stuff by heart. In learning words, he should also learn their meanings and usages.

He should practise writing sentences with the words, starting with simple sentences, then moving on to more complex sentences. Use the Scrabble game to help him spell words and build his vocabulary. Give him short poems to learn and recite. This will help him to improve his memory.

Let your son start with easy words and stories so that his self-confidence is boosted and he will feel a sense of achievement. It is very important that he feels mastery and control so that he will be more willing to tackle more difficult tasks. Reward him when he has correctly spelt or pronounced words or written stories. Reward will reinforce learning and should be used liberally, especially in the beginning of the reading programme. Allow him to get used to books, starting with books which have plenty of pictures and few words.

Teach him how to formulate words and let him practise by himself at times. Bright children spend a lot of time practising and learning general information.

The suggestions given can be used for preschoolers who are learning the foundations of reading or adults who are non-readers.

Email questions and feedback to Dr Yvonnie Bailey-Davidson at yvonniebd@hotmail.com or call her at 978-8602.