CHENNAI: Seated on the ground with an assortment of crayons, colour pencils and other drawing material, a boy colours an image of the Indian subcontinent in orange, blue and green. The hall at ASAN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Thousand Lights, was quiet, broken only by the sound of pencils scratching on paper.
The sixth edition of Advantage Dyslexia, Madras Dyslexia Association’s flagship event, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Madras South, was held on Sunday. The week-long fest, which displays and identifies special talents in children with dyslexia, will have competitions such as kolam, storytelling, dance and music. The fest will end on August 21, and has 23 schools from Tamil Nadu participating. For the first time, a school from Salem has taken part in the event, said the organisers.
Chief guest and president of Rotary Club of Madras South, C Srikanth, inaugurated the fest and said, “Many think that children with dyslexia are slow learners and not motivated in school. Everyone should know that this is not a disease. One can overcome it with encouragement and right facilities.”
Swetha Krishna, secretary of MDA, said there are approximately two million children with dyslexia in Tamil Nadu alone. In her experience, she has noted that dyslexia is overtly seen in children between classes five and six, and can cause dropouts between classes nine and ten. She has also seen a few cases of delinquency among these dropouts.
“Early intervention is important to identify children with dyslexia. Once identified, we can focus on the reading, writing and spelling skills, and nurture them. This helps boost their self-esteem, which will lead to improved performance,” she said. To this end, MDA follows the VAKT — Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic and Tactile — Learning Style. They have so far opened resource centres in 65 schools with two special educators in each to allow for in-school intervention.
Events like these also help boost the children’s self confidence and self-esteem, she said. “They are just differently talented children. We want them to feel special because every child dreams of participating and winning trophies, and often, children with dyslexia are not allowed to take part due to their academic performance. We don’t want them to lose their childhood,” she said.