Tamil Nadu Established A Commission To Assist d Dyslexic Children

The Department for the Welfare of the Differently Abled has established a panel to draught a study on the adoption of specific dyslexia policy improvements in Tamil Nadu.

The commission was founded after one of its members, animal rights campaigner Antony Rubin, a dyslexic himself, presented a demand to the Department of Education emphasising low understanding of dyslexia and its complexity among school children, which often led to it going undetected.

According to a GO dated February 2, the Department has constituted a team consisting of Antony, Dr Shanthi B of Institute of Child Health, Lalitha Ramanujan, founder of Alpha to Omega School, and Lakshmi Hariharan, Resource Rooms Head, Madras Dyslexia Association, to submit a report.

Children with learning difficulties are frequently secluded, putting them at risk of becoming delinquents or becoming subject to other risks, particularly in populations where stigma and awareness are high. Antony explained that teachers are frequently the first to request that this course be changed.

While many boards of education provide accommodations for dyslexic children, teachers and mental health specialists point to gaps in identification and early diagnosis, which are often critical to a child's competitive progress. A council of allied mental health specialists, according to clinical neuropsychologist BS Virudhgirinathan, could be useful in identifying learning problems in children from government and government-aided schools.

Experts on the complete spectrum of distinctive learning disabilities (SLDs), as defined by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016, must sensitise schools. He argued that rather of being stigmatised, they must be recognised as challenges that may be solved.

Even though concessions such as additional time, scribes, and second language exemptions create sense when these students with learning disabilities appear for their public exams, a lack of sensitization and awareness among teachers and parents prevents early detection and intervention, which would allow them to participate in school with their peers and grow into adults to be confident students in higher classes.

Officials from the department, that is officially under the CM's portfolio, say the core team will be enlarged in the following days with members from the school education department and mental health professionals, who will present a report.

Johny Tom Varghese, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities added that the commission's goal is to develop standards for dyslexia identification and interventions as part of a holistic policy.