Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar of Udaipur royalty made an emotional and extremely personal revelation during his talk at a premier conference on Early Childhood education in Jaipur. He spoke about the time that his school counsellor announced that he was dyslexic and had special needs.

Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar speaks at Early Ed Asia 2019

At the age of 12, my parents received a routine report from my school Education Counsellor stating that I needed special attention as I had special needs. Although I had always considered myself to be special but I had never imagined that ‘special’ in this case meant that I was considered not only to be slow in earning and dyslexic in writing but also that I would need special assistance to cover the gap in my learning ability.

The prince said that he was saved from a life of seclusion because he was fortunate enough to get a rock solid support system comprising of his family, friends and teachers. But he raised a poignant question asking if enough was being done for children with special needs at the early childhood stage as by the later years it is almost too late for any intervention and to address the learner’s inadequacies.

Addressing a packed audience of Early Childhood educators, Mr. Lakshyaraj Singh Mewar shared his personal journey. He exhorted parents to nurture the skills that the special child is born with as playing on the strength boosts the child’s confidence and self-esteem. Further, he shared that reading to children helps them learn faster and promotes imagination.

He rounded off his experience by sharing that children benefit from positive and active engagement with parents and that it was the key to put them on the path of achievement. No wonder today the prince is the most vocal supporter of universal education. Giving out a massive signal of hope, he said that today he runs various non-profit organisations, is a successful and much awarded Hotelier saying if he could, so can anyone else.