MANAGING TO HANDLE LEARNING DISORDERS - EXPERTS SPEAK

This Exclusive interview given to Calibre Creators was published in the February 2015, Volume 3, Issue No.6 of Calibre Creators Learning Letter is reproduced here.

This month,  Calibre Creators met up with the wonderful team of Ms. Gulzar Bhimani (GB) and Ms. Kanchan Vishwakarma (KV), both successfully running an Education Management Company.  The objective was to discuss the delicate and very sensitive issues related to children and academics.  The issue of Dyslexia was very beautifully highlighted by the Indian Movie “Tare Zameen Par” released in 2007 which has also helped raise awareness amongst parents on this issue.

CC - Q.1 : Tell us briefly about the work carried out by your organisation.

WOLH – GB : Wise Owls Learning Hub assists the children with their learning concerns to produce positive results maintaining their individuality and distinctiveness of learning differently.  The learning is facilitated according to the individual learning style of each child. Remedial and Behaviour Therapy are part of the facilitation process. Parents are also counseled wherever and whenever required.

CC - Q.2 : Please explain to us the broad category of students and their typical behaviours?

WOLH KV: Children with above condition are often misunderstood and considered lazy, un-responsive or uninterested in studies.  However, they function as good as their peers, except in academics.

Learning Disabilities usually falls under 4 broad categories:

· Spoken language-listening and speaking;

· Written language-reading, writing, and spelling;

· Arithmetic-calculating and concepts;

· Reasoning-organizing and integrating of ideas.

Specific learning disabilities include:

· Dysgraphia:    Difficulty in forming letters, words with pen and paper and writing legible handwriting.

· Dyscalculia:    Difficulty in understanding and using math concepts and symbols.

· Dyspraxia:      Mixing up words and sentences while talking.

· Dyslexia:       The 2007 Bollywood movie “Tare Zameen Par” has made this a very Popular term: While reading, an individual often mixes up letters within words and words within sentences. Letter reversals are common. Some individuals may have difficulty in navigating and finding routes using right/left and/or compass directions.

CC - Q.3 : Why are some students attentive in class while others are not?

WOLH – KV : Children will be children and if they do not make mischief and be naughty who will? Most of the time the student is seen as inattentive or mischievous by the grades he/she scores and the discipline maintained. Level of LD is not appropriately (the child may be facing Learning Differences or Learning Difficulties rather than “Learning Disability”) defined. Various factors can be citied for non-attentive behavior but important and fundamental factor is to have ‘Understanding’.

· Pedagogy not in accordance with child’s understanding/learning;

· Language barrier (“kala akshar bhais bara bar”);

· Child’s learning style not taken into consideration;

· Child’s capacity not considered;

· Environment of the class is distracting, not allowing the child to concentrate, etc.;

· Teachers not equipped and adequately trained to handle such cases.

CC - Q.4 : How is the LD or ADHD in children caused? Is it genetic, is it because of the socio-cultural or socio-economic environment or because of any past incidents?

WOLH – GB : Researchers are studying the relation between functions of the brain and areas of brain with regards to LD and ADD/ADHD.  It is thought that learning disabilities may be caused by:

· Hereditary, family history, early developmental psychodynamic factors;

· Consumption of certain drugs by the mother during pregnancy;

· Medical factors, Premature birth, Malnutrition, Juvenile Diabetes (onset of Diabetes Mellitus at infancy stage);

· Environment, malnourished mother during pregnancy and poor pre-natal healthcare;

· Presence of toxins like high “Lead” content in drinking water and wall paint, head injuries and so on.

Whatever the cause, having LD or ADD/ADHD doesn’t mean one cannot do well in life.  Many famous people with learning issues or ADHD have carved a niche for themselves in life: For example, the most famous cartoonist Walt Disney, Fashion Designer Tommy Hilfiger, Scientist Thomas Edison, Scientist Albert Einstein, come to my mind immediately.

CC - Q.5 : What, in your opinion, is the scale or magnanimity of the problem of LD in India? 

WOLH – GB : In India, nearly 3% to 18% of all school children are affected by it; the extent of this is largely seen in boys who are 6-8 times more often affected.  A large majority of children start to exhibit symptoms by the fourth year and the gradual onset occurs before the child has completed about 7 years.

The ratio of children impacted by ADHD is nearly 10% to 20% of all psychiatric disorders diagnosed amongst children in the age group of 0-10 years.  These are huge numbers and must be reduced substantially over the period of years.

CC - Q.6 : How should a teacher handle students who are inattentive in class?

WOLH – VK : The child needs to know that he is respected, loved and appreciated even when the child is inattentive and the teacher must exhibit this through actions, care and words. The child’s behavior should not be the criteria to judge his intelligence. Not all inattentive and academically weak students are Learning Disabled.

Few simple tricks can be used to get positive results:

· Generate curiosity at the start of the class for the child to be attentive, learn and enjoy the learning process;

· Make learning visually appealing;

· Usage of Colors can be exciting;

· Extensive use story-telling as a teaching methodology wherever appropriate.

CC - Q.7 : How should a parent handle their children who are inattentive at home and have difficulty in getting good grades, and are not interested in doing their home work?

WOLH – GB : The above strategies can be fruitfully employed by parents too. Most of the time parents are aware of child’s aptitude towards sports and arts but discourage the child to transform that aptitude into professional career due to various, reasons mostly out of societal pressure and not necessarily due to financial compulsions. Nonetheless, the pressure on the child to focus only on academic performance is constant. Making the child understand the importance of academics without constant nagging about his interest in sports, recreational activities or enjoying art or other extra-curricular activities can bring positive results.

Practicing consistency in rewarding and punishment can also have great impact. A word of caution here: Avoid inconsistency in the practice of reward/punishment.

CC - Q.8 : How should parents handle two of their children, one of whom is very brilliant while the other has difficult in academics?

WOLH – VK : Understand that every individual is unique and is born with a package: personality, ability, capacity, intelligence and various other parameters.

Stop!!! I say STOP comparing children with their own siblings, friends, and cousins or with yourself when you were young. Being academically brilliant does not prove the child to be intelligent to adjust and adapt life fully.  Yes!!! A child must at least complete the graduation degree by using his capacity and to fully explore life and develop holistically. Parents must concentrate on the strengths of the child and explore possibilities of moulding the child accordingly.

CC - Q.9 : Can children/students with various type of Learning Disorders ever be like normal children?

WOLH – GB : Learning Disorder is NOT an ailment but a condition. Children with this condition are smart and intelligent in other spheres of life except in academics, but not completely. Professional support of especially trained experts can help enhance the latent skills and talents in them. Parental acceptance, unfailing support, high level of patience and understanding as well as care and compassion are crucial in bringing the required and positive changes in the child over a period of time. Trained teachers and professionals can contribute in developing a liking towards academics. Encouraging children to freely socialise with other children without any fear of encountering any biases from other children (like name calling, labeling, etc.) can also greatly empower them to feel normal and will help boost their self esteem as well.

CC - Q.10 : Should children with LDs be sent to special school or will regular schools accept them?

WOLH – VK : Isolating an individual for the reason that he/she has Learning problem is not the solution. Sending an LD child to a special school is like segregating for the reasons unknown to them. Peers and relatives and often parents name call such individuals, obstructing their normal growth and free socializing, putting their self worth in danger.

Many schools have opened their doors for such individuals (they are called “inclusive schools”). The need of time is to becoming “Inclusive” at all levels and not just stopping at caste, creed, race, etc. More and more teachers need to be trained to identify, assist, encourage and empower such children. Nationally and internationally, some of the most successful and renowned people had this condition and they overcame this disability and conquered the world.

CC - Q.11 : Is it important for parents to train and counsel relatives as well friends of their own children with LD and ADHD issues to be able to handle them and give them fair treatment?  At CC, we believe that this aspect is also important and has been ignored.

WOLH - GB : Most definitely!

Most often parents themselves are in denial mode. It’s difficult for ANYONE to accept these limitations in their own child. The feeling is of shame and to some extent guilt too. That’s human nature.  They fear exposing the children and feel extremely insecure about leaving them alone amongst the normal children in the neighbourhood. 

If parents invite the child’s friends and make them aware about being sensitive towards his needs, the do’s and don’ts, then the child’s life becomes easy.  Parents must ensure that the child does not get labeled or is not disowned by his friends.  The same process must be followed, first with close family relatives, then with family friends and neighbours.  It is important that parents must get trained from professionals on handling such issues which will make life easier for the child as well as themselves.

Also, once parents accept their child’s limitations, the progress to seek professional help becomes easier and faster thus overcoming and developing positively. Parents of such children can and must become volunteers in bringing about awareness within family friends and society. It can have tremendous impact. Such parents are seen as role models as they have gone through the same journey of heartburns.

CC - Q.12 : Are regular schools equipped with Counsellors and are Teachers trained to handle students with LDs?

WOLH – VK : The awareness now is better than the last decade. Schools and concerned leadership are moving towards bringing change but the process and progress are slow.  Approximately 16% of school children have the above condition.  Teachers are not fully equipped to manage the children with LD and ADD/ADHD condition.  Schools are struggling to run with core faculty.  It is an added burden on school to hire and retain counselor’s and special educator’s with existing shoe-string budget. Having a Trained Counselor and Special Educator in a school, requires allotting a separate room and investment of resources which schools can ill afford. Lately, few schools are finally taking the lead and contributing towards required change. 

I will end this with a quote from Peter Senge “Many children struggle in schools, because the way they are being taught is incompatible with the way they learn” .

About : WISE OWLS LEARNING HUB was incorporated in the year 5^th October, 2014 with the objective of spreading awareness about Learning Disorders, helping parents and the communities about the importance and handling them effectively to create an inclusive society.  We consider that all children need to realize their talent and contribute to the society’s social and economic development. We believe every individual has potential and if it is tapped at the right time they all can contribute towards a happy society.

Currently, we are associated with ‘Infant Jesus High School’, one of the reputed school in Malad offering our services to its students. It involves counseling of Parents as well. The new academic year 2015-16 will see us conducting need based workshops for Teachers, Parents and Students.

We have opened our doors for the underprivileged children under our NGO ‘Pagdandi Education Foundation’ (PEF) under which conduct Spoken English workshops.  Currently, we are catering to 60 children residing in the neighbourhood slums.

Our Mission is “Making positive difference in someone’s life by touching their heart and soul”. Individual Profile:

· Ms. Gulzar H. Bhimani, M.A, PG Diploma in Education Management, PG Diploma in School Counseling.

· Ms. Kanchan A. Vishwakarma, B.A, B.Ed. Special Educator.

Calibre Creators wishes them success in all their endeavours in this noble cause as well as their social initiatives under the Pagdandi Education Foundation.

Wise Owls Learning Hub can be contacted on:

Ms. Gulzar Bhimani : 9870185158

Ms. Kanchan Vishwakarma: 7506507511

Find them on :  https://www.facebook.com/wiseowllearninghub

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