Journalism of Courage
The Dr Anjali Morris Foundation for Education and Health has reached out to 2,000 city children grappling with learning disabilities
Eight years ago when US-based paediatrician Dr Anjali Morris visited Pune,dyslexia was not a commonly talked about term. For years children with learning disabilities were dubbed as lazy or below-average,and also misdiagnosed as slow learners. Soon Morris started a pilot project with schools in Pune and the programme has so far helped more than 2,000 children in improving their writing and reading skills.
The Dr Anjali Morris Foundation for Education and Health has been working with children with learning disabilities via the ‘Bridging Over Learning Differences’ (BOLD) Programme. The programme focuses on proper testing and remedial teaching.
In Pune,I met several educators who were equally concerned about the problem and by and large there was a general confusion about slow learners and children with mental retardation. Denial by parents and teachers aggravates the problem and hence we decided to initiate the programme here.
We approach school principals and conduct awareness programmes here. BOLD has a strong team of trained teachers and supervisors,and academic assessment of the child is done after observing them in class. Meetings are conducted with parents and IQ testing is done after the requisite consent is taken,explains Morris.
Remedial teaching is given two to three times in a week during school hours and the children are constantly followed up with and evaluated under the programme. KEM hospital does the assessment for children referred by various schools. The Morris Foundation teachers also provide remediation at the hospital and at their clinic located at Ghole Road. So far,16 schools have been involved in the project.
