DO YOU FEEL YOUR CHILD FACES DIFFICULTY WHILE READING?
Here is “DALI”- Dyslexia Assessments for Languages of India
-The First Ever Indian Kit for Early Detection of Dyslexia!
Remember the day-dreamer Ishaan, (from the film ‘Tare Zameen Per’) who just can’t seem to get anything right in his boarding school but was later helped by the art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, who helps the dyslexic student discover his true identity.
However, not every child is as lucky as Ishaan of the Amir Khan starrer film!.
DALI, the very first indigenous kit of India, that screens and identifies your kids suffering with reading disabilities, and provides remedial measures for dyslexia in your child through diligent assessment tools, has now been innovated. Developed first as a brain child of (Principal Investigator) Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, 49, at the National Brain Research Centre, Manesar and supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, the tool has been standardized and validated across a large population of 4840 children from various parts of the country.
“We need to change the mindsets of parents and schools that it is nothing to be hidden. It is something for which one has to absolutely come forth and take initiatives. We first need to do brain wiring and remove that stigma and thus this becomes a mass movement!”-Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh
WHY DALI? FIRST KNOW DYSLEXIA!
DYSLEXIA IS A Disability Due To Which Children Face Serious Difficulties In Acquiring Reading And Writing Skills As Conventionally Taught In A Classroom
Thus, Dyslexia is a learning disability and is the single most important reason for school dropout. It is estimated that anywhere between 5% and 10% of school-going children across the world today have dyslexia. The incidence of dyslexia in India is believed to be 15%. According to a survey, there are 228,994,454 students enrolled in recognized schools, which brings our count of dyslexic Indian children to nearly 35 million.
It is estimated that there are nearly 35-40 million children with or at risk for dyslexia in India.
HOW DALI IS UNIQUE
Until now, no tests or screening measures have been developed and standardized across regional Indian languages for identifying children who may potentially be dyslexic. To address this gap, National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) developed, validated and standardized a set of screening tools in four regional languages to be used by school teachers to early identify children a risk for dyslexia and appropriate assessment measures to identify reading-related problems among children. The full set of these screening tools and language assessment batteries has been compiled under the umbrella term DALI.
DALI IN MAKING
It was when Prof. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, born and brought up in Nagpur, after completing Ph.D. in Physics and returning from the US started working with schools under neuro-imaging projects. There, in 2013, she came to know that many children in India are under the grip of dyslexia. And the worst part being, people associate an unwanted social stigma with the disability instead of understanding that it is just a small discomfort in ones verbal ability that can do wonders if treated in earlier stages.
ADVANCEMENTS SO FAR!
Released first by Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan on 15th October 2015 at Anusandhan Bhawan, New Delhi, the success of DALI depends crucially on dissemination and awareness.
“We hope to use social innovation platform to make DALI widely available. So far nearly 500 teachers in Delhi and neighboring areas have been trained to use DALI in Hindi. Approximately 100 psychologists have been trained”–DALI TEAM
Up till now 250 psychologists have been trained under Delhi Government’s project SMILE to use DALI. The robust system now serves as an example for countries across the globe as they seek to duplicate this model to enable accurate dyslexia assessments for children in non-English languages.
FUTURE PROSPECTS!
DALI modules are available in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and English and development in other languages is in process. By the end of the year, it will be available in Tamil and Telugu too. It has now been registered as a NERD Tool and is recognized by the UNESCO also. Currently serving to 500 teachers and around 25000 students across India, the pioneer screening and remedial organization is planning to expand their reach to 5000 teachers, 1000 psychologist, and 1 lakh students at large. Also, In July 2017, DALI was awarded the Millenium Alliance Award for Innovation by FICCI. Entitled project ‘INVISIBLE VISIBLE” under this award teachers and psychologists will be trained to use DALI and remediation tools like mobile applications and tablets will be developed to help children with learning.
BE PATIENT AND NURTURE THE PASSION
P’s FOR PERFECTION
“Doing something in laboratory which can make impact on society is success,” says Dr. Nandini.
She perceives Patience and Passion are two major constituents of perfection and success. Thus, sccording to this sophisticated woman,
“DARE TO THINK DIFFERENTLY AND ONLY THEN ONE CAN LEAD TO INNOVATION”