Their first student will successfully pass out of the school this academic year as he is preparing to appear for the class X board exams. About 15 more students will pass out next academic year. With a strength of 25 students, Vriddhi is a special place for special children who are diagnosed with learning disability. Currently children between the ages of six and 15 are enrolled in this school.

“When a child constantly reads and interprets the reverse of letters, it can be confirmed that she suffers from learning disability. For example, letter ‘p’ becomes ‘q’, ‘b’ is read as ‘d’ and ‘saw’ becomes ‘was’. If this continues for long, the learning disability must be corrected,” Mythili Padmanabhan, one of the founders of Vriddhi, says.

There are various forms of learning disability in children. Some children suffer mild learning disability while other experience learning disability in its more severe forms.

Children with learning disabilities are different. Every child is given special attention. They require a unique approach to learning. At Vriddhi children are taught using special methods. The Orton Gillingham’s multi-sensory approach, which uses visual, auditory and tactile tools, is one of the methods that are used here.

Mythili shares with us that when the child gets over the learning disability, he or she can join regular school. Identifying that the child has learning disability is a challenge. “Initially, parents and schools were unable to accept the fact that the child could be suffering from learning disability. However, now the awareness is grown. Especially after films like ‘Taare Zameen Par,’ people have began to accept this disability in children,” Mythili says.

However, if the child is not able to cope with learning disability, the last resort is the open exams conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) formerly known as National Open School (NOS). The board allows the child to take up three subjects each academic year and the child is given a choice of subjects that he or she wishes to attempt.

Vriddhi is located in Sai Baba Colony. In order to sensitize the public about learning disability in children, Vriddhi organizes workshops in the city on a regular basis.