IIT Kanpur's team invented a learning technique for children with Dyslexia & Dysgraphia

In a bid to help children diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, IIT Kanpur has developed a novel application that helps children learn easily. According to Indian Pediatrics data, the frequency of Dyslexia in Indian primary school children ranges from 2% to 18%, meanwhile Dysgraphia accounts for 14%.

The application named Assistive Application for Children with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia (AACDD) is an approach targetting young individuals who suffer from such ailments at a very young age.

Developed by Prof. Braj Bhushan and Prof. Shatarupa Thakurta Roy from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kanpur, and Dr. Alok Bajpai, a practising psychiatrist from Kanpur, the AACDD app is a touch-screen platform that encourages the user to engage.

Additionally, the app is equipped with features like auditory feedback, haptic sense, and motor movement to help with the acquisition and reproduction of Hindi characters.

Reportedly, the application assists children with a tracing task, whereas the children using the application will have to follow a blue and a pink dot to trace the Hindi letters, a yellow line will move along the dot.

The moment the child, especially the ones suffering from Dysgraphia, deviates from the tracing area, the yellow line disappears, and they are told to restart the task. This application will also help them progress in fields where normal children excel rather than simply avoiding them.

Once, the child succeeds in Level I, they are taught geometric patterns of Hindi letters in the form of jigsaw puzzles and are offered reading through auditory feedback in Level II. Further levels integrate visual, auditory and haptic inputs to write and understand words. In this level, there are 120 Hindi words with increasing levels of difficulty.

As per the reports, other languages will also be added to the application.

Dyslexia and Dysgraphia are neurodevelopmental disorders that involve sluggish and incorrect word recognition. Dysgraphia is a condition characterized by difficulty with the physical act of writing. Children may struggle to express themselves in writing.

On the other hand, Dyslexia is a reading disorder. It can also affect writing, speaking, and spelling. Children may struggle to extract sounds, match sounds to letters, or mix sounds into words.

Hence, such children need special attention and support that will help them learn and grow independently.