If the films like Taare Zamin Par did raise awareness about little known dyslexia problem among children, the things do not appear to have gone far in tackling it. A recent survey by two city doctors has revealed that knowledge that helps teachers identify dyslexia and autism among children is poor.
Consequently, undiagnosed children are “labelled as ‘difficult’ or ‘not bright’ students and rendered socially and vocationally disadvantaged”, the study has observed.
The study spread across 32 schools and covering 314 teachers, has found that only one in three teachers had adequate knowledge of dyslexia. Though 262 teachers were ‘aware’ of the term dyslexia, only 24 teachers had prior training. Most teachers were in favor of training sessions on dyslexia and expressed their willingness to attend such sessions. It was conducted by Anil Shetty and B. Sanjeev Rai, both paediatricians at Father Muller Medical College.
Dyslexia defined as a learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate and fluent word reading and spelling. Awareness and knowledge about learning disorders among school teachers may play a major role in early identification and management of children with these disorders, the two doctors have pointed out.
One study in India has put the prevalence of dyslexia at 11.2 per cent while another study showed dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia were responsible for 72.76% of the poor school performance cases.
Autism
The study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) – a developmental disability – by the two doctors covering 326 teachers, has concluded that the teachers had poor knowledge of ASD. They found that 95.7 per cent of the teachers were aware of autism but only 21 per cent had adequate knowledge of it while 71 teachers had prior training about it. Teachers with more experience and prior training performed better.
The latest estimates of ASD’s prevalence show it could affect one in 54 children. India has 23 lakh of them, the study says pointing out that teachers who interact with students on a daily basis are more likely to identify and monitor subtle signs or symptoms. But they need to be trained to do that. In fact teachers expressed their willingness to attend training sessions, the researchers said, adding, “This sentiment should be taken advantage of …”
(Note: The study on autism was published in the April issue of International Journal of Health Sciences and Research; the study on dyslexia was published in May issue of Journal of Medical Science and Clinical Research)
