In India, it is estimated that 14% and nearly 35 million children have Dyslexia. Dyslexia is a learning disability where children face obstacles in learning as they are unable to perform basic learning tasks of reading and writing, however, this in no way reflects their intellect as dyslexics have average or above average IQ. Children with dyslexia have a hard time decoding new words, or breaking them down, and they may compensate by memorizing words, but they have trouble recognizing new words and maybe slow in retrieving even familiar ones.
Even though so many children have dyslexia, the stereotype that comes along with it has some serious impact on the child’s social and psychological well-being. It affects a lot more than just reading, the child may suffer from low self-esteem as they feel like there is something wrong with them and due to lack of interest in studies they might be accused of not trying hard enough. Therefore they become more susceptible to becoming withdrawn, anxious, and depressed due to academic underachievement and also due to a lack of awareness about learning disabilities in India, many children go undiagnosed which leads to parents pressurize them and labeling them
Not only the parents but teachers also play a major role in observing and diagnosing a child with Dyslexia. Awareness of learning disabilities is gradually increasing in India, which can be attributed to a lot of factors such as the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’ which was the first movie in India to touch upon learning disabilities. Also, there are a lot of efforts made by organizations and our government to help dyslexics. Even though efforts are being made, this topic still lacks our attention. So let's be more understanding and patient with the children and give them adequate resources so that they are given fair opportunities to learn. We should emotionally support them so that they don't question their abilities and fearlessly be the best version of themselves.
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