Experiences of Children with Learning Disabilities in India: Impact of Formal Diagnosis
Anagha A. Unikkat, Bangalore N. RoopeshAbstract
Background:
The awareness of learning disabilities (LD) is significantly less among the general public in India. Compounding this problem, there is difficulty in recognizing it by the parents and teachers, as well as inadequate human resources that provide remedial training. Given this, children with LD are often misunderstood and inappropriately treated. The current research aimed to understand the experiences of children before and after being diagnosed with LD.
Methods:
Thirty children with LD, belonging to both genders (males = 21) and of the age group 10–17 years, were administered a detailed semi-structured interview schedule. Thematic analysis is carried out on the data.
Results:
Results show that children with LD tend to have poor self-esteem, academic anxiety, and difficulty in social interactions. Further, they go through negative life experiences such as shaming and corporal punishment from teachers, as well as bullying from peers. After being diagnosed as having LD, they reported that their familial relationship, scholastic performance, and self-esteem have improved. However, it was found that even after the diagnosis and psychoeducation, the majority of the children still lacked proper awareness about LD.
Conclusions:
The life experiences of children with LD in India changed after the diagnosis of LD. The experiences before and after diagnosis differ across academic, family, and psychological domains. The acceptance of LD in children occurs in a slow and stage-wise fashion that includes negative life experiences, denial, shaming, conflicts with others, and self-doubt.