The Hindu : Organisation for welfare of dyslexics

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 01, 2002

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Organisation for welfare of dyslexics

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI MAY 31. What is common to Albert Einstein, Thomas Alva Edison and Marconi? Besides being great inventors and scientists, they belonged to a special category of persons known as dyslexics. While in school, they had specific learning difficulties which they could only overcome as they grew up.

Indeed, there exists a substantial number of children with specific learning difficulties in most schools. In fact, the figure currently stands approximately at 10 to 15 per cent of all students in the Capital. A significant number of them are school dropouts as teachers do not fully understand their problems.

In order to create awareness on learning disability and to lobby with concerned authorities for making changes in acts, rules, laws and legislations in the National Policy of Education as well as at the state level to give LD necessary recognition, a new organisation called "Indian Council of Learning Disability'' (ICLD) has come into existence.

The Council -- a joint venture of Brotherhood, a volunteers organisation working to bridge the gap between persons with disability and non-disabled children and The Nalanda Institute, a non-profit organisation dedicated towards research, training and advocacy for children with learning disability -- was launched by the Delhi Minister for Education and Social Welfare, Raj Kumar Chauhan, here on Thursday.

While launching ICLD, Mr. Chauhan exhorted the various volunteers and experts to carry out the extensive task of educating the public and working with teachers to help these children so that the high rate of school drop outs and also the depression and frustration arising from academic difficulties from amongst school children can be overcome to a large extent.

During the launch ceremony, various other experts voiced their concern about learning disability affecting the performance of students. They felt an urgent need for information dissemination and spreading awareness about LD across the country.

The newly launched ICLD will look into the various aspects of advocacy with the Central and State Governments with regard to amendments in the National Policy of Education in relation to Learning Disability along with awareness among all members of the school management, school teachers, parents and medicos.

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Organisation for welfare of dyslexics