Learning disability in India

Learning disability in India

Learning disability in India

 

By Sadaket Malik

 

 

 

The past decade has witnessed a sudden spurt in the recognition of learning disabilities in India. This sensitivity has benefited some children who have to cope with the invisible learning disability. Besides the growing awareness there are still a number of misconceptions that are associated with the term ‘learning disabilities’. The reasons for these misconceptions are manifold ­ learning disabilities are heterogeneous with different manifestations.

 

The hard fact is that Learning Disability (LD) is real and a stumbling block for a nations development process. The question is why and how it affects development? A person can be of average or above-average intelligence, without any sensory problems (like blindness or hearing impairment), and yet struggle to keep up with people of the same age in learning and regular functioning.

 

In India around 13-14% of all school children suffer from learning disorders. Unfortunately, most schools fail to lend a sympathetic ear to their problems. As a result, these children are branded as failures. Samir Parikh, a child psychiatrist opines that dyslexia is not a disease, but its a lifelong problem and presents challenges that need to be overcome daily. He is however optimistic and argues that with proper diagnosis, appropriate education, hardwork and support from family, friends, teachers and others, a dyslexic can lead a successful and productive life.

 

According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, LD is a neurological disorder that affects the brain’s ability to receive, process, store and respond to information. The term learning disability is used to describe the seeming unexplained difficulty a person of at least average intelligence has in acquiring basic academic skills. These skills are essential for success at school and at workplace, and for coping with life in general. LD is not a single disorder. It is a term that refers to a group of disorders in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and mathematics. The other features of LD are: (a) a distinct gap between the level of achievement that is expected and what is actually being achieved (b) difficulties that can become apparent in different ways with different people (c) difficulties with socio-emotional skills and behavior.
             However, Specific reading disabilities, in children and adults, have been classified as ‘dyslexia’ or ‘developmental dyslexia’ or even ‘specific developmental dyslexia’. These terms are in use interchangeably with LD. The identification and description of LD began in the western world in the 1950s and 60s. The major developments of the LD movement during this period centered on children, who appeared normal in many intellectual skills but displayed a variety of cognitive limitations that seemed to interfere with their ability to read, write and learn in the classroom. These were essentially deficient general learning processes centering mostly on what we today call distractibility, hyperactivity and visual-perceptual and perceptual-motor problems.
               The LD movement in India is of a recent origin and is today comparable with that of its Western counterpart. Reports of lower incidences of LD in the Eastern world were attributed by western scholars to the general lack of awareness and sensitivity among educationists to the specific difficulties faced by children learning to read in overcrowded classrooms.

 

               The Nalanda Institute report has highlighted that in India during the last two-decade or so, there has been an increasing awareness and identification of children with LD. Despite this growing interest India still does not have a clear idea about the incidence and prevalence of LD.