"THERE IS no such thing as different degrees of dyslexia because it is not something that can be quantitatively measured," says Massarat Khan, clinical psycholo- gist and CEO of the Maharashtra Dyslexia Association (MDA). She, however, admits that experts do loosely term children as having mild, moderate or severe dyslexia. Both Khan and Kate Currawala, founder of MDA, point out that the IQ level in dyslexic children ranges from average to gifted. In what experts term as ‘ability-achievement discrepancy', the child's potential or overall intelligence is greater than its poor achievement would predict. "Something goes wrong when the brain processes information," says Currawala. "So the information gets distorted and there is a delay in response." Needless to say, a child with high IQ usually finds it easier to cope with the difficulties.

"While the source of the prob lem is the same, it manifests dif ferently in different children," says Khan. "The difficulty could be to do with reading, writing, spelling or arithmetic. What usu ally happens is that the child is ac cused of being lazy, stubborn or careless when the child is simply unable to perform."

The MDA trains about 15 children in its Deonar centre, another 15 at its Dadar centre and four at its Dombivali centre. If you think the numbers are modest, it is because you need one teacher for every student.

Is there a danger in labeling children as dyslexic? "It depends on how you handle it," says Currawala. "If you just pin the label on the child and do nothing about it, that's bad. But the fact is, such children know they are different. And if you don't tell them why, they will never im prove."

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