Learning Disability – Dyslexia

It is only after “Taare Zamin pe” that people have come to realise that there is some aspect in a few children, called learning disability, despite the fact that researches and reports have been published for almost more than a decade.. How unfortunate, that one has to come to know of such deficiencies through a movie. If only the observation powers of the parents and the teachers have been tuned to identification of such disorders, life would be very much pleasant for the child with learning disability.

However in this commercial world, where even education has become a business, the teachers have also become like employees in any other business. These teachers because of their lack of knowledge in identifying children with learning disability, brand them as below average and even go to the extent of destroying the psychology of the child, by publicly cursing them in front of the whole class, by calling them as dumb, idiot, stupid etc. The psyche of the child is totally destroyed.

One of the most common learning disability is DYSLEXIA. The symptoms are very simple and easy to identify. These children have confusions between the letters “b” and “d” while writing and reading. There is also flipping of characters and numbers. They tend to read “on” as “no”. read “27” as “72” etc.. This confusion results in their reading becoming slow, as a result there is a lack of clarity and understanding. This leads to an aversion towards studies, and they start to live in their own world of dreams.

These children need special care and focused attention. This may also require putting them in special education schools where the teacher – student ratio is of the order of 1 to 5.

It is my humble request to all parents not to ignore such symptoms, and best identified at an early age. There are several education Psychologists, who do the IQ grading and diagnosis and come out with good recommendations. If any one finds their child to have any such symptoms, please do not hesitate for fear or social stigma. In the interest of the child it is best diagnosed at an early age, so that the remedial action could be taken and to avoid any major psychological damage caused to the child in the main steam education system.