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Overcoming learning
disability
By
Priyanka Singh
DYSLEXIA CLUES
TEN-year-old Sahil should be in the fifth
standard but he’s in the first. Ask him the colour
of grass and he’ll say it is blue. Ask him which
letter does the word “mat” begin with and
he’ll say “w” or “h” or any
other unrelated sound. You give him the answers over and
over again, but in all probability he will forget them in
a week’s time.
Fourteen-year-old Vaibhav too displays the same traits
and confuses letters. These boys are not mentally
retarded, they are dyslexics. Whereas in Vaibhav’s
case it is hereditary, Sahil owes it to three head
injuries he sustained between the ages of six months and
four years.
Dyslexia —derived from the Greek words dys (for poor
or inadequate) and lexis (for words) — or learning
disability, as educationists call it, is diagnosed when a
child’s achievement in “individually
administered, standardised tests in reading, mathematics
or written expressions is substantially below that
expected for his age, schooling and level of
intelligence.” Contrary to popular belief, it is a
common diagnosable deficiency, estimated to affect at
least one child in 10. Studies have shown that children
with average to superior intelligence are generally
affected, and boys outnumber girls by 70 to 80 per cent.
Ms Sharada Rangarajan, a nursery teacher for 14 years who
helps dyslexic students, says it is not easy, if not
wholly impossible, to know that a child is dyslexic
unless he starts going to school. Even then, it is hard
to identify or immediately spot a dyslexic. More often
than not, these children are wrongly dubbed lazy,
dim-witted, dull or simply uninterested in studies.
“Normally a teacher groups her students into
performers and non-performers. However, it is vital that
she be able to identify another set of students —
that of the learning disabled. They may exhibit
brightness in some areas and may be underachievers in
certain others. A teacher should not attribute this
disability to the laziness of the child or to defective
intellect,” she stresses.
Ms Sheena Tuli, a diploma holder from The Indian Dyslexia
Association, Bangalore, who has come together with Ms
Rangarajan to teach dyslexics, says, dyslexia can be
related to minimal brain dysfunction and may be the
result of minor brain or head injury. Birth traumas, such
as oxygen deficiency, may be additional factors
contributing to learning disability. There is also
evidence that may be inherited. “We inherit our
brain cell arrangement in much the same way as we inherit
our personality and physical characteristics. Hence, it
is not surprising that 88 per cent of dyslexics have a
positive family history, with more than one child being
affected in the same family”.
Explaining how exactly it occurs, she says the brain is
divided into right and left hemispheres, both of which
communicate with each other by a four-inch set of nerve
fibres called corpus collusum. Language is primarily
processed in the left hemisphere. Educationists believe
that language problems can result when the language areas
are split more evenly between the two halves of the
brain.
Generally one side of the brain dominates, but in these
children both sides develop more or less equally. In such
a case, more messages have to be passed from one
hemisphere to the other for the alphabets or numbers to
be perceived and identified, thereby building up a
traffic jam of nerve signals and complicating the
understanding and expression of verbal and written
material.
The important thing to remember is that dyslexia cannot
be cured, it can only be overcome. And for that the
cooperation and involvement of parents and teachers is
paramount. Unfortunately, says Ms Rangarajan, parents
often see it as a stigma. The parents of Sahil and
Vaibhav were disinclined to speak about their
childrens’ disability and hesitate to seek help from
therapists and educational counsellors. They prefer keep
shifting their child from one school to another, hoping
his performance will improve rather than make arrangement
for special coaching.
Indifference at home and rejection in school makes the
child develop a sense of low self-esteem and contributes
to his becoming a problem child or simply dropping out
from school.
With early remedial teaching the child can show marked
improvement. However, after the age of 12, it becomes
increasingly difficult to help the child. The teaching
process involved is slow as each child is tutored on a
one-to-one basis. A different way of teaching has to be
adopted for each child, with lots of flash cards, toys
and multi-sensory aids thrown in. At times, a child may
be put through a battery of emotional, physiological and
psychological tests to assess the degree of disability.
A miracle, however, should not be expected to happen
overnight, though sustained efforts are sure to yield
positive results. Most dyslexics have high IQ levels. As
children they often start walking and talking late, but
if their area of interest is identified and potential
tapped, they show extremely high levels of IQ. Their area
of interest could lie in art, music, sports or computers.
Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas A. Edison and
General George Patton were all dyslexics.
In certain states dyslexics get a teacher to read out the
question paper to them. They are also given extra time to
complete the paper. ICSE and CBSE too have provisions for
such students.
Ms Rangarajan feels shools should provide resource rooms
and organise workshops and outreach programmes to deal
with such children. Primary teachers should be trained to
make careful observations to distinguish late maturity
from true disability syndromes.
The Indian Dyslexia Association offers diploma courses
whereby a volunteer is required to take on dyslexic and
submit case studies and progress reports of the child
from time to time.
What dyslexic children need is not sympathy but support,
love and encouragement for them to overcome their
disability. It is important that they be treated like
normal children. Gentle prodding in the right direction
can help them achieve what to most people would seem
impossible.
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