By now most of you readers would have seen the movie “Taare Zamin Par”, directed by Aamir Khan. I am sure it has touched the viewers’ hearts and has been successful in bringing awareness about a condition called “dyslexia“. But many cinema goers forget the whole message once they get back to their other pressing commitments. But I would like to make use of this forum to explain this condition in detail to all of you so that many parents and teachers can be sensitized to this issue faced by number of school going children
The word Dyslexia means difficulty with lexicon or words. “Learning disability” is a much broader term that explains the difficulties that many children face in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, calculating, thinking and reasoning and memorizing. A child can experience the difficulty in one or two or more of the above mentioned areas of learning.
These children may experience difficulty in acquiring, understanding and using the language to express their thoughts through speech or writing. Learning disability is also known as developmental dyslexia (as it typically occurs during the child’s developmental years). Difficulty in reading and understanding the words is referred to as dyslexia, difficulty in writing is referred to as dysgraphia and difficulty in understanding the concept of numbers and calculation is referred to as dyscalculia. And the latest phrase coined to explain the child’s difficulty experienced at school is “academically abused”! A very strong term that can make all of us sit up and think over deeply.
Because of the learning difficulties that bog down a child, many secondary difficulties may arise in the form of poor motivation, poor interest in activities, loss of self-worth, low self-esteem, social withdrawal and occasionally speech difficulties too. All this frustrates a child to such a level that it can lead to anger and rage and aggression or it can be the other extreme of depression and suicidal ideations!
……………. to be continued
While appreciating your explanation about dyslexia, I should add that it has become very big industry in educational establishments in the West and particularly in the UK and billion of pounds are poured into this industry, and thousands of educational psychologists are kept in their jobs. Recently, researchers were reporting in the UK that they found other reasons besides the usual ones which declares some one to be ‘dyslexic’. The psychologists’ lobby in the UK would not countenance it for fear of the funding being cut off from supporting the big ‘dyslexic’ pool they have created. Indeed one professor of psychology was brave enough to break ranks , went on air about his research findings linking similar work in other Western countries and before he started questioning the basic tenets of ‘dyslexia’ and how a ‘dyslexic’ is certifed he was cut off in midstream by the powerful psychologists’ lobby. Unfortunately the West led the way for the dyslexic certification and many including the certified ones and those who certify them have reaping the generous benefits.
As an university academic and a governor in two schools, I can say that the dyslexia industry has been at the receiving end of a gravy train sent by our government here and by others in the Western hemisphere. While I and many others accept that a child may have learning difficulties in some areas, they cannot be purely attributed to ‘dyslexia’ alone. They may be other factors, methods of teaching and learning, family environment and support etc.. I have as a governor seen many children branded as ‘dyslexic’, getting support denied to other children, and making excuses while they are students and when they are adults at work for being dyslexic. Educational psychologists do tests and make the certification which often runs through the ‘dyslexics” entire life. It keeps psychologists on the job and they protest when any attempt is made to re-examine the certification. Afterall, psychology is not perfect science, and there is room for plenty of erros and misgivings. That was what the above learned professor was saying before he was silenced. In the schools where I was a governor, we put learning initatives together and ‘lifted those dyslexic’ children from their pits and many of them went on to become main stream learners. In university entrance exams in Europe ‘dyslexics’ are given more time and if they enter universities to do courses, they are given special time and deadline dispensations. It is a huge industry which the psychologists do not want to shrink. There are ofcourse children with many types of learning difficulties, most of whicch are correctable if properly addressed like we did in the schools where I was a governor.
Ram, thanks for the inputs about the scenario of dyslexia in western countries.
In India, many teachers and parents have not even heard of such a condition. My aim of these posts here is certainly not to ‘label’ a child as dyslexic so that the professionals like psychologists and special educators can make money, but to reduce the heaps of insults and punishments that these children are meted out at schools and at homes by the insensitive adults! Teachers and parents need to identify the problem early so that an early intervention can ‘lift them up’, as you have done in your school. Here in india, if a child is not faring well in any subject, the parents routinely send them to tuition classes, starting from LKG, thus increasing the burden for the child. These ordinary tuition classes are nothing but mini-schools, where the child’s learning difficulties go unaddressed. To bring all this to the notice of teachers and parents of young children and also to the general public, these posts are being written.
Thanks for your response and the explaining the motive behind the post. I was trying to point out this has become an industry now here in Europe and adults,professionans and even sportsmen and women use dyslexia as an excuse
if they are unwilling to do something which needs concentration! A few years ago, I was doing an oral exam for a person who had submitted his PhD thesis for the award of the degree. It was an arduous 2.5 hours exam and with his PhD report opened in front of me, I as an external examiner was going through pag by page asking the student to justify observations, results etc.. and up came a few pages which I had specifically marked through my earlier reading as needing closer scrutiny since they formed the core of the project investigation. When I started asking questions on a few sets of results, the candidate put his hand up and said ‘ sir, I am dyslexic and I need more time to answer your question’. I agreed to it and suspended my oral, came out of the room, spent 25 mins in the university library and came back. When I started the line of questioning again, he objected again saying that he needed more time! I had to conclude that given a month span between the submission of the thesis and the oral exam, the student had plenty of opportunity to prepare his defence. Obviously, the student did not pass that exam and I had to recommend a six month extension to review the results and resubmit with corrections, and reappear for the oral exam again.
The problem with children you mention is slighly different. Teachers think that a certain child is not learning a specific subject and the parents go along with it and as a remedial measure the child goes to tution classes. I agree with you about these classes. I was once branded as useless in arithmetic in my primary years and in maths in secondary years. My parents not being rich , could not afford tution classes and were very worried about my future!! I did pass my PU with distinction and with 100% in maths. I do not want to say what the problem was,as I will upset many in India!
In India, many parents when they change jobs or get transferred to other cities or States, the child is admitted into a new school and has to study new languages that he/she was not exposed to earlier. This kind of constant change of school, change of subjects, change of languages and change of set of friends can all have severe effects on child’s learning capabilities.
Here children have to study 3 languages up to Class X. Those who are not in Central syllabus CBSE, or ICSE stream, and who join the State Board syllabus schools on transfer, have to compulsorily study the regional language which becomes a very big burden to the child. Parents of such children sometimes seek Certificate of LD so that the child can get concession in one or two languages! But such a thing is a strict no-no and parents are given suitable guidance not to seek such a favour that would be detrimental to the child in his/her higer studies.
For example, in a place like Bangalore, what will be the third language? Are there so many transfers from one state to another? Bangalore now has more types of organisations than in my time, and I would have thought that the chances of seeking employment outside the state for a father or a mother is rather low. When children are going up, the parents have special responsibilities which include spending ample time with children, finding out their learning needs and above all damping down their own career opportunities and progressions if necessary
.
We found that the ‘dyslexic’ state of a child start disappearing when parents take active part in their learning which meant spending more and more time with them at home reassuring them and working with them.
Again I should say that Indian parents are pushy and unyielding when it comes to slection of subjects and courses.
Children have different abilities and it is the responsibility of the parents, to tease out the best abilities and nurture them
without hoping to slot these children into ‘doctor template’ or ‘IT specialist template’ and thereby driving driving them for a fit.
Ram, the ‘transfer’ issue was mentioned only to bring to the notice of readers that many parents think that an SLD certificate (Specific Learning Disability) is the solution to reduce the burden of a new language on the child. But their requests are never complied with by the professionals.
Yes, many types of schools offering CBSE, ICSE or SSLC syllabus, with languages like Hindi, Kannada (in Karnataka), Sanskrit, Tamil (in Tamil speaking pockets like Ulsoor in Bangalore) or Urdu (in Muslim dominated pockets) do exist in a city like Bangalore. But when parents get relocated, either with in the city or with in the state or from outside the state, learning a new language really becomes a problem, more so when there is an increased pressure on ‘core’ subjects like, science, social studies and mathematics in higher classes. And all schools may not offer the languages that were earlier studied by the child. This is the reason CBSE syllabus is preferred by the parents as English and Hindi are the main languages everywhere. But a seat in a Central School is only for a child of a central government employee and not for others.
Parents keep relocating due to various reasons – change of job, building their own house and relocating to occupy it, or come down to take care of their ailing parents or to give better educational facilities to their children etc. And many a times parents get separated in order for one parent to stick to the job and another to be with the kids in order not to disturb the child’s schooling, which itself will have emotional repercussions upon the child. Parents try their best to juggle this kind of a situation and yet it will have consequences upon the kids’ education.
Now that both the parents are very career oriented in many families, and no elder to take care of the kids or monitor their studies during the absence of the parents, many children’s learning difficulties go unnoticed by the parents. Even if the teachers were to bring it to the notice of the parents, they will not have much choice other than admitting the child to a tuition class! They think tuition classes are the panacea for all their school problems!
Yes, many children start improving in their academics once parents pay individual attention to them and teach with love and understanding. These kids may the ones who might have been hurting emotionally due to lack of parental attention. Once they get it, their self-confidence and the scores soar!
Why was this “LD problem”not existing in times of yore? The “doctor” or “engineer” templates that you have so rightly mentioned were unheard of. Every child grew up freely without undue parental pressures of any kind and each one could fend for themselves in career avenues that suited them best!
Talking of pressures of learning, even before parents have to be aware of the disabilities, I think they should be stopped from pressuring children about fitting in. Don’t we all know parents and teachers who discourage, even worse beat children, who use their left hand to write and eat? Why? Not letting them be what they want to be and can be starts as early as the time they start to use their hands!!
My daughter was tested for her English language speaking and pronouciation abilities in the beginning of her kindergarten year because I mentioned in her application that English is not the spoken language at home. The school sent me a note that she has been placed in a special learning category. When I went to school to find out more I was told she is going to be labeled so till she in third grade no matter what her improvement is!! The people who test her in school are a Bengali lady trying hard to put on an American accent and a Mexican lady trying even harder to get the right words!! How will they have jobs if my daughter does not carry her label for a few years??
Teachers with 30+ years of teaching experience and who can speak only English are being taken out of their teaching time to obtain training to teach English to these kids!! If I let my daughter watch more than an hour of TV for a week she will be an expert in rolling her r’s and twanging her t’s!!
The same people agree that kids whose first, home and only language is English need more help sometimes.
Talk of labelling kids, not using resources for the right cause and not learning what to do to help the ones in real need…..
Prabha, how right you are in saying that parental pressure to ‘fit in’ starts right in the beginning when the hand usage sets in! More so in India where people think that only right hand is auspicious and not the left! As you have pointed out, parents pressurize the kid to use his/ her right hand to eat and write, and receive the holy water (theertha) at temples! We always try to explain to the parents that whether a child becomes a right hander or a left hander depends upon the dominance of the hemisphere of the brain in an individual and forcibly trying to change the child’s handedness can cause lot of confusion in the child’s mind. Many these days let the child use whichever hand it is comfortable with.
Prabha, it was sad to read about the labeling of your child at her school in USA and placing her in a special category! I think most Americans are paranoid about any of these issues and they try to make a mountain out of mole hill. We are not supposed to label a child as having Specific Learning Disability of language, just because a child finds a new language difficult due to the fact that it was not exposed to that language earlier. And if a child is very comfortable reading and writing in the language that is spoken at home, then child has absolutely no learning disability.
But unfortunately, here also, most of the tests that are carried out to find out the learning difficulty level of a child are in English and many who administer these tests are not familiar with the child’s mother tongue. It is possible that the child can not understand the test-instructions well and hence he/she may fail to complete certain tasks, leading to a diagnosis of Learning Disability! Many a times, the institutions that carry out these tests are flooded by requests from parents to test their child for LD that the tests are done in a hurry due to lack of time, even without allowing sufficient time to build rapport with the child! And when a child is in such a state of anxiety in front of a stranger who conducts these tests, and subtly hurried to complete the tasks, we can imagine the validity of these test results! It is sheer paranoia everywhere and children become the poor victims.
first i would see the movie and then i would comment on the topic
Educationists like Dr. Radhakrishna and R. K Narayan must have thrown some light on these issues. I wonder what they had to say. I am sure RK would be able to tell us more about R.K Narayan’s thoughts on these issues.
Prabha,
I am glad you thought about Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Narayan (RKN).
RKN was always fond of children and spent much time playing with them or telling them stories. He was against sending children to school until they were old enough and opposed the so-called ‘discipline’ to which teachers subjected them. “In every teacher there lurks a potential devil,” he used to say.
While in his 80’s, RKN took on the plight of Indian children and made them the subject of his unusual maiden speech in India’s upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, to which he was named in 1985 for his cultural contributions to the country. Children, he said, no longer had time to play “or look at birds and trees.”
He focused on the school bag. “The school bag has become an inevitable burden for the child. I am now pleading for abolition of the school bag, as a national policy, by an ordinance if necessary. I have investigated and found that an average child carries strapped to his back, like a pack-mule, not less than six to eight kilograms of books, note books and other paraphernalia of modern education in addition to lunch box and water bottle..”.
In 2003, there was a beautiful article in The Hindu titled Spare the rod, save the childfor which I wrote a letter quoting a few words of RK Narayan’s. You can read the letter here (you’ll also find the link to the article in the first line of the letter):
RK’s letter in THE HINDU
cheers and best wishes
RK
# prabha, nice of you to have suggested RK to say something about Sri RKN’s views on education for kids.
# RK, thanks for providing a very good link on Sri RKN’s views on school education.
Your opinion on that article ’spare the rod……….’ was also very good.
My sister, who is a teacher in a Kendriya Vidyalaya told me this. She handles primary classes and a boy was found too backward that she herself branded him so. Being a KV they could not do anything immediately.
On some day, my sister asked this boy to help in distributing the test note books to the fellow students. This boy, a declared dyslexic, told the name of the boy to whom the first book belonged. Beware, he knows no alphabets and even if so, only o and off.
My sister thought this was a prank and took the next. He named the owner. Same for the next few books. By this time, the other students asked in this new quiz. He identified the books of all the forty students.
It struck my sister and others in the school that this boy had a ‘photographic kind of memory’. She told me that she cried that day in the staff room.
From that day the boy was treated differently. Her mother was summoned and was found out that ever since this boy was put to school she was not near him since she was attending an aged father in law somewhere else.
After repeated counselling, this mother joined the son (also with the passing away of the old man). Since then the learning graph of this boy has been quite good and the inverted seven and five are not there at all.
An apt ending like the movie.
Thanks for the opportunity to share this
Venkat
why is it a taboo for parents to put their children in NIOS specially when they know that their children are dyslexic
what are the career opportunities or educational opportunities in bangalore for dyslexics after class 10. can they study further? or should they choose other fields from apart education? if so what are the fields they can choose in a city like bangalore?
are there any special colleges in bangalore for dyslexics after passing class 10?
Dear Latha…
I am so happy to see this kind of conversation happening over internet. I really appreciate. I am an education psychologist, finished my M.Phil from NIMH, Secunderabad and working with various schools in hyderabad and secunderabad. At present my main challange is to get the consessions for students with SLD from CBSE, ICSE boards. Very few schools are aware about it. Can you provide me some more information about the process and all. I know that my report with IQ and Cognitive profile of the student is valid for this kind of consession, as I am certified by RCI. I would like to create awareness about the facilities provided by our education system for these students. let me know if i can be of some help. pooja
dear pooja,
thanks for your comments. currently i am out of this field due to various domestic concerns. the best person to contact in this matter would be :
smt ramamani, who lives in jalahalli west, bangalore. here are her tel nos. 080-28396444, 98802 02345.
her email: psuswaram@gmail.com
you may also see an article that appeared in bangalore mirror on 11th march 2008 on the website:
http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=118ea42f37cad6e4&mt=image%2Ftiff&pli=1
good luck n best wishes in your endeavour.