For Jagruti Shah, it was an uphill task to persuade her nine-year old daughter to attend school. “She would scream and throw things around and refuse to go to school,” recalls Jagruti.
Only later, she came to know that her child had borderline attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). “I had lost hope and was worried that she won’t be able to attend a regular school,” she said.
However, all this changed when her school, Gundecha Education Academy (GEA) at Kandivili, introduced a pilot-project called “Waterford Early Learning Programme” for primary school children. The interactive computer programme proved a blessing for the child and other children with learning disability such as dyslexia, AD/HD and dysgraphia.
“Children with learning diability (LD) have directional and phonetic problems. They are unable to recognise the difference between b and d, or 12 and 21. The Waterford programme is an interactive audio-visual medium, which helps such children develop their basic foundation,” explained Seema Buch, principal, GEA. This school with about 20 children with LD has a separate session of these children with special educators, who evaluate them and provide regular counselling. “Apart from early-detection, the child has to be taught in innovative ways. The Waterford programme has really brought about remarkable change in my daughter’s studies,” said Mahesh Trivedi, whose daughter Ratna is dyslexic.
“The school counselled my daughter after they detected her dyslexia. Earlier, she would be quiet and withdrawn. Other children sensed she was different and were hostile to her,” said Sonia Garg. Her 8-year-old daughter, after successful counselling and creative teaching technique, is back to her usual vivacious self. “She has become computer-savvy thanks to the new programme. She is at par with her classmates and the children don’t ridicule her anymore.”
A year ago, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) had allowed students with LD to use computers to write for their examination. “I usually take two and a half hours to write my examination. But this year, I wrote my exam-papers on computer and I finished it in only an hour. Writing had always been strenuous but typing on the keyboard is much easier,” said Sagar Thakker, a class IX student. |
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