Bengaluru: Dyslexic children in the city continue to face difficulties because of lack of knowledge among parents treating the condition. A dyslexic child has problems with accuracy and fluency which impacts their language and writing skills. Most parents fail to handle their children according to the situation as many are not aware of the treatment for such children.
“Dyslexia or the learning disability is a disorder where a child has difficulty reading accurately and fluently. The condition can either be genetic or environmental, like stammering. Parents play a major role in the diagnosis of dyslexia as they have the first contact with children. Delay in speaking at the age of 2-3 years is the first sign of dyslexia among kids, “said Dr Mayuri Yeloe, Consultant, Paediatric, Apollo Hospitals, Sheshadripuram.
A four-year-old child was diagnosed with difficulty in writing and concentration recently and was brought to Apollo Hospital. He used to scribble during the exam and it was difficult to decipher what he wrote. He read slowly and was unable to follow the chronological sequence of the words and sentences, but had no problem speaking.
The parents were advised to get the boy undergo some assessment to diagnose the difficulty. After a few sessions of counselling, he is doing well now.
Dr Kishore Kotha, Consultant, Paediatric Neurologist at BGS Gleneagles Global Hospitals, said, “Dyslexia is a lifelong condition seen in 5-10 % of children and may run in families. They have trouble decoding and understanding phonics of words.”
Around 10-15% of children have learning disabilities in the country. A study published in ‘The Lancet’, a leading medical journal, stated that 65 million children fail to achieve developmental potential.
Dr Umakant Adiga, Consultant Paediatrician at Sagar Hospital, said, “If recognised early, the child can be enrolled in intervention programmes which focus on five key areas – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension strategies. With proper support, dyslexic children can apply to a range of future occupations."
Dr Mayuri said that early stages of language development should be properly monitored by parents and any cases where the kid faces difficulty in comprehending names of colours or objects, or strains to form content while speaking, then he/ she should be taken to a paediatric for evaluation. “Children with dyslexia should be handled with patience and love, and need a boost to their self-confidence before they can learn to overcome their difficulties,” she said.
Dr Kishore Kotha stressed that it is difficult for a child to outgrow this disorder but there are various teaching approaches, strategies, remedial training and medication that can be used to help overcome these challenges.
