Unlock Your Hidden Star : Guiding Children with Learning Disabilities

Nine-year-old Tia couldn't not spell simple words, would confuse alphabets like 'b' and 'd' or numbers like '19' and '91'. She was punished by her mother and at school for making these mistakes. Tests revealed that she had dyslexia.

Ten-year-old Bhupi was extremely creative, with an IQ of 125. He was able to articulate concepts orally, but his written work was poor. He was diagnosed with a primary learning disability.

Twelve-year-old Vidhu would complain of severe stomach ache before every maths test, though doctors could find nothing wrong physically. She was eventually diagnosed with dyscalculia.

While mental health is a common topic of discussion these days, learning disabilities are still poorly understood. Some of us may have heard of dyslexia, but other disorders such as dysgraphia (writing), dysphasia (language), dyscalculia (mathematics) and dysorthographia (spellings) are not commonly known. Children with learning disabilities are therefore often misunderstood, and face ridicule from peers, as well as anger and punishment from their parents and teachers, leading to low self-esteem and depression.

In Unlock Your Hidden Star, Dr Vandana Prakash, a clinical psychologist with over thirty years of experience, shows that having a learning disability need not limit children in any way; a differently abled child's world can be transformed with the right resources and empathy. She explains common learning disorders in easy-to-understand terms using real-life cases as examples; discusses the psychological tests that need to be administered to diagnose learning disabilities; and presents effective treatments for them.

An invaluable resource for parents and teachers alike, Unlock Your Hidden Star tells us how to unlock a differently abled child's hidden abilities and help them shine.

Dr Vandana V. Prakash is senior consultant clinical psychologist, practicing for the past thirty-two years. She has an MPhil in medical and social psychology from NIMHANS, Bangalore. Dr Prakash received her doctorate in ‘Stress and Coping Behaviour of Parents of Adjusted and Maladjusted Adolescents'. She has co-authored the books Conquering Pain: How to Prevent it, Treat it and Leada Better Life and Managing Chronic Pain. She has also contributed chapters on suicidal behaviour amongst adolescents and adults. She is a psychotherapist, academician, researcher, trainer and neuropsychologist.