Times Of India Dated: Sep. 18, 2002
By Deepa A
Times News Network

Excerpts:

Many learning disabled children have benefited because of computers. A recent study by Anandilal principal Vandana Lulla confirmed that children showed a marked improvement in their studies after they started using computers. Around three per cent of the 700 students in the school suffer from learning disabilities.
"If a child has dyslexia, parents and teachers usually use placards with the words written in huge letters, so that the students can grasp them easily," said Ms. Lulla. "It's easier to do that with computers, as you just have to use a bigger font. Many children with learning disabilities have bad handwriting - a problem that doesn't arise when computers are used to take notes or answer exams. The spell-check facility in computers also reduces spelling errors.
"The visual component in computers is of great help," said Purnima Hindia, administrator of Nalanda Institute of Byculla, a school for children with learning problems. "We find that children understand, learn and remember concepts better when we use multimedia presentations." The Nalanda institute uses software specially written for children with learning disabilities.

Dyslexic children are more comfortable with computers because they don't have to worry about spelling, said Vinita Pandit, the former principal of Arya Vidya Mandir at Bandra-one of the few schools in the city that provides special attention to learning-disabled children.
"The tension that children have because they can't write is not there," said Ms. Pandit, who is the educational consultant to the Maharashtra Dylexia Association. Children can work at their own pace on a computer and there is no fear of being rebuked by a teacher either, she said.

Studies in the West have shown that dyslexics who avoided writing letters are very comfortable with e-mail. In fact, the British Dyslexia Association Advocates the use of computers for educating dyslexics. It's still unclear whether children do learn spellings by using computers. "But the main thing is that it helps them understand concepts easily," said Ms. Pandit. However, the state's education system places greater emphasis on a student's performance in the exams. "When children score low marks, we say they are no good or ask them to leave the school," she said.

Special educators say that all this is likely to change. "Computers will be the answer for dyslexics. In another decade, examining bodies should allow dyslexic students to write answers in computers," said Ms. Pandit.