This is a collaborative study by academics and consultants from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Teaching Hospital, Jaffna, and Vellore Institute of Technology – Chennai to identify students with dyslexia and comorbid conditions such as ADHD, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia in Type I AB, IC, and Type II government schools in the Jaffna district.
Dr. Maya Rathnasabapathy, Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Languages, Vellore Institute of Technology – Chennai, and Dr. Subaschandren Kumaran, MBBS, DFM, MD (Family Medicine), Senior Lecturer & Family Physician, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UOJ, are the study’s primary investigators.
This study’s data collecting began in June 2023 and is still ongoing at Jaffna district government schools and Primary State Government Schools in India.
Workshop was arranged by Centre for Digital Epidemiology (CoDE), Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, on 26th, 27th, 28th of February, 2024, from 9 to 4 p.m in the Board Room of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna. Workshop started with Registration of the participants. Teachers working in Special Education Units (20), Primary Teachers (15), Shadow teachers (5), Community Health workers (7) participated the Workshop. Investigators Prof R Surenthirakumaran (Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna), Dr P.A.D.Coonghe (Head, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna), Dr A Nithlavarnan (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna), Ms S Sasrubi Sathees (Research Assistant, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna). Mr P Surendran (Assistant Director of Education) attended on invitation.
The workshop was carried out on “Understanding Learning Disability”, including the subtopics “What is Learning Disabilities, Types of Learning Disabilities, how do we understand Learning Disabilities of students, Role of Teachers to Learning Disabilities, Learning to read and Reading to Learn”, Braingym exercises, Reading and Writing Comprehension. Group discussion and Role play were also carried out.
Certificates were awarded to the participants behalf of “Centre for Holistic Integrated Learning & Development (CHILD)” holding the signatures of both resources, Dr Jayashree Ashok (Director of CHILD), and Ms. Renu Nayar (Founder Director of CHILD). Following certificate offering, group photo was taken.
Through feedback review, Usefulness of Workshop was reported as “Excellent” by 85% of the participants and 90% of the participants provided feedback that proper guidance was given by the resource person for group discussion.
