It has been estimated that 10 to 15 % of all the children who are of school going age suffer from some type of learning disability with only a small percentage of that group privileged enough to receive some form of remedial therapy.  A child with learning disabilities usually has deficiencies in the basic academic skills of reading, writing and spelling; these three skills are interlinked, with problems in one skill affecting the child’s abilities in the remaining two.

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Dyslexia refers to a cluster of symptoms, whichresult in people having difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia may experience difficulties in other language skills such as spelling, writing, and speaking. Dyslexia is a life-long state; however, its impact can change at different stages in aperson’s life. It is referred  as a learning disability because dyslexia can make it very difficult for a student to succeed academically in the typical instructional environment.

The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and brain imagery studies show differences in the way the brain of a dyslexic person develops and functions. Moreover, people with dyslexia have been found to have problems with discriminating sounds within a word, a key factor in their reading difficulties. Dyslexia is not due to lack of intelligence or a desire to learn; with appropriate teaching methods dyslexics can learn successfully

Current studies suggest that 15-20% of the population have a reading disability. Of which, 85% have dyslexia. Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. In addition, dyslexia run in families; dyslexic parents are very likely to have children who are dyslexic. Some people are identified as dyslexic early in their lives, but for others their dyslexia goes unidentified until they get older. People who are very bright can be dyslexic. They are often gifted in areas that do not require strong language skills, such as art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, music, physics, sales, and sports.

The impact that dyslexia has on each person varies and depends on the severity of the condition and the approaches of the remediation. The most common effects are problems withreading, spelling, and writing. Some dyslexics do not have much difficulty with early reading and spelling tasks but do experience great problems when more complex language skills are required, such as grammar, understanding textbook material, and writing essays.

People with dyslexia can also have problems with spoken language. They may find it difficult toexpress them clearly, or to fully comprehend what others mean when they speak. Such language problems are often difficult to recognize, but they can lead to major problems in the school, in the workplace, and in relating to other people. The impact of dyslexia goes well beyond the classroom.

Dyslexia can also affect a person’s self-image. Students with dyslexia often end up feeling “dumb” and assuming themselves less capable, than they are. After experiencing a great deal of stress due toacademic problems, a student may become discouraged in continuing with the school.

A formal evaluation is needed to discover if a person is dyslexic. The evaluation assesses intellectual ability, information processing, psycho-linguistic processing, and academic skills. It is used to determine whether a student is reading at the expected level of standards, and takes into account the individual’s family background and their overall school performance. The testing can be conducted by trained schools or outside specialists.

The problems displayed by individuals with dyslexia involve difficulties in acquiring andusing language — reading and writing letters in the wrong order is just one manifestation ofdyslexia and does not occur in all cases. Other problems experienced by dyslexics include:

• Learning to speak
• Organizing written and spoken language
• Learning letters and their sounds
• Memorizing number facts
• Spelling
• Reading
• Learning a foreign language
• Appropriately doing math operations

Not all students who have difficulties with these skills are dyslexic. Formal testing is the only way to confirm about the diagnosis of suspected dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a life-long condition. With proper help people with dyslexia can learn to read and/orwrite well. Early identification and treatment is the key to helping dyslexics achieve in school and in life. Most people with dyslexia need help from a teacher, tutor, or therapist specially trained in using a multisensory, structured language approach. It is important for these individuals to be taught by a method that involves several senses (hearing, seeing, touching) at the same time. Many individuals with dyslexia need one on-one help so that they can move forward at their own pace.

For students with dyslexia, it is helpful if their outside academic therapists work closely with classroom teachers.  Schools can implement academic modificationsto help dyslexic students succeed. For example, a student with dyslexia can be given extra time to complete tasks, or rendered help with taking notes, and/or appropriate work assignments. Teachers can give taped tests or allow dyslexic students to take alternative means of assessments. Students can benefit from listening to books-on-tape and from writing on computers.

Students may also need help with emotional issues that sometimes arise because ofdifficulties in school. Mental health specialists can help students cope with their struggles.

Startling facts about dyslexia and related language-based learning disabilities:

• Fifteen to twenty percent of the population has a reading disability.
• Of students with specific learning disabilities who receive special education services, seventy to eighty percent have deficits in reading. Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
• If children who are dyslexic get effective phonological training in kindergarten and first grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than the children who are not identified or helped until third grade.
• Seventy four percent of the children who were poor readers in the third grade remained poor readers in the ninth grade. This means that they couldn’t read well when they became adults.
• Individuals inherit the genetic links for dyslexia.
• Dyslexia affects males and females nearly equally, and people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as well.

The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• May talk later than most of the children
• May have difficulty in pronouncing words, i.e., busgetti for spaghetti, mawn lower for lawn mower
• May be slow to add new words in their vocabulary
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have difficulty with rhyming
• May have trouble learning the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, colours, shapes, how to spell and write his or her name
• May have trouble interacting with peer group

The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia if they are unexpected for the individual’s age, educational level, or cognitive abilities. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified testing examiner.

• Has difficulty in decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
• May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• May confuse small words – at/to, said/and, does/goes
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
• Letter reversals – d for b as in, dog for bog or god
• Word reversals – tip for pit
• Inversions – m and w, u and n
• Transpositions – felt and left
• Substitutions – house and home
• May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ – x / =)
• May have trouble remembering facts
• May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
• May be impulsive and prone to accidents
• May have difficulty in planning
• Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
• May have trouble learning to tell the time
• May have poor fine motor coordination

The primary focus of E-Kids Remedial English (ERE) is to establish an improvement in the reading, writing and spelling skills of learning among disabled children, where,innovative, skill based E-Kids(ERE) teaching techniques are used for remediation.  ERE techniques may be an alternative remediation strategy to structured phonic techniques; especially where children are not making progress in the latter.

E-Kids Remedial English (ERE) is to establish an improvement in the reading, writing and spelling skills of learning among differently abled children, where,innovative  computer  based  E-Kids Activity Based Learning (E-ABL) teaching techniques are used for remediation.

• Structured way of Phonics Instruction in the Remedial Environment
• High Imagery Instruction
• Computer Aided Learning
• The Simultaneous Processing Model
• Defeating the Decay of Memories
• Speak While Writing Concept
• Writing Skill Improvement
• Worksheet Based Learning
• Handwriting Skill Improvement

• Visual recognition
• Visual memory
• Visual sequencing
• Acoustical recognition
• Acoustical memory
• Acoustical sequencing
• Spatial orientation
• Body perception
• Symptom training Dyslexia
• Symptom training Dyscalculia
• Create your own task
• Word formulations

• Alphabetical Order skill development
• Basic Skill Development
• Thinking Skill development
• Memory Skill development
• Pre-Reading Skill development
• Defeating the decay of memory
• Rhythm and Sequential Skill development
• Reading Skill Development
• Spelling Skill Development
• Writing Skill Development

• Games should be an essential part of any curriculum.  Games are effective tools for learning because they offer students kinaestheticand hypothetical environment in which they can explore alternative decisions without the risk of failure. Thoughts and actions are combined into purposeful behaviour to accomplish a goal. Playing games teaches us how to strategize, to consider alternatives, and to think flexibly.” There are countless benefits of using games in the classroom.Games Based Activities can:
  • Help students to learn more about themselves
  • Enable students to form close bonds with their classmates by creating a shared experience
  • Foster a sense of community in the classroom where all students feel comfortable expressingideas in a safe learning environment
  • Energize students to become more active participants in the learning process