It was their never-say-die spirit that helped three Delhi Public School, Sushant Lok, students with learning disabilities clear the CBSE Board exams with great scores.
The trio is now confident of making it big in the fields of their choice.
It wasn’t a smooth ride for Vishal Yadav, who had scored just 36% in Class VII. “He was diagnosed with dyslexia; his condition was similar to that of the character named Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par . In Class VII, we taught him to how to write and learn and pronounce simple words. Over the years, he improved gradually to scored 60% in Class X. Today, he has scored over 77%,” said Vishal’s sister-in-law Sarita Yadav, who quit her job as an assistant professor to help him.
Gradual improvement
Adding that Vishal was a jack of all trades and good with computers, Ms. Yadav said, “He may struggle with reading and writing, but he is good at web designing.”
Manas, who scored 74% in Class XII, has a similar story. His father Tushar Varshney recalled that Manas was first diagnosed with the disability in Class II, at a school in Mumbai. “He improved gradually with special classes and support from teachers. Today, there is more social acceptance, but it was not the same a few years ago. Manas has grown up to be a confident young man,” said Mr. Varshney. He, however, lamented the lack of good counsellors for children with learning disabilities.
‘Pleased with results’
Manas now plans to pursue a course in hotel management or apply to Delhi University for a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree.
Royna, who scored 71% in the CBSE exams, had trouble coping with English and Political Science, but she refused to give up. “Since I am good at painting, I turned my English lessons into cartoons and pictures. I recorded my mother reading out lessons to me and listened to the audio over and over again. I had faced problems with Maths and Science in Class IX as well, but I managed to clear the exams. I am also good at Kathak and want to make a career in Fine Arts,” said Royna.
“We are pleased with the results. I am especially satisfied with the results of four of our special need learners, three of whom passed with a distinction while one scored 84%,” said Sunita Nagpal, principal, DPS (Sushant Lok).
