New Delhi: To enable children diagnosed with dyslexia to read, write and learn normally, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has come up with a new in-house website — readable.com.
The web portal was recently launched by the Department of Child Neurology and is designed for children with dyslexia, a neurological disease that affects learning, including oral and written language, making it difficult to understand or read words and/or numbers.
“This website will help them read, write and learn like normal children. It will also help parents of dyslexic children. Once parents are familiar with the app or website, they can teach their children to overcome reading and writing difficulties,” Dr. Shefali GulatiProfessor, Department of Child Neurology.
Before launching the website, AIIMS conducted a study on 44 children who underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (F-MRI) while using the app. The results showed that most of the children were successful in learning language and words just like normal children.
“The app consists of eight modules covering various aspects of language learning presented creatively, which will help children read, write and explain like normal children through artificial intelligence,” said Gulati.
IIT-Delhi contributed to developing the app. AIIMS and IIT-Delhi had earlier collaborated to develop innovation and rehabilitation oriented programs and this app was a part of it.
Although there is no cure for dyslexia, early assessment and intervention can help improve reading and writing abilities in children. Signs of dyslexia can be difficult to spot before a child enters school, but some early signs can indicate the problem.
According to experts, dyslexia has been found to be linked to certain genes that affect how the brain processes reading and language and runs in families. Although most children are able to learn to read by kindergarten or first grade, children with dyslexia may not understand the basics of reading by then. When dyslexia goes undiagnosed and untreated, childhood reading difficulties persist into adulthood.
