JOIN USThe need to handle with care
The Hindi movie, Taare Zameen Par, shook up many parents, and innumerable adults cried in the theatres. But, children like the protagonist of the movie, continue to suffer due to the ignorance and insensitivity of parents and teachers alike.
Any child not performing well in academics can be a great cause of concern to parents, and to concerned teachers. However, many of them try to solve it symptomatically, i.e., by sitting with the child and helping him with his homework, by sending him for private tuition, by threatening or bribing him.
Somewhere at the back of their minds, adults do know that the child who scores the highest marks is not necessarily going to have a better future, or greater happiness. Behavioral scientists have already predicted that “Emotional Intelligence” “(measured as EQ) plays a much greater role than traditional IQ. How much the child is aware of her emotions, how well she can control or channel them, how good an understanding she has of others' emotions, all play a significant role in determining how happy and successful she is going to be in life.
Despite this awareness, we tend to focus primarily on academic accomplishments as the end-all of a child’s future.
There is no doubt about the fact that in the coming generation, the children who will be most successful and satisfied are the ones who have an all-round growth, and not just academic knowledge. Also, in the years to come, the educational system will also change to take into account the fact that some children have greater skills in some areas, and are poor in some others.
Studies and academics have been made the focus of life for a child. Many parents feel that their child should perform well, get good grades, and thus make a brilliant future for himself. All other matters are of secondary importance when it comes to academic performance.
If the child is doing well, getting good grades, both parents and teachers are proud and happy. If the child is not performing well, they get deeply concerned. Often, they think that the harder a child works at his studies, the better will be his grades. Many a time they realise the hard way that this is not true. Some children breeze through exams with hardly any preparation, while others seem to burn the midnight oil and yet fare poorly.
When the child is not performing well, the questions that arises are:
*Is the child intelligent and lazy, or is he dull and incompetent?
*Should we discipline him and make him study harder, should we send him for tuition?
This situation becomes even more exasperating when the child is doing reasonably well in a few subjects, and miserably bad in others. How many parents have spent sleepless nights wondering how they can make the child solve simple mathematical problems, or how they can drill Kannada grammar into his head?
Teachers put pressure on parents when the child is not performing well. Parents blame the school for not teaching properly. The child is at the receiving end from both sides, and starts showing behavioural problems. Often, comparisons are made with siblings, cousins or classmates who are performing much better. Matters seem to go downhill on all fronts. Even appealing to doctors and religious gurus does not seem to help. What is the solution?
There is a way out
Research in behavioural sciences has uncovered that all children do not learn at the same pace or by the same method. Some are quick on the uptake but bad at reproducing on paper. Some seem to learn fast, and forget equally quickly. Others seem to have mental blocks that prevent them from grasping, regardless of the number of times they are taught.
Unfortunately, our education system tries to equalise all of them. This results in some children getting left behind, much to the anguish of parents and the irritation of teachers.
Earlier, such children with learning difficulties would be languishing in the system. It will be surprising to know that some of the celebrities who have been identified to have learning disabilities (LD) include Albert Einstein, ex-presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, the most successful entrepreneur Bill Gates, and UK’s former prime minister Tony Blair. They had to struggle through their schooling. But, today’s LD children need not. The term “Learning Disability” may sound very alarming to a parent, but it is imperative that we do not run away from acknowledging and accepting it. Children with LD in the current generation can do as well as, or even better than, children who do not have LD.
With the advent of the field known as “special education”, children with special needs can be catered to, and brought into the mainstream. There are children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLDs) such as difficulty in language, in writing, in math, etc.
With individual attention and guidance from experts, these children can overcome their difficulties and perform as well as anyone else. All that is required is correct and timely diagnosis, remedial intervention by experts, and the right support from parents.
So, when a child appears to be intelligent and capable, but is not being able to perform well academically, do not label him as lazy or good-for-nothing. He may require some special teaching techniques and a lot of TLC - Tender Loving Care.
Dyslexia or Learning Disability is not a disease or ailment to be “cured”. However, early detection can lead to proper intervention, and the disability need not prevent any child from being as successful and fulfilled as any other.
A word of caution
No child would like to be taken to a psychologist or doctor to be “checked out” for his brain functioning. There is considerable stigma attached to it. Though it is a fact that Learning Disability is not a mental disease or disorder, many children would be hesitant to be labelled.
Hence it is important that the parent prepare the child before taking him for assessment. Tell him that you are taking him to “an aunt/uncle who will play with you, show you some quizzes, find out how talented you are, and even give you some tips on how you can study and score better.”
Make the child understand that it is not a punishment he is being subjected to, but a way to improve himself.
First signs to look out for:
*Not being able to connect the sounds of a word to the spelling.
*Difficulty in understanding spellings that should be easy for his age.
*Getting stuck in pronouncing words correctly when reading them out.
*Inability to convert what he says verbally into the written form.
*Not being able to clearly identify left and right directions.
*Mixing up alphabets or numbers like “b and d” or “6 and 9”, or words like “dog and god”.
Inevitably, these signs will also be combined with a fall in grades, or complaints from teachers. But let parents or teachers not jump to conclusions. If any of the above signs seem evident, it is time for expert assessment and consultation — the earlier the better.