Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA), a non-profit founded by parents of children with dyslexia, is organizing a ‘Dyslexia Awareness Walk’ from Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 7 am on 20th October 2024. This event is among the several being organised to mark ‘Dyslexia Awareness Month’, celebrated worldwide every October.
This event is being conducted in collaboration with other stakeholders including GOLD Parent Support Group Rotary Club of Madras East and Rotary Club of Besant Nagar. Other events held to mark Dyslexia Awareness Month include competitions like ‘Art from waste,’ Storytelling, Art, Recitation, Elocution, Dance and Music, among others.
These initiatives aim to raise awareness among the locals, parents and schools about the facts on dyslexia and individuals with dyslexia.
The Madras Dyslexia Association was founded by Mr. D. Chandrasekhar, who belongs to the 1970 batch of B.Tech (Metallurgical and Material Engineering) at IIT Madras and is a first-generation entrepreneur. He was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Madras in 2009.
Children with dyslexia could face challenges in their academic pursuits (especially in their school-going years) due to difficulties in reading, spelling, writing and or maths, despite their average to above average intelligence. Most often parents, teachers and peers focus on these areas of deficits ignoring the talents these individuals could be bestowed with.
Madras Dyslexia Association organised a variety of events during Dyslexia Awareness Month to provide opportunities to promote and showcase the talents of children with dyslexia
Welcoming residents of Chennai to take part in this Walk, Mr. D. Chandrashekar, President, Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA), said, “These events are essential first steps towards enabling a ‘Dyslexia sensitive society’. They enable parents, schools and teachers to identify and accept this neurological condition paving the way to facilitate remedial sessions for children with dyslexia to learn coping strategies using multi-sensory methods. This ensures that the individuals with dyslexia lead a productive life instead of slipping through the cracks.”
Further, Mr. D. Chandrashekar said, “Our activities are multi-pronged and include assessments and remedial teaching for children, training for mainstream school teachers and support to setup resource rooms in schools and spread of awareness on dyslexia.”
The organizations taking part in the Dyslexia Awareness Walk include:
Alpha to Omega Learning Centre; DLearners V-Excel Educational Trust; Diksa; Sankalp – The Open School; Pragathi – The Alt School; Saveetha School of Law; DG Vaishnav College
More than 1000 children took part in the online preliminaries for the different events. The finalists will be performing during the three-day concluding programmes on 16th October 2024 at Obul Reddy Hall, Sri Thyaga Brahma Gana Sabha – Vani Mahal), 17th and 18th October 2024 at TAG Hall, Sri RKM Boys High School, Dhandapani Street, T.Nagar.
