Research Methodology

Chapter-III

A good methodology is a good beginning in research and it is true that without a

methodological plan no useful research can be conducted. Research
methodology involves systematic procedure by which the researcher starts from
initial identification of the problem to its final conclusion. The method of
research provides tools and techniques by which the researcher problem is
investigated. Thus the purpose of research is to discover answer to the questions
through the applications of scientific procedure.

Description of variables:

There are mainly two types of variables; Independent and Dependent.

1- Independent variable in the present study is:-

Psycho-yogic inervention program
A- Pragya-yoga vyayama
B- Bhramri Pranayama
C- Om Chaning
D- Group Counselling

2- Dependent Variable in the present study is:-

Learning Disabilities

A- Dyslexia
B- Dysgraphia
 INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

PSYCHO-YOGIC INTERVENTION

Psycho-Yogic intervention program includes three yogic practices and one

psychological therapy, the detailed descriptions of which are as follows:-

Every child is special. As every child is different, there is every possibility of

expansion, sooner or later. The source of energy is lying within them but the
only thing is to stretch the hand of confidence towards them which will solve
their problem and improve their quality.
The human brain is a miraculous structure. Scientists‟ ability to study the brain
has been vastly enhanced by innovations in technology including functional
magnetic resonance imagery. The brain is divided into four lobes: the frontal,
which is involved with judgment, problem-solving, and creativity; the occipital,
which is responsible for vision; the temporal lobes on both sides of the brain,
which are involved for hearing, memory, and language; and the parietal lobe,
which processes higher sensory and language functions. Within the centre of the
brain lie structures known as the hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus,
cingulated, basal ganglia, fornix, striatum, and amygdale. It is this area of the
brain that allows for feeling. More important than these individual structures
themselves is the fact that they are all connected by axons, neurotransmitters,
peptides, and, of course, the corpus callosum, which is a bundle of nerve fibbers
that connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
It was once thought that the brain was a static structure, but that theory has been
set aside as new research reveals more information. Eric Jensen, an expert in the
new field of educational neuroscience, asserts that “the most amazing new
discovery about the brain might be that human beings have the capacity and the
choice to be able to change our own brains” (Jensen, 2005, p. 10). Life
experiences can change the brain, according to Jensen. He notes that “the brain
is dynamic and constantly changing as a result of the world you live in and the
life you lead” (Jensen, 2005, p. 11). The brain builds new pathways as it learns
and kills off pathways it believes it no longer needs. In its own way, it is
constantly changing. The elements of yoga come together to provide the mind
with peace. Asanas (poses), pranayama (breathing techniques), and meditation,
all combine to restore the mind and body to what it seeks: homeostasis. Jensen
described the mind as a dynamic organ. It is not static; rather it can change
itself, growing as needed and pruning as needed.

Thus the psycho-yogic intervention the combination of Pragya-yoga vyayama,

bhramari pranayama, Om chanting and group counselling will be very useful for
the learning disabled children.

Psycho-Yogic intervention and Children with learning disabilities

Excessive stress is harmful to academic performance in children and may lead

to dropping out of school. To meet the demands of a modern life-style which is
full of speed, stress and tension, an all-round child health program is crucial. In
this condition the children with learning disabled future are very thorny.
One major factor for many people who face learning difficulties is that they are
unable to express their feelings easily in words and written forms, so their
actions may have to speak for them. Their behaviour(s) and mood(s) may
change and their inability to express themselves, and could result in depression,
sadness, anxiety and other mental health issues. The use of psycho-yogic
intervention for children can be diverse applications in maintaining and
developing their physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual levels.
Through Psycho-Yogic intervention, its physical postures (asana), breathing
practices (pranayama), and group counselling yields a positive effect in the
management of learning problems in children. Yoga practice benefited children
by improving their eye-hand coordination, attention span, and levels of
concentration.
In India many techniques are present which have power to promote our total
health as well as mental health. The base of Indian techniques is spiritual view.
Group counselling and Yoga provides an effective therapeutic alternative for
children with learning disabilities.
Psycho-Yogic intervention can be a very helpful tool for people with a learning
disability because it can help them to ease their frustrations and develop skills.
By simply enjoying yoga poses, they can fairly quickly begin feeling calm,
centred and improve their balance. In addition, the breathing techniques help
with the nervous system, which in turn controls their immune system. It also
helps the individual to work on their concentration skills and this mixed in with
the feelings of relaxation, a development of body awareness, memory, and
concentration can lead to a very fruitful session. The use of yoga and
counselling for children has diverse applications in maintaining and developing
their physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual levels.
Then again, psycho-yogic intervention for learning disabilities is, first and
foremost, a holistic therapy. It’s a great alternative treatment for kids with
learning disabilities.
“Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable
inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of todays and the culture
of tomorrow” (Swami Satyanand Saraswati 2006).
Yoga, the prosperity of India, is one of the greatest gifts of India to the world.
Today yoga is popular not so much as a system of philosophy as a system of
practical discipline .the application is yogic techniques is considered beneficial
for health and cure of certain disease and for improving general efficiency of
individual is different fields, yoga is being utilized from the most fundamentally
personal to the social and educational implication of the society as a whole. It is
also a spiritual pursuit for many seekers of truth. In the modern world, western
countries like America use yoga as a tool for mental, physical and spiritual up
liftmen (Dr. Uday Bhanu Kundu1,2014).
Children with developmental, genetic, or neurological disorders all have unique
therapeutic needs. While there is no global therapeutic treatment for children
with special needs, using yoga as therapeutic intervention is beneficial for all
children. With correct instruction, yoga supplements traditional therapeutic
interventions to improve fine and gross motor strength, breath support,
concentration, and communication skills.
Breathing effectively increases the amount of oxygen moving to the brain,
therefore improving concentration, learning, and vocal support (speech and
voice), Rehabilitation therapists have a long history of using yoga as a
supplement to therapy. There are many reports highlighting the therapeutic
benefits of yoga for children with Down syndrome, Autism Spectrum
Disorder/Pervasive Developmental Delay, Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorders. (Maryclaire C., 2010)

Researchers are shown that the effect of early intervention of yoga on the
brain of the children. So Researcher thinks the practice of yogasan,
pranayama and counselling will be very effective for the learning disabled
children.
The term yoga comes from a Sanskrit root yuj which means yoke or union.
Traditionally, yoga is a method of joining the individual self with the divine,
universal spirit or cosmic consciousness. Physical and mental exercises are
designed to help achieve this goal, also called self-transcendence or
enlightenment. With growing scientific evidence, yoga is emerging as an
important health behaviour- modifying practice to achieve states of health, both
at physical and mental levels. On the physical level, yoga postures, called
asanas, are designed to tone, strengthen and align the body. These postures are
performed to make the spine supple and healthy and to promote blood flow to
all the organs, glands and tissue, keeping all the bodily systems healthy. On the
mental level, yoga uses breathing techniques (pranayama) and meditation
(dhyana) to quiet, clarify and discipline the mind. Yoga is not a religion, but a
way of living with health and peace of mind. It is the gift of the oldest Indian
Vedic philosophy to the modern world (Deshpande et al., 2009). According to
satyanand swami(2006) yoga is the science of right living and as such is
intended to be incorporated in daily life. It works on all aspects of the person:
the physical, vital, mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual. From the physical
body, yoga moves on to the mental emotional levels. Many children suffer from
various mental disabilities, phobias and neuroses as a result of the stresses and
interactions of everyday living. Yoga cannot provide a cure for life but it does
present a proven method for coping with it.
Today, as we enter the 21st century, a spiritual heritage is being reclaimed of
which yoga is very much a part. Physical and mental therapy is one of yoga’s
most important achievements. What makes it so powerful and effective is the
fact that it works on the holistic principles of harmony and unification.
In this respect, yoga is for from simply being physical exercises, rather, it is an
aid to establishing a new way of life which embraces both inner and outer
realities. However, this way of life is an experience which cannot be understood
intellectually and will only become living knowledge through practice and
experience.
YOGA FOR CHILDREN
There is a growing attention in the use of yoga to peaceful the brain, and
increase overall health and happiness. Mental health in children has various
dimensions such as having healthy interactions with peers and teachers, and
being able to show appropriate emotional responses while exerting control if
essential. Children can have educational, emotional and behavioural problems
which are real, painful and costly. Mental health disorders in children are
caused by biological factors, the environment, or a combination of the two.
Biological factors may include genetics, chemical imbalances in the body, and
trauma. Environmental factors such as exposure to violence or abuse, acute or
chronic stress, and conditions which increase feelings of insecurity in a child
(e.g., loss of a parent) can contribute to mental disorders. Of course it does not
follow that child who has had such experiences would develop mental disorders
or that all children who have developed mental disorders have had disturbing
experiences.

Published research has shown that children as young as seven years of age can
improve in attention, concentration and co-ordination after learning yoga.
Yoga, according to Galantino, Galbavy, and Quinn (2008), can increase our
students’ ability to concentrate, focus, and improve memory.
When Yoga is implemented as Therapy, it is best when done on a one-to-one
basis. There is limited human study of yoga therapy in children with various
disabilities. Better trials are needed to confirm these results(Telles S,1997).

a- Pragya-yoga Vyayama-
Pragya-Yoga for the Child is primarily a holistic therapy, and as such, its main
objective is to enhance all areas of a child's development. Whatever the
condition, the prospect of providing an effective supporting role in the world of
medicine is very exciting for the world of yoga. The message about its positive
value in so many wide reaching fields is a great opportunity and one which the
world of yoga is very much ready to embrace. The practice of pragyaoga
exercise can be performed by people of all ages both sexes happily.

This sequence developed under the direction of (shriram Sharma acharya, 1981)
is a beautiful combination of asana, sub-asana, mudra, rhythmic exalation and
inhalation, lom-vilom kriyas and movement of body parts. The combination of
asanas pranayama in this series is beneficial if brain, gross physical body and
subtle body. The practice includes sixteen postures. It can be correlated with
Gayatri Mantra with its variety which provides plentiful exercises to intensity
concentration and emotional stability with the bodily movements.

The word “yogasana” (or asana in brief) refers to a posture in which one feels
relaxed while keeping the body active internally. The rishis (Vedic sages) had
keenly observed the sitting and standing postures of different animals, which, in
spite of limited faculties, have wonderful physical capabilities that man is
deprived of. They had studied the effects of different postures in the laboratory
of their own body and developed specific asanas which had rejuvenating effects
on the entire body-mind-soul system.

We highlight the main asans (Asanas) of Pragya Yoga. Adept practice of these
everyday would help controlled movements for strengthening the nerves,
muscles and different organs and regularizing the blood supply in all parts of
the body. Not only that, the chanting of the segments of the supreme Vedic
Mantra – the Gayatri Mantra, in specific sequel as directed here, with deep
breathing would induce soothing effects in the brain as well.

General Guidelines:

The beginners should first try to master each of the listed asans one by one
separately. Then attempt completing some of them in the desired sequence.
Having mastered over the subsequence’s, one may try the complete sequence of
the sixteen asans as described in the following section. Initially it may take extra
time but with gradual practice one will be tuned up and complete round of these
asans will be over only in about ten minutes. Stand erect. Half-close the eyes
and meditating on the brilliance of Lord Savita (power source of rising sun) for
a moment chant ‘Om’. Having the faith and inner feeling that the spiritual
power of Savita is rejuvenating the body, mind and soul follow – with each
syllable of Gayatri mantra – the sequence of exercises given underneath. All
chantings should be made with deep mental engrossment
and steady and deep breathing (inhalation or exhalation, as
indicated).

1. Tadasan: Stand on the toes. Chant ‘Bhuh’ (bhooh) and

raise both the hands upward while inhaling gradually and
deeply. Look upwards to the sky.(All the four actions should take place
simultaneously). Hold your breath inside. This exercise helps adequate blood
supply in the heart, stretching the spine backwards and thus giving it the much-
needed rest. This practice instantly removes lethargy. It is also beneficial in the
case of weakness of the heart and blood disorders.

2. Pad Hastasana: Chanting ‘Bhuvah’, bring both the

hands downward from the posture of tadasan and exhale at
the same slow and consistent pace and bow the head down
to touch the knees, also attempt making the palms touch the
floor. Hold your breath out for several seconds and come
back to the normal standing posture. Practice of this asana
removes gastric trouble and induces vital strength in the Ida
, Pingala, and Susumna Nadis. (See the Chapter 5 for
introduction to the term nadi). It also helps reducing fat on the tummy and
increasing the flexibility of the spinal cord.

3. Vajrasan: With the chant of ‘Swah”, place the toes

completely on the floor and set the haunches on the feet.
Both the legs should be in closed contact. Keep the
backbone erect and place the palms on the knees. Breathe
normally during this posture. The back, neck and head
should remain straight. Practising this asan for few minutes every day is helpful
in maintaining good digestion and curing gastric trouble and constipation. It
strengthens the muscles around stomach and protects from the problems of
hernia. Blood supply to the stomach and uterus is finetuned by this practice.
 4.Ushtrasan: Now get up slightly from the vajrasan with a
chant of ‘Tat’. Stand on your knees with the toes touching
the floor and the heels facing backwards. Almost
simultaneously, bend backwards to place the palms on the
heels from the backside. Inhale deeply while looking
upwards. This will inflate your chest. Hold the breath in for
few seconds. This asana stretches the abdomen, stomach, chest, and hands in a
balanced way. Practice of this asana helps healing the problems of backache and
bending of waist/lumber bones etc. It makes the heart strong and augments the
natural elasticity of the spinal column. This also provides exercise to muscles of
the genital organs. It is a pre-requisite for higher level yoga practices of
activating the Ida, Pingla and Sushumna.

5.Yogamudra: (Remember, the breath was hold inside

during the ushtrasan!). With the chanting of ‘Savitur’,
exhale slowly and sit on your legs as in vajrasana at the same time, clench
together both the palms at the back and stretch upwardly and place the head on
the floor so that the chest and the stomach touch the thighs. Hold the breath out
for few seconds This posture further helps curing severe gastric troubles, setting
the metabolic activities right and increasing the appetite. It is recommended in
advanced yoga practices of awakening the extrasensory energy nucleus called
mañipurita chakra beneath the naval.

6. Ardh Tadasan: Chanting ‘Vareñyam’, inhale deeply.

Being seated in the posture of vajrasan, raise both the arms
and eyes upwards. Hold the breath inside and stretch the
arms as much as you can without pain. Focus your eyes on the hands. This asan
gives a natural and mild traction to the neck and allays the problems, if any, like
cervical spondylitis.Likewise tadasan, it increases blood supply to the heart and
cures weakness of the heart and blood-flow related
disorders.

7. Shashankasan: Chanting ‘Bhargo’, exhale at the

same pace as inhalation in the preceding asan. Simultaneously, sit in the

posture of vajrasan and keep both the arms stretched outwardly in front of the
chest. Place the palms on the floor, bend from the waist to make the stomach
touch the thighs and the head touch the floor. The arms should remain straight
with palms touching the floor. Hold the breath outside for few seconds. This
asan eliminates the problem of constipation and soothingly stretches the
muscles within and between the anus and buttock regions. It relaxes the sitica
nerves and also helps in regularizing the secretions from the adrenal gland.

8. Bhujangasan: Chanting ‘Devasya’ inhale deeply and

pull your waist upwards. Toes and palm should remain at
the same place where these were in the previous posture but
now the arms should stand straighten. The knees and thighs
should touch the floor.Draw your chest and head upwards and raise the head
like a snake’s hood. Hold the breath inside and bend the head backwards
slightly to stare the sky. This exercise is also recommended as a remedy against
cervical spondylitis and several other problems of the spine or back. Apart form
providing soothing exercise to the lungs, heart and the backbone, it is especially
beneficial for healthy functioning of the liver and kidneys.
9. Tiryak Bhujangasan (left): In the posture of bhujangasan, exhale slowing.
Now inhale and with the chant of ‘Dhimahi’(dheemahi) turn the neck towards
the left and try looking at the heel of right foot. Then hold the breath for few
seconds. With exhalation bring the head in the front.

10. Tiryak Bhujangasan (right): Chant ‘Dhiyo’, inhale and turn the neck
towards the right to see the heel of the left foot.Hold the breath for few seconds
and bring the head again in the front with exhalation. Practice of the tiryak
bhujangasan enhances flexibility of the waist and augments the benefits of the
bhujangasan.

11. Shashankasan: Chanting ‘Yonah’ , exhale at the same pace

as inhalation in the preceding asan. Simultaneously, sit in the
posture of vajrasan and keep both the arms stretched outwardly in
front of the chest. Place the palms on the floor, bend from the waist to make the
stomach touch the thighs and the head touch the floor.

The arms should remain straight with palms touching the floor. Hold the breath
outside for few seconds. This asan eliminates the problem of constipation and
soothingly stretches the muscles within and between the anus and buttock
regions. It relaxes the sciatica nerves and also helps in
regularizing the secretions from the adrenal gland.

12. Ardh Tadasan: Chanting ‘Prachodayat’ , inhale deeply.

Being seated in the posture of vajrasan, raise both the arms and eyes upwards.
Hold the breath inside and stretch the arms as much as you can without pain.
Focus your eyes on the hands. This asana gives a natural and mild traction to the
neck and allays the problems, if any, like cervical spondylitis. Likewise tadasan,
it increases blood supply to the heart and cures weakness of the heart and blood-
flow related disorders.

13. Utkatasan: After ardha tadasan in step 12, exhale slowly.

Now chant ‘Bhuh’ and with normal breathing sit on the toes.

The heels should not touch the floor. Let the calves touch the

thighs and knees touch the buttocks. Place both the palms on

the knees. Bend the arms on elbows and keep the hands in front of the chest
with palms placed on each other in the posture of Namaskar. Back, neck and
head should be erect. Breathing should be deep and continued at a consistent
pace. This asan gives strength to the calves and improves balance of the body.

14. Pad Hastasana: Chanting ‘Bhuvah’, bring both the

hands downward from the posture of tadasan and exhale at
the same slow and consistent pace and bow the head down
to touch the knees, also attempt making the palms touch the
floor. Hold your breath out for several seconds and come
back to the normal standing posture. Practice of this asana
removes gastric trouble and induces vital strength in the Ida
, Pingala, and Susumna Nadis. (See the Chapter 5 for
introduction to the term nadi). It also helps reducing fat on the tummy and
increasing the flexibility of the spinal cord.
15. Tadasan: Stand on the toes. Chant ‘Bhuh’ (bhooh) and raise
both the hands upward while inhaling gradually and deeply. Look
upwards to the sky.(All the four actions should take place
simultaneously). Hold your breath inside. This exercise helps
adequate blood supply in the heart, stretching the spine
backwards and thus giving it the much-needed rest. This practice
instantly removes lethargy. It is also beneficial in the case of
weakness of the heart and blood disorders.

16. Coming back to original position: With a deep chant of ‘Om’, inhale
slowly and deeply, and stand straight with stretched chest. Place the arms
upwards and bend the elbows above the shoulders in a posture as though you
are holding a heavy rock on the hands. Hold the breath for few seconds with a
feeling that your arms, shoulders, chest and whole body are empowered by new
vital force. Now close the fists. Exhale slowly, bring the arms on the sides and
stand straight in the posture of attention. Breathe normal in a relaxed mood.

These sixteen steps complete one round of the Pragya Yoga asans. With gradual
progress, one may complete 3 to 5 rounds every day. The breathing patterns and
chanting of Gayatri Mantra also get perfected with sincerity in daily practice.
To a great extent these also offer the benefits of prañayamas. However, if one
has time and will or is advised by the yoga teacher to do so, the practice of
prañayamas recommended in the following Chapter would render great benefits.

If one continues to practice the above asanas aptly and is also sincere in doing
prañayamas and Gayatri Meditation every day at suitable timings (preferably
early morning), he would get the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of
Ashtang Yoga.
http://www.awgp.org/social_initiative/yoga_holistic_health/pragya_yoga

b- Bhramri Pranayama

Prana is the sum total of all energy that is manifest in the universe. It is the sum
total of all the forces in nature. It is the sum total of all latent forces and powers
which are hidden in men and which lie everywhere around us.

Thus is Pranayama defined in Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Chapter II-49. ‘Svasa’

means inspiratory breath and ‘Prasvasa’ is expiratory breath. Breath is external
manifestation of Prana, the vital force. Breath like electricity is gross Prana.
Breath is Sthula, gross. Prana is Sukshma, subtle. By exercising control over
this breathing you can control the subtle Prana inside. Control of Prana means
control of mind. Mind cannot operate without the help of Prana. The vibrations
of Prana only produce thoughts in the mind. It is Prana that moves the mind. It
is Prana that sets the mind in motion. It is the Sukshma Prana or Psychic Prana
that is intimately connected with the mind. This breath represents the important
fly-wheel of an engine. Just as the other wheels stop when the driver stops the
fly-wheel, so also other organs cease working, when the Yogi stops the breath.
If you can control the fly-wheel, you can easily control the other wheels.
Likewise, if you can control the external breath, you can easily control the inner
vital force, Prana. The process, by which the Prana is controlled by regulation of
external breath, is termed Pranayama (SWAMI SIVANANDA 2000).
Pranayama can be used for therapy. Pranayama is an exact science. The breath
is key in yoga; it is our life force, our vital energy. The main philosophy behind
pranayama is “to increase awareness and understanding of the relationship
between cognitive states, physical functioning, and breathing styles” (Novotny
& Kravitz, 2007). Pranayama has the ability to alter the brain’s information
processing (Jerath et al., 2006) by shifting a typically involuntary process into a
voluntary one. Sivanand (2000) states that the Sanskrit word prana means ‘vital
force’ or ‘cosmic energy’. It also signifies ‘life’ or ‘breath’, Ayama means the
control of the prana. Hence pranayama means control of the vital force by
concentration and regulated breathing. It is physical, mental, spiritual and
cosmic energy. All forms of energy are prana. Prana is usually translated as
breath; which moves in the thoracic region absorbing vital energy; yet, this is
the only one of its many manifestations in the body. So pranayama is the
science of breath control. The movements of the thoracic organs include vertical
ascension, horizontal expansion and a circumferential movement. Uma,
Nagendra, Nagarathna, Vaidehi, & Seethalakshmi (1989) found that pranayama
has the ability to more easily treat psychological disorders and increased IQ and
social abilities in intellectually and developmentally disabled children.
Pranayama has also been shown to positively affect immune function,
psychological and stress-related disorders, and autonomic nervous system
imbalances (Jerath et al., 2006).

It is a known fact that vibration of thinking of a human body can be controlled.

By these vibrations the cerebral cortex sends impulses directly to the
hypothalamus, which controls the ‘Pituitary’ gland, the master of all glands. The
resonance of the brain’s metaphysical thinking is taken out and this enhances
capacity of brain.

http://www.astrosage.com/yoga/pranayama/bhramari-pranayama.asp

When the bhramari pranayama practice performs among the poor performance
students, attention and concentration of participants significantly improved. The
finding of this study reveals that the students who experienced bharamari
pranayama improves the behaviour and overall academics performance. Other
researchers found that Bharamari pranayama improves the academic
performance and enhance the problem solving ability (B. N. Y. S. Shankari
2012). Bhramari pranayama helps to reduces factor which interfere with
memory by producing calmness, and increase the consumption of oxygen level
in the brain According to Previous Researches. The research done by Institute
for Mind Body Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Bruce D’ Hara and his
team at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, U.S., revealed a positive
influence of meditation and pranayama on brain functioning and performance.

The word Bhramari has originated from the Sanskrit word Bhramar which
means humming bee. The name refers to the humming sound to be created in
this pranayam. The most conspicuous effect of this Pranayam is that it relaxes
the brain. If done regularly it can have positive effect on stress, fatigue and
memory ( Sujata Nerurkar 2013). Karel, Netspar and Bhuti, Swarup (2000)
states that “Bhramari Pranayama reduces anxiety, stress, aggression, insomnia,
depression and very useful after neurosurgery”. Bhramari forms vibrations in
the brain. By these vibrations the cerebral cortex sends impulses directly to the
hypothalamus, which controls the pituitary gland or the master gland.

Bharmari is a tonic for brain it’s a kind of breathing exercise that develops
powers of concentration memory and confidence. According to Kevin Pederson
( 2012) Bhramari (Bee Breath) is a very effective pranayama (breathing
exercise) for meditation. Performing this breathing exercise helps to induce a
calming effect on the mind almost immediately. Practicing Bhramari pranayama
benefits in reducing fatigue, and mental stress. Also practicing this pranayama
for ear, nose, mouth, and eye problems can have a positive effect.
http://www.yogawiz.com/articles/83/yoga-breathing-pranayama/brahmari.html.

In Bhramari Pranayama the exalation sound is very resembles to the humming

sound of a bee, by this it is named as Bhramari Pranayama. In this breathing
practice our lips are supposed to be shut, and we are supposed to gently and
smoothly make a sound like a humming be in our throat. This simple practice is
very helpful in making the breath smooth and quiting the mind. We can feel the
sound vibrations in our throat, jaws, and face. Bharamri Pranayama is the best
breathing exercise for meditation. It has immediate relaxing effect on the brain.
If it is practiced regularly, mental and fatigue reduces.

Everybody can practice Bhramari including small children, old age people or
patients. It is very easy and significant breathing exercise for everyone.

http://www.sarvyoga.com/bhramari-pranayama-bee-breath-steps-and-benefits/

Science of yoga shows that Pranayama (i.e. breathing practice intended to

influence vital forces), work at the mental level, and intended to develop a
certain type of awareness within oneself, which in turn brings about a change in
emotional and visceral functions, and through them, a change in intellectual and
somatic functions of the individual takes place. Increased vital capacity,
acceleration in endocrinal functions, and improvement in memory.

Bhramari pranayama helps to reduces factor which interfere with memory by

producing calmness, and increase the consumption of oxygen level in the brain
According to Previous Researches.

According to Hath Yoga Pradipika

osxkn~?kks iwjda Ò`axukna Hk`xhukna jspda eaneane A

;kaxhnzk.kkese=eH;kl;ksxkkfPprs tkrk dkfpnkuanyhyk AA

(Hatha Yoga Pradipika) (II/68)

Breath in quickly, making a reverberating sound like the male black bee and
exhale slowly while softly making the sound of the female black bee. By this
yogic practice one becomes lord of the yogis and the mind is absorbed on bliss.

Gheranda Samhita speaks of Bhramri in higher sense. There is nothing wrong in

it but it is meant for the adept a beginner cannot practice it that way. Hearing a
subtle sounds which happens after the around of kundalini does not call for any
particular variety of pranayama. It is called nadanushandhana. Infect it is an
effect of a prolonged practice of pranayama. The sound produced in Bhramari is
more absorbing and soothing the sound vibration make an empect on the brain
and there immediate effect is pease and joy, which are things of greatest value
in human life.

Technique:-

 sit ia comfortable mediatative asana. If necessary adjust your body

to make sure that you are perfectly comfortable.
 Hold the spine as straight as possible.
 Close the eyes. Relax the whole body.
 The lips should remain gently closed with the teeth slightly
separated throughout the practice.
 Raise the arms sideways and bend the elbows, bringing the hand to
the ears. Use the index finger to plug the ears. The flaps of the air
may be pressed without inserting the finger.
 Bring the awareness to the centre of the head where ajana chakra is
located and keeps the body absolutely still.
 Breath in through the nose. Exhale slowly and in a controlled
manner while making a deep, steady humming sound like that of
the black bee.
 The humming sound should be smooth, even and continuous for
the duration of the exhalation.
 This is one round.

At the end of exhalation, breathe in deeply and repeat the process.

When the practice is finish, keep the eyes closed and listen for any subtle
sound occurring within the mind beyond the sense if normal hearing. Keep
your eyes closed for some time. Observe the sensations in the body and the
quietness within. Breathing effectively increases the amount of oxygen
 moving to the brain, improving concentration, learning, and vocal support
(speech and voice).

Benefits of Bhramari pranayama (bee breath)

 Instant way to relieve tension, anger and anxiety. It is a very effective

breathing technique for people suffering from hypertension as it calms
down the agitated mind.
 Gives relief if you’re feeling hot or have a slight headache
 Improves concentration and memory
 Builds confidence
 It has a positive effect particularly on the nervous system

http://www.anahatayoga.in/blog/bhramari/

We can say that Bhramari pranayama reduces stress and other threatening
factors of memory and improves confidence and academic performance. The
humming bee sound correspondingly with “M” har chanting mentally causes
increased alertness and this practice brings improvement in competitive
performance. Further researches of the effects of bhramari pranayama practice
should be made because of its beneficial influence on the population of the
children with learning disabilities. We can conclude that practice of the certain
yoga techniques can be a good instrument in improvement of the studying
efficacy in children and youth, while those with learning disabilities can use
them as the new method to overcome these very unpleasant limitations in
studying and advancement.

c- Om chanting:
Om or AUM is the most important and significant word of mantra
tradition. It is considered as the root mantra of all mantra. Om is the life of
Vedas; Om is the basis of the world. Om is the most chanted sound among
all the sacred sounds on earth. This sound is considered as the sound of the
existence.

(May our salutations ever be unto Omkara upon which the yogins fix their
minds constantly in deep meditations and which satiates all desires and
sanctions eternal salvation-Shiva Shadakshara Sitrotram)

Om is the all pervading sound that has come out of God. Om sound is the
beginning of creation, Om has emanated from the cosmic vibration. Om is
all in all, Om is the mystic word of power. Om is the magic word of
marvellous potency. Just as the president represent the voice of the people
of the country, so also Om represents the voice of all names of God, because
Om is the substratum or the metric or the basis of all sounds or names. In
Om all names or sound or words are included Om is the king of all sounds
or words. Om is the ocean into which all rivers of sounds, names and words
flow, Om is the voice at Hiranyagarbha, Om is the voice of Vedas. Om is
the cosmic sound Om is the primal sound of the universe.

eU=ka.kk Á.ko% lsrq%

Om is the bridge to all mantras
The Om is the king of all mantras. All mantras begin with Om Upnishads
begin with Om all religious ideas are centered in Om. Thought of Om
elevates the minds of all. The Christians the Hebrews end their prayers
with ‘Amen’ which is a modification of Om. The mandukya Upnishad,
Mundaka Kathopnishad, the Geeta and Brahma Sutras sing the glory of
Om. Om is the life of Vedas, om is the basis of this word.

Patanjali the composer of Yoga sutras says-

 ¼rL; okpd% Á.ko%½
Tasya vachakah pranavah (I/27)

Om is a symbol or emblem of God. It is the representative of the divine

consciousness. So where there is Om there is God Om welcomes God.

Yoga Vashistha:- if we control prana we shall be able to control mind and

hence the thought process. This is possible by practicing pranayama as well
as Om chanting. Therefore it is better to practices pranayama first and
then Omkar Japa (Repetition).

Hath Yoga says: - Pranav recitation is like nadanusandhan (H.P. 4-8/-89,

105, 106) It increases concentration of mind and therefore can lead you to
dhyan and Samadhi.

Om chanting has a profound effect on the body and mind of one who chant
and also one the surrounding. Om vibration also produced very significant
effect upon endocrine gland, carnial nerves, by the vibration multiply
although the body increasing every vibration reach the deep lying tissue
and nerve cells and the circulation of blood increases in the tissue organ
involved.

Technique-

 Sit in any comfortable meditation posture (Padmasana, Siddhasana,

Sukhasana).
 Keep the head and spine upright relax whole body.
 Close the eyes gently and feel the calmness of mind.
 Now take deep breath in and start chanting AUM.
  The voice should be natural, melodious, sweet and clear.
 Now start next recitation.
 Recite in this way with deep faith and devotion.
 After finishing the recitation sit quietly, visualize AUM in front of
your fore head and meditate on it for few minutes.

Note:- the Om chants should be rhythmic and slow while chanting Om,
irrational pause, frequent change in the pitch, too loud volume inhalation
through the mouth, etc should be avoided consciously. The forehead should
be wrinkle free. Facial muscles, eyes, eyebrows and forehead should be
loose. One should feel happiness within.
Kanchan joshi (2008). A study of the effects of nadishodhana, bhramri
pranayama &om chanting on memory enhancement of college students.p-
51-57.

Our attention and our concentration are pilfered from us by the proceedings take
place around us in the world in recent times. Different challenges and
impediments are faced by the learning disabled children in the school and at
home. It is tough to handle the stress some times. Therefore, to come out of the
aforementioned troubles, Meditation is essential for all human beings. In the
same way, for psychological stress, Speech signal is uttered to be a considerable
indicator. In the direction of mediating human subject, ‘OM’ is a spiritual
mantra, outstanding to fetch peace and calm. The entire psychological pressure
and worldly thoughts are taken away by the chanting of OM mantra.
Elimination of disruption and introduction of new dynamism in the body are
given by the OM chanting. The consciousness could be promoted through the
repetition of OM mantra. Furthermore this mantra transcends the restrictions of
a mentality. To systematically understand the meditative chant, termed the
divine sound ‘OM’, is the endeavour of this research work. With wavelet
transforms, time-frequency analysis has been carried out for the divine sound
OM. By this analysis we could conclude steadiness in the mind is achieved by
chanting OM, hence proves the mind is calm and peace to the human subject.
IJCSNS International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security,
VOL.8 No.8, August 2008 ,170 Time-Frequency Analysis of Chanting
Sanskrit Divine Sound “OM”Mantra Ajay Anil Gurjar and Siddharth A.
Ladhake Sipna’s College of Engineering & Technology, Amravati University,
Maharashtra, India

d- Group counselling

Albert Einstein quotes: “I never teach my pupils: I only attempt to provide

the conditions in which they can learn”.

Group counselling has preventive as well as remedial aims. Generally, group

counselling has a specific focus, which may be educational, vocational, social,
or personal. The group involves an interpersonal process that stresses conscious
thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.

According to Corey (2008) Group counselling is “A process in which a

counsellor is involved in a relationship with a number of counselees at the same
time”. Often they are encouraged to discuss their problem, cause of these
problems and possible solutions with the counsellor and among most
themselves. One advantages of being in a group is that when they find that there
are others to having same kind of problems their anxiety and stress are reduced.
Again discussing the problem with counsellor in a group everyone receives
certain healthy suggestions from other members of the group.
The group counselling provides to the members more powerful learning
experiences which develops in them better insight in to the problems and
problematic behaviour. Studies have shown that both group and individual
counselling benefit about 85 % of the clients who participated them. Optimally,
clients gain a better understanding themselves and perhaps a stronger set of
interpersonal and coping skills through the group counselling process.

Group have particular advantages for school counselling. Special groups in

schools are designed to deal with students’ educational, vocational, personal, or
social problems. Counselling groups in school include a wide array of topics
and formats. Groups for children occupy a major place in a comprehensive,
developmental school counselling program because of their efficacy in
delivering information and treatment. Considerable empirical support has been
gathered for the effectiveness of groups aimed at both prevention and
remediation (Goodnough & Lee, 2004; Riva & Haub, 2004). Riva and
Haub,(2004) maintain that “ the real benefit of school- based treatment is that is
can potentially reach many students before they need remedial counselling for
more serious mental health problems” (p.318). Goodnough and Lee (2004)
conclude that “providing effective group counselling experiences to students
requires leadership, specialized knowledge and skills, and the ability to
advocate effectively for the inclusion of a program of group counselling within
schools” (pp. 179-180).

The three areas where children live mainly of their significant experiences -
home, school, and community - have become unsafe places for many of them.
Emotional support is often lacking in these areas, and many children and
adolescents are alone in coping with their difficulties. Between 17% and 22% of
children and adolescents have serious developmental, emotional, or behavioral
problems (World Health Organization, 2001). In which learning disabled
children have many emotional and academic problems. Group counselling of
children with learning disabilities develop their passions and strengths will
probably help them with the areas of difficulty as well. Tolan and Dodge (2005)
argue that mental health services for children are in crisis and suggest a more
proactive approach to address the situation. Group counseling has been
recognized by professional agencies (e.g. ASCA, 2003) as a viable means to
address children's social and emotional needs in the school. Tolen, P. H., &
Dodge, K. A. (2005). Children's mental health as a primary care concern.
American Psychologist, 60, 601-614.

Clinicians and researchers alike see group counselling as a viable and efficient
means to respond to a wide range of problems among children. The few
available literature reviews suggest that group counselling is effective with
regard to various child and adolescent difficulties (Whiston & Sexton, 1998),
that it is at least as effective as individual counselling (Hoag & Burlingame,
1997; Shechtman & Ben-David, 1999); and that it is certainly preferable in
terms of cost effectiveness. School is the place where most counselling groups
with children are conducted (Gerrity & DeLucia-Waack, 2007). Counselling
groups focus on personal growth, the development of self awareness and
insight, and change in behaviour. They address children identified with unique
problems (e.g. students with learning disabilities). In counselling groups that
focus on self-expressiveness, such as suggested here, it is the counsellor's role to
help young clients express feelings and experience catharsis, to enhance self-
awareness.

Group counselling for learning disabled children-

When it comes to learning disabilities, it's not always easy to know what to do
and where to find help. People with learning disabilities are often uncomfortable
disclosing their disability for fear that they may be stigmatized. Unfortunately,
this lack of disclosure may lead to students doing poorly or dropping out of
school all together. If the student discloses the disability, we have the
opportunity to help.

Dyslexia and Dysgraphiya are learning disabilities that can have a profound
impact on a child self-image, self-esteem and motivation. A learning disabled
chid often feels stupid because they are not able to keep up with the reading and
writing skills of their classmates. Since they are so much slower and have a
much more difficult time, they feel dump. This has tremendous impact on a
child’s self esteem. This is because the child feels like they are constantly
failing. When discussing learning disability in children is it important to talk
about motivation. Motivation is a very closely tied in with a child’s self image.

If child is not feeling very good about themselves then they are not going to be
very motivated to learn. They will not be motivated to read, write or participate
in class. Motivation and self esteem are very vulnerable in a learning disabled
child because it is so easy for the child to feel like a failure. The child needs to
be encouraged in what they are trying to learn. They need to be reinforced for
what they have learnt and not compared to other students. If children are
motivated to learn they will feel good about themselves and their abilities to
learn.

The group counselling we conduct in schools were three days weekly sessions it
was 45 minutes during the regular school day. The process in this group follows
three main stages: a beginning stage, a working stage and termination. The
initial stage is extremely important in groups of children, for several reasons.
First, because children are referred to counselling rather than selecting the
service, they may be less motivated to undergo a therapeutic process. Second,
they are not familiar with the expectations of clients in a group. Third, children
come from a unique culture in which positive interpersonal interactions are not
within their normal group norms and skills. They need to be guided and assisted
in developing and using interactions that are conducive to group counselling.
Consequently, the group counsellor must actively provide structure to the
sessions at this stage, with the aim of forming relationships, developing a
language of feelings, establishing constructive group norms, and providing a
sense of security. Use of structured activities and therapeutic games is an
excellent way to promote group 174 Z. Shechtman norms, a positive and safe
climate, and a sense of personal empowerment. These lay the foundation for
constructive later stages. While the initial stage is usually positive, with fun
activities and a nonthreatening climate, the transition to the working stage may
be a difficult one. With the expectation of therapeutic work looming, the level
of resistance rises, along with hostile, sometimes aggressive behaviour. Such
behavior must be stopped firmly and quickly but with warmth and empathy.
The work done in the stormy transition stage is the foundation on which new
norms of cohesiveness, belonging, collaboration, and self-disclosure are
established. This is the necessary climate to move to the actual working stage.

The working stage is the heart of the group process. At this stage children
undergo cognitive and affective exploration, self-expressiveness, and cathartic
experiences. Insight evolves over time, and change in behaviour is evidenced.
The children accomplish all of this with the assistance of the methods and
activities used to facilitate the process (discussed earlier). Leaders take an
extremely active role in the working stage, helping children to identify goals for
change and guiding them throughout the process. Termination is more than the
end of therapy; it is an integral part of the therapeutic process and an important
force for change (Yalom & Leszcz, 2005). A successful completion of the group
has a strong impact on group members' self-esteem, sense of accomplishment,
and self-confidence. It may also have a long-term impact on the child's future
interpersonal relationships and behaviour. As every ending is also a new
beginning, the successful conclusion of the group may be the impetus to
continue personal growth in real life. In order to further these purposes, the
termination stage includes parting through positive feedback, evaluation of one's
own gains and growth, assessment of the group experience, making plans for
change in the future, and saying good bye (Shechtman, 2007).

Children were given the group counselling on the regular basis. It was a session
of 45 minutes in which students were told motivational thoughts and various
inspirational stories from India and outside countries. These stories were about
those people who themselves were suffering from various physical, mental
dimities. There were stories about Albert Einstein, Thomas addition etc. These
people themselves were suffering from Learning Disabilities. For example
Einstein was suffering from dyslexia but this dyslexia could not stop him from
being the best scientist of last century.

STORY TOLD- Albert Einstein did not speak until three years of age and it
took him several more years after that before he could speak fluently. He could
not read elementary school was a struggle for him which led to many people
suspecting him of being retarded. It’s been told that when his school teachers
asked him a question he took forever to answer even silently mouthing the
words to himself before slowly speaking them out loud. In fact, many people
believed Einstein would never succeed at anything.

Einstein didn’t give it on his higher education, but continued to face difficulties
at every turn. He applied to the Swiss Federal Institute of technology but failed
the entrance exam and had to take it a second time for he was admitted to the
school. The school even rejected his doctoral dissertation and called it irrelevant
and fanciful, which I would suspect came back to haunt them years later when
his brilliance was evident to the entire world.

After he finally graduated from college, he got a job as a clerk in appetent

office. He said that he liked that job because it was mostly mindless and
allowed him free time study and research scientific theories he was working on
time. He stated in this job a while but continued being very absent-minded. It is
said that he often forgot simple things such as making sure he put on his socks
before shoes, and it is also told that he wants misplaced day payroll check
because he use it as a bookmark in his research.

Regardless of all of Einstein’s setbacks and rejection by the general public and
education, he continued his studies experimentation and work on his theories. In
fact, it was not until after one of Einstein’s first theories the special theory of
relativity was published that the scientific community and the world truly
recognized his great talents. However, even then many scientists throughout the
world ridiculed him and attacked his theories calling them worthless and
useless, and even going as far as saying that Einstein does not have a logical
mind.

In true Einstein fashion he went on to become a professor at the University in

Zurich and later, a professor of theoretical physics at Prague. He then went on to
prove to all of the doubting, ridiculing scientists throughout the world that he
did have a brilliant mind by winning the Noble Prize in physics in 1921

These inspirational stories motivated the students in challenging their own

disabilities. unfight themselves out of them. After this story session children
were asked to share their experiences, difficulties understanding and what they
did about them. Many children told various inspirational experiences and
encouraged other children too. The problems of the children were also listening
and proper guidance was given. Some small corrections were suggested.

Counsellors and psychotherapists play a crucial role in improving the health and
wellbeing of our society. They help children to talk about their feelings, think
about their choices or their behaviour, and make positive changes in their lives.

Many children with learning disability are teased and taunted all their lives, and
they feel as rotten about themselves that, even when they succeed, they are not
comfortable with themselves. They are constantly looking for any situation
where they could possibly fail and be made fun of. So much of their energy is
consumed by fear of failure that the learning disabled often don’t have much
energy left to tackle the learning disability.

Many children maintain a positive view of themselves by achieving success in

domains of perceived competence (Crocker and Park 2002).Cooper and Patricia
(1993) stated that children with learning disability choose non- LD children as
co-workers and playmates significantly more often than they were chosen by
the later. In Addition, children with LD were rejected by non-learning disabled
children significantly more often than the latter were rejected by them.
Furthermore, a learning disabled child was rejected more often by non-learning
disabled than by other LD children. L.D girls were rejected as work and play
partners by non learning disability girls to a greater extent than learning
disability boys were rejected by non LD boys.
A children with learning disability rejected by their peers- or their family are
more likely to engage in risky behaviors’ in order to fit in with a group
(Agaliotis and Kalyva 2006 2006). Adolescents with learning disability and low
self-esteem, and feels isolated or rejected by their peers — or in their family —
are more likely to engage in risky behaviors in order to fit in with a group
(Werner 1993).
Counselling offers an opportunity to talk confidentially to someone impartial, so
you are free to explore your true feelings and be supported without judgement.
Because everyone is different, a counsellor does not simply dish out advice –
the discussions in counselling are aimed at helping you understand what is
going on for you and what would help you best.

In the above context the researcher included the group counselling intervention
for enhancing academic problems of learning disabled children. They are
suffering from psychological, emotional and educational problems. Due to their
disability they cannot express or discuss their problems to anyone not even to
their parents and teachers.

That’s why through group counselling they are given an opportunity to discuss
their problems, their ideas of solution. From this each member can get
feedbacks from the others regarding this progress in solution to the problems.

Learning disabled Students may also need help with emotional issues that
sometimes arise as a consequence of difficulties in school. Group counselling
can help students cope with their struggles.
Socio economic status- high socio economic status was taken as a family
income of 8 lakh per annum and above. Average socio economic status was
taken as a family income of less than 8 lakh per annum.

Since all data was collected from reputed English medium schools so low socio
economic status was not found in those schools.

Dependent Variables in the present study are:-

Learning Disabilities

C- Dyslexia
D- Dysgraphia

Learning Disabilities

Learning disability
Learning disability refers to a child with a learning difficulty as a slow learner
or as a child afflicted with a disease is completely erroneous. The child with a
learning difficulty is neither slow nor diseased. Public school systems use the
term, “learning disability.” The medical classification system uses the term
“learning disorder.” When working with parents and schools, it is best to use
“learning disability.”

The term ‘learning disability’ was first coined in 1963 by Dr Samuel Kirk, a
psychologist, while delivering a speech at an education conference held in
Chicago. He had worked extensively with many students who were repeatedly
failing in their examinations but were clearly “not retarded”. He observed that
these so-called ‘scholastically backward’ students could be helped by specific
methods of teaching. Till then, such children were being labelled as having
“minimal brain dysfunction” or “strephosymbolia”, as they reversed their letters
and made other errors in their spellings (Richardson, 1992).

Children with learning disability may have deficit in visual perception,

speaking, attention and memory. Genetic predisposition, prenatal injury, and
neurological and other medical conditions may contribute to developing
learning disabilities. The 10th version of International Statistical Classification
of disease and related health problems (ICD-10) classifies learning disabilities
as specific reading disorder, specific spelling disorder of arithmetic skills,
mixed disorder of scholastic skills, and other developmental disorders of
scholastic skills ( Kaplan h,9197).

Since the 1980s the broad definition of LD formulated by the US National Joint
Committee on LD (NJCLD, 1981/1988) defines learning disabilities as
“Learning disability is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of
disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of
listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. These
disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous
system dysfunction and may occur across the life span. Problems in self-
regulatory behaviours’, social perception and social interaction may exist with
learning disabilities but do not by themselves constitute a learning disability.
Although learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other
handicapping conditions (for example sensory impairment, mental retardation,
serious emotional disturbance) or with extrinsic influences such as cultural
differences, insufficient or inappropriate instruction, they are not the result of
these conditions or influences ” ( Jose J., 2009).

A learning disability is a neurobiological disorder people with LD have brains

that learn differently because of differences in brain structure and/or function.
If a person learns differently due to visual, hearing or physical handicaps,
mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural or
economic disadvantage, we do not call it a learning disability.
learning disabilities is a generic term that refers to a heterogeneous group of
neurobehavioral disorders manifested by significant unexpected, specific and
persistent difficulties in the acquisition and use of efficient reading (dyslexia),
writing (dysgraphia) or mathematical (dyscalculia) abilities despite
conventional instruction, intact senses, average intelligence, adequate
motivation and socio-cultural opportunity (Shapiro and Gallico 1993).

According to Ruiter J and Wansar W(2002) the learning disability is found to be

deficiency in learning process in five major areas like attention, perception,
memory, cognition and encoding.(Sadaket M.,2009).

Many eminent people like Winston Churchill, Einstein, Isaac Newton, Thomas
Alva Edison and popular Hollywood actors like Tom Cruise were dyslexia
during their childhood. If these children are not identified and remedied, we will
be guilty of losing eminent people. Many times, because of the punishment
given by teachers and parents, such children use their skills in a negative way
becoming criminals and antisocial elements.
For the school-age population, the most commonly used definition is found in
the federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA). IDEA uses the term “specific learning disability (SLD).”
According to IDEA, SLD is “a disorder in one or more of the basic
psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken
or written, which disorder may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen,
think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Such term
includes such conditions as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain
dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia. Such term does not include a
learning problem that is primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor
disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of
environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.” International Dyslexia
Association (2010).

Another definition of SLD appears in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of

Mental Disorders (DSM,2013) published by the American Psychiatric
Association.
The DSM uses the term “specific learning disorder.” Revised in 2013, the
current version, DSM-5, broadens the previous definition to reflect the latest
scientific understanding of the condition. DSM--5 considers SLD to be a type of
Neurodevelopment Disorder that impedes the ability to learn or use specific
academic skills (e.g., reading, writing, or arithmetic), which is the foundation
for other academic learning.

LD is intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system

dysfunction, and is chronic life-long conditions. Children with LD fail to
achieve school grades at a level that is commensurate with their intelligence.
The incidence of dyslexia has been reported to be 2-18%, of dysgraphia 14%,
and of dyscalculia 5.5% in primary school children in India (Mittal et al 1977;
Shah et al 1981; and Ramaa et al 2002).

Current literature indicates that 10 – 14% of the 416 million children in India
have Learning Disabilities (Krishnan, 2007; Krishnakumar, 1999; Mehta, 2003)
making it the most widespread disability (Suresh and Sebastian, 2003; Tandon,
2007). It is estimated that India has five students with SpLD in every average-
sized class (Thomas, Vhanutej and John, 2003). Dyslexia is the most common
and most carefully studied of the SpLDs, affecting 80% of all those identified as
Learning Disabled (Karande, Sawant, Kulkarni, Galvankar, and Sholapurwala,
2005). IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume
19, Issue 5, Ver. II (May. 2014), PP 32-34 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-
0845. www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org
According to madhuri kulkarni (2006), Dyslexia (or specific reading disability)
affects 80% of all those identified as learning-disabled.2 The incidence of
dyslexia in school children in USA ranges between 5.3- 11.8%.4 The incidence
of dyslexia in primary school children in India has been reported to be 2-18%,
of dysgraphia 14%, and of dyscalculia 5.5%.

The learning disabled student was often been referred to as an individual with
an "Invisible handicap". The learning disabled child usually appears normal
in every respect, except for the fact that his/her learning difficulties limit
progress in school. Due to these invisible problems children can damage their
self-image, emotional well-being, lose their confidence ,relationship with their
family members and peers , fear to going to school, dropping out poor social
performance, and they labelled by others as; irresponsible, irritable, looser, lazy,
dump. In this way they become emotionally harassed.

Learning disabilities arise from neurological differences in brain structure and

function and affect a person’s ability to receive, store, process, retrieve or
communicate information. While the specific nature of these brain-based
disorders is still not well understood, considerable progress has been made in
mapping some of the characteristic difficulties of LD to specific brain regions
and structures.

Learning disability (LD) is a term used to denote a neurological handicap

that interferes with a person’s ability to receive, process, store, and retrieve
information. LD creates a gap between a person’s ability and performance
caused by an alternation in the way information is processed. Repetition
and drilling does not alter this processing, but presenting materials in a
different way helps. Individuals with LD are generally of average or above
average intelligence.
• LD can affect one’s ability to read, write, speak or compute math, and
can impede socialization skills.
• Early diagnosis and appropriate intervention and support are critical for
the individual with LD.
• Because it is often a ‘hidden handicap,” LD is not easily recognized,
accepted or considered serious.
• It is believed that LD never goes away, but can be compensated for.
• Attention deficits and hyperactivity are sometimes coupled with LD, but
not always.
• LD is not the same as the following handicaps: mental retardation,
autism, deafness, blindness, and behavioural disorders. It is thought that up
to 15 percent of any population anywhere contains learning disabled.

LD students in their classes, unrecognized, undetected and therefore

considered to be the “dullard,” the backbenchers. “Learning disabilities
are not a prescription for failure. With the right kinds of instruction,
guidance and support, there are no limits to what individuals with LD can
achieve.” Sheldon H. Horowitz, Ed. D., Director of LD Resources
National Center for Learning Disabilities LD.org | the State of
Learning Disabilities: Facts, Trends and Emerging Issues | 3
Learning disorder is a classification including several disorders in which a
child has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an
unknown factor or factors. The unknown factor is the disorder that affects
the brain's ability to receive and process information. This disorder can
make it problematic for a child to learn as quickly or in the same way as
someone who isn't affected by a learning disability.
The current study therefore is an attempt to identify children with
learning difficulties and will be take the psycho-yogic intervention to
improve their academic achievement.
"A child with learning disabilities usually has unique strengths. Many of
them are good in music, arts and sports. It is up to the teacher to identify
them and change the methods of teaching," then who has been a teacher for
the better part of her life across the world.

"Intelligent Otherwise: Identifying, Understanding and Tackling Learning

Disabilities in Children". Published by Wisdom Tree.

MAGNITUDE OF LEARNING DISABILITY

• At school level learning disability goes unnoticed because of lack of
teacher training.
• It was in recent past certain Universities emphasized the importance of
special education and tried to incorporate it into the teacher training
syllabus. But, still it’s not focused on Learning Disability.
• Most children with Learning Disability is labeled as ‘dumb’ or ‘lazy’ or
“useless” and are considered as burden to the school and they simply ask
them to leave the school.
• It’s also learnt that, in certain cases parents are very adamant and refuses
to accept that their child has learning disability, though certain schools has
special education cell as parents are uncooperative.
• The unavailability of indigenous testing tools is another setback in
detecting children with learning disability. India is a multilingual and
multicultural background with an estimate of 850 languages in daily use.
The language of the testing instruments is occasionally unsuitable to Indian
students who may not be proficient in English language. (Thomas, Bhautej
and John 2003).

Causes of Learning Disabilities

By W.L. Heward — Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall Updated on Jul

20, 2010. In most cases, the cause (etiology) of a child’s learning disability
is unknown. Many causes have been proposed, a situation that probably
reflects the highly diverse nature of students with learning disabilities. Just
as there are different types of learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia, language
disabilities, math disabilities), there are likely to be different causes. Four
suspected causal factors are brain damage, heredity, biochemical
imbalance, and environmental causes.

A learning disability is caused by the brain not working correctly. Some of

these learning disabilities actually involve multiple sites in the brain and
often can involve different sites in men and women. This damage to the
brain can be genetic or it can be caused by problems at birth or during
pregnancy. Alcohol exposure during pregnancy can cause this damage,
too. The nerve cells aren't where they are supposed to be, the cells are not
organized correctly, and some are missing. If a child has a stroke and ends
up with deficits like a learning disability, we don't call it that, even though
it may look exactly like a learning disability. Learning disabilities can be
strongly inherited. In some cases, if a father has a learning disability, half
their children will also.

It is hard to diagnose and pinpoint the causes. LDs seem to be caused by

the brain, but the exact causes are not known. Some risk factors are:

• Heredity

• Low birth weight, prematurity, birth trauma or distress

• Stress before or after birth

• Treatment for cancer or leukemia

• Central nervous system infections

• Severe head injuries

• Chronic medical illness, like diabetes or asthma

• Poor nutrition
LDs are not caused by environmental factors, like cultural differences, or
badteaching.

Brain Damage or Dysfunction

Some professionals believe that all children with learning disabilities suffer
from some type of brain injury or dysfunction of the central nervous
system. Indeed, this belief is inherent in the NJCLD definition of learning
disabilities, which states that learning disorders are “presumed to be due to
central nervous system dysfunction.” In cases in which actual evidence of
brain damage cannot be shown (and this is the situation with the majority
of children with learning disabilities), the term minimal brain dysfunction
is sometimes used, especially by physicians. This wording implies brain
damage by asserting that the child’s brain does not function properly.

Recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology have

enabled researchers to discover that specific regions of the brains of some
individuals with reading and language disabilities show activation patterns
during phonological processing tasks that are different from the patterns
found in the brains of nondisabled individuals (Miller, Sanchez, & Hynd,
2003; Richards, 2001; Simos, Breier, Fletcher, Bergman, & Papanicolaou,
2000). The actual structure of the brain of some children with reading
disabilities is slightly different from that of children without disabilities
(Leonard, 2001).

Common learning disabilities

• Dyslexia – a language-based disability in which a person has trouble

understanding written words. It may also be referred to as reading
disability or reading disorder.

• Dyscalculia – a mathematical disability in which a person has a difficult

time solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts.
 • Dysgraphia – a writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form
letters or write within a defined space.

• Auditory and Visual Processing Disorders – sensory disabilities in which

a person has difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing and
vision.

• Nonverbal Learning Disabilities – a neurological disorder which

originates in the right hemisphere of the brain, causing problems with
visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing
functions.

A learning disability cannot be cured or fixed. With the right support

and intervention, however, child with learning disabilities can succeed
in school and go on to be successful later in life. In the present
research, researcher has taken only two learning disability dyslexia
and dysgraphia.

A- Dyslexia

The word dyslexia derives from the Greek prefix ‘dys’ and the root-word ‘lexis’.
The former means ‘difficulty’ whereas the latter means ‘word or language’
(Ott, 1997; Hornsby, 1992).

It can be best translated as ‘difficulty with words’. As mentioned before there

is not a universal definition for dyslexia. Depending on the professionals’ field
of study over the years there have been various definitions attempting to
identify what dyslexia is. Dyslexia is mainly associated with language problems
such as reading, writing and spelling although people with dyslexia might also
experience difficulties with vision, memory and/or orientation.

It has been more than one hundred years since Dr Kussmaul (1878 cited in
Selikowitz, 1998; Beaton, 2004) mentioned the case of an intelligent man who
had difficulties in learning to read. He called the problem word blindness.
Furthermore dyslexia was first reported in 1896, by a British physician, W.
Pringle Morgan. He (cited in Beaton, 2005) introduced in the academic and
medical world the first case of what we call nowadays developmental dyslexia
or Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD). It was the case of 14-year-old Percy who,
although he was bright and intelligent, could not read even though he had
received extensive and persistent training. At the time he used the term
‘congenital world-blindness’ (Beaton, 2004:3) to describe his difficulty. The
term dyslexia has been accredited to Professor Rudolf Berlin
(Aaron,Joshi,Gooden,Bentum, 2008). The former is more accepted and used by
people with dyslexia and their families (European Dyslexia Association/EDA,
2009), whereas professionals prefer to employ the SpLD term (Riddick, 1996).

Dyslexia refers to an unexpected difficulty in reading; “unexpected” meaning

the child appears to have present all the factors necessary for reading
(intelligence, motivation and at least adequate reading instruction), and yet is
still struggling to read.2 Although referred to as an “invisible” disability,
dyslexia has profound effects on a child, both through the impact of the effort
reading requires and through the great cost in terms of shame and anxiety
associated with not being able to read quickly or smoothly (Sally E.
Shaywitz,2006).
Several studies have shown that dyslexia, when undiagnosed, can cause a lot
of frustration and anxiety in the individuals involved (Riddick, 1996; Edwards,
1994). Dyslexia is a ‘hidden’ disability (Riddick, 1996) as there are no obvious
external signs for people to recognise. It is not like some other disabilities, as
for example Down syndrome, or cerebral palsy that people can recognize from
the moment they see them. People can get confused and assume different
reasons for the children’s poor performance in school. That is why, when not
diagnosed characterisations like ‘stupid’, ‘thick’, and ‘lazy’ are commonly used
to describe students with dyslexia as people, who are not aware about
dyslexia, cannot find any other explanation for them not doing well at school.
Lack of assessment may result in low self-esteem compared to non-dyslexic
students (Miles, 1996; Humphrey, 2002) and lack of appropriate help and
support can have long-term effects for people with dyslexia when reaching
adulthood (Morgan and Klein, 2000).

Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in learning to read, characterised by

difficulties in learning to recognize letters, subsequent problems pronouncing
words in a context and persistent difficulties in fluent oral reading and
spelling (Raskind, 2001). Dyslexia is a medically oriented term which simply
means abnormal reading. Evidence suggests that specific reading disability,
also called dyslexia is a persistent deficit, not just a developmental lag in
linguistic or basic reading skills, (Grossen, 1998, Lyon, 1995). Indian figures
show that incidence of dyslexia and related disorders in regular schools are
6%-7% (Mehta, 1994). Dyslexia is most commonly defined as a severe reading
disability due to neuropsychological immaturity or dysfunction (John R
Kershner, 2015).
 Definitions of dyslexia-

There are different definitions of developmental dyslexia. For example, the

definition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM]
IV (DSM IV, 1994 in Essential Learning Institute, 2012) is as follows: ‘Reading
achievement is substantially below that expected given the person’s
chronological age, measured intelligence and age-appropriate education. The
disturbance significantly interferes with academic achievement or activities of
daily living that require reading skills. If a sensory deficit is present, the reading
difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with it.’

The definition used by the International Dyslexia Association [IDA] (Lyon,

Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2003) is: ‘Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is
neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or
fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These
difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of
language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and
the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may
include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience
that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.’

The DSM-5 uses the term Specific Learning Disability, and then requires a
second code to specify the nature of the disability. One of three options is to
code “with impairment in reading.” That is the preferred way to use the DSM-
5, however, it specifically states in that same section:
“Dyslexia is an alternative term used to refer to a pattern of learning
difficulties characterized by problems with accurate or fluent word
recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities” (p.67, DSM-5,2013.)

http://decodingdyslexiaoh.org/dyslexia-and-the-dsm-5/

More recently, dyslexia has been defined as "the inability to learn to process
written language despite adequate intelligence, sensory ability, and exposure"
(Grubin 2002). According to Pugh (2013) Developmental dyslexia is a
hereditary, Neurocognitive-based learning difficulty.

Dyslexia is often referred to as a hidden disability because it does not have

outwardly visible signs that easily indicate to others that there is an issue,
which has contributed to the problem of confusion and misperceptions
(Shaywitz, 2003).

One of the most complete definitions of dyslexia comes from over 20 years of
research: “Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in
origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word
recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties
typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is
often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of
effective classroom instruction” (Lyon, Shaywitz, & Shaywitz, 2003, p. 2).
Dyslexia, sometimes defined as reading at least two years below grade level
(Eisenberg, 1966), is often referred to as a specific reading disability. "Specific"
here means "occurring in the absence of other deficiencies." That is, dyslexia
can be diagnosed confidently only in those of average or better intelligence,
who have no sensory deficits (e .g., with normal hearing and vision), no gross
brain damage, no severe emotional disorders, and no instructional or
socioeconomic disadvantages. In other words, the term "dyslexia" applies only
to poor readers who have no other organic, psychological, or environmental
handicaps (Eisenberg,1966).

These definitions show that children with dyslexia have difficulty with reading.
Children with dyslexia make more reading errors and they need more time to
read something than children without dyslexia.

Therefore, dyslexia is a specific learning disability that appears to be based

upon the brain and its functioning. It appears that dyslexia runs in families.
Individuals with dyslexia have difficulty with processing and manipulating the
sounds in a spoken language. This is related to the ability to read words
accurately and fluently. Individuals with dyslexia will also have difficulty with
spelling. Some of the consequences of not reading accurately or fluently and
thus having fewer reading experiences may include problems with reading
comprehension and vocabulary.

Developmental dyslexia is a hereditary, neurocognitive-based learning

difficulty, usually identified early in children’s primary education when young
children struggle to acquire proficiency in beginning reading skills. Prevalence
estimates vary, ranging from 5% to as high as 20% [Pugh K,2013]. After more
than a century of research and the implementation of a broad range of
remedial strategies, this disability, which affects individuals irrespective of
their level of intelligence, motivation to learn and adequate educational and
social circumstances, remains relatively intransigent to educational
approaches. The reading, spelling, and array of related cognitive difficulties
found in children with dyslexia persist into adulthood (Kudo M, Lussier C,
Swanson L, 2015). Familial studies indicate an etiological origin in an intricate
interplay of neurobiological, genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors
(Carrion CA, Franke B, Fisher S, 2013) .

Dyslexia afflicts 80% of all children identified as having SpLD. Children with
dyslexia have deficits in “phonologic awareness”, which consistently
distinguish them from those who are not reading-impaired (Sunil Krande,
2011).

Dyslexia (or specific reading disability) affects 80% of all those identified as

learning-disabled. The incidence of dyslexia in school children in USA ranges

between 5.3- 11.8%. The incidence of dyslexia in primary school children in
India has been reported to be 2-18%(Mittal S.K., 1977).

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (2000)
estimates at least 17% to 20% of all children in the United States are reported
to have some type of developmental disability such as dyslexia. Dyslexia (or
specific reading disability) is the most common and most carefully studied of
the learning disabilities, affecting 80 percent of all those identified as learning-
disabled International Dyslexia Association2014 (IDA).

There are two kinds of dyslexia.

a) Developmental phonological dyslexia- where one has a problem with

nonword reading. (Nonword reading is changing the initial and middle letters
of a word. Examples are mana (mama) and aufo (auto)).
b) Developmental surface dyslexia. Where one has difficulty in reading
irregular words. (25% English words are irregular, which means that they
violate English spelling-to-sound word rule. Examples: pretty, bowl, and sew.)
Castles, Anne, Helen Datta, Javiar Gaven and Richard K. Olson, .Varieties of
Developmental Reading Disorder: Genetic and Environmental Influences,
Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 72 (1999): p. 73-94 (1)

"Developmental dyslexia is a learning disability which initially shows itself by

difficulty in learning to read, and later by erratic spelling and lack of facility in
manipulating written as opposed to spoken words. The condition is cognitive in
essence, and usually genetically determined. It is not due to intellectual
inadequacy or to lack of socio-cultural opportunity, or to emotional factors, or
to any known structural brain deficit. It probably represents a specific
maturational deficit, which tends to lessen as the child gets older, and is
capable of considerable improvement especially when appropriate remedial
help is afforded at the earliest opportunity" (Pickering, Susan J, 1995).

However, as a psycho educational concept, the definition of dyslexia has far

reaching consequences for the diagnosis of individuals with the disorder. It is
for this reason that a number of definitions have developed, not only to assist
with understanding of what dyslexia actually is, but more as a sort of checklist
for use in diagnosis and provision of educational services. One more study
defines that Dyslexia is often-misunderstood, confusing term for reading
problems. Despite the many confusions and misunderstandings, the term
dyslexia is commonly used by medical personnel, researchers, psychologist and
clinicians. One of the most common misunderstandings about this condition is
that dyslexia is a problem of letter or word reversals (b/d, was/saw) or of
letters, words, or sentences "dancing around" on the page. In fact, writing and
reading letters and words backwards are common in the early stages of
learning to read and write among average and dyslexic children alike, and the
presence of reversals may or may not indicate an underlying reading problem
(Rayner, Foorman, Perfetti, Pesetsky, & Seidenberg, 2001).

There are many theories as to how a child learns to read. Most theories
"assume that information is extracted from the stimulus (i.e. written text) and
mentally represented and that this representation is used to search one's
memory for stored information about the stimulus" (Rapp 2001). Reading
consists of a variety of behaviors, each of which uses a different part of the
brain:

 Letter naming;

 Letter perception;

 Word recognition; and

 Comprehension.

The neurological bases of dyslexia

The neurological bases of dyslexia are now well established and reflected in
current definitions of the condition. For example, the International Dyslexia
Association (formerly the Orton Dyslexia Society) published the following
definition of dyslexia:

"Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial disorder which interferes

with the acquisition of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested
by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological
processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting and sometimes
arithmetic. Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment,
inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, but may occur
together with these conditions. Although dyslexia is life-long, individuals with
dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate
intervention" (Orton Dyslexia Society, 1994).

The biology of dyslexia has been investigated in a range of studies that have
confirmed a difference in brain anatomy, organization and functioning. The
latest brain imaging techniques, as well as encephalographic recording of the
electrical activity of the brain, and even post-mortem examination, all reveal a
range of functional and structural cerebral anomalies of persons with dyslexia.

Although dyslexia is legally recognized as a ‘disability’, it is not a ‘disease’ nor

can it be ‘cured’. Indeed, the neurological differences found in dyslexia may
confer advantages for some individuals (e.g. in visual or perceptual skills),
which may to some extent explain the apparent paradox that some individuals
who have problems with elementary skills such as reading and writing can
nevertheless be highly gifted in other areas.

Some researchers say that the dyslexic brain is different from ordinary brains.
Studies have shown differences in the anatomy, organization and functioning
of the dyslexic brain as compared to the non-dyslexic brain. Some people
suggest that dyslexic people tend to be more 'right brain thinkers'. The right
hemisphere of the brain is associated with lateral, creative and visual thought
processes.

What Happens in the Brains of Children with Dyslexia?

For some children, the ability to break speech into its tiny parts is not easy.
These children are among the millions with dyslexia. Children with dyslexia,
despite adequate intelligence, have trouble understanding that a single word
may be made of several different sounds. For example, the word cat has three
distinct phonemes: ca, ah, and ta. When we speak, we blend the sounds
together and say them as one: "cat." Growing up, a child hears and says the
word c-a-t as one sound, cat. When it comes time to learn to read, a child must
learn that there are three separate sounds. This is difficult for children with
dyslexia. The inability to break speech into its parts is the main reason why
children with dyslexia have trouble learning to read.

The exact causes of dyslexia are still not completely clear, but anatomical and
brain imagery studies shows differences in the way the brain of a person with
dyslexia develops and functions.

Many researchers suspect that the brain areas controlling language,

particularly the angular gyrus, play a critical role (Ariniello 1999). Research by
Pugh et al. (2001) found that reading-disabled children had dysfunctions in the
posterior areas of their left hemispheres. Similar findings are echoed by Sally
Shaywitz, a professor of Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine.
According to Shaywitz: "Good readers have a pattern of activation in the back
of the brain -- the system that includes the occipital region, which is activated
by the visual features of the letters; the angular gyrus, where print is
transcoded into language; and Wernicke's region, the area of the brain that
accesses meaning. This posterior area is strongly activated in good readers, but
we saw relative under activation in poor readers" (D'Arcangelo 1999).

Do People with Dyslexia See Words Backwards? A Misconception about

Dyslexia

A common misconception about children (and adults) with dyslexia is that they
see letters and words backwards. According to Shaywitz (D'Arcangelo 1999),
people with dyslexia do not have problems copying letters and words. They
may make some reversals in writing, but no more so than other children.
Problems arise when children with dyslexia are asked to read what they just
wrote, bringing the print to language. To use an example given by Shaywitz, a
child can copy the letters "w-a-s" correctly, but when asked what was written,
a child with dyslexia may reply "saw." The problem is not one related to vision,
but rather one of "perceptual skills of what the child does with a word on a
page... Again, the brain mechanism of going from print to language is
phonologically based" (D'Arcangelo 1999). Ariniello, L. (1999), Dyslexia and
language brain areas. Society for Neuroscience Brain Briefings. Retrieved
November 17, 2002 from
http://apu.sfn.org/content/Publications/BrainBriefings/dyslexia.html.
Symptoms of Dyslexia

The signs of dyslexia differ from individuals to individuals but the most
common symptoms of dyslexia are listed below:

 Has difficulty in learning to read

 Confuses with similar looking letters (b as d, m as w)
 Mispronounces the words while reading
 Skips the words while reading loudly
 Confuses similar-looking words (e.g., beard/bread)
 Lacks consistency in reading words
 Omits prefixes or suffixes of words while reading
 Reading level is below the grade level
 Reversals in the reading of letters such as n for u, p for q, d for b and
also monosyllabic word reversals such as know for on, was for saw.
 Omissions and additions of words in oral sentence reading.
 Excessive slowness in reading
 Poor retention of material that has been read
 Difficulty with spontaneous writing and writing to dictation
 Has problems in associating letter with sounds
 Finds difficulty to blend the sounds into words
 Has inadequate phonological awareness
 Has difficulty in reading the charts in a sequential order
Academic performance is below than the grade level(R. Kamala,2014)

Individuals with dyslexia have trouble with reading, writing, spelling and/or
math even though they have the ability and have had opportunities to learn.
Individuals with dyslexia can learn, but they often need specialized instruction
to overcome the problem. Often these individuals, who have talented and
productive minds, are said to have a language-based learning difference.

Most people have one or two of these characteristics. That does not mean that
everyone has dyslexia. A person with dyslexia usually has several of these
characteristics that persist over time and interfere with his or her learning.
Following characteristics are commonly found in dyslexic students:

Oral language

Late learning to talk , Difficulty pronouncing words , Difficulty acquiring

vocabulary or using age appropriate grammar , Difficulty following
directions , Confusion with before/after, right/left and so on , Difficulty
learning the alphabet, nursery rhymes, or songs Difficulty understanding
concepts and relationships , Difficulty with word retrieval or naming
problems.

Reading

Difficulty learning to read, Difficulty identifying or generating rhyming

words or counting syllables in words (phonological awareness) , Difficulty
with hearing and manipulating sounds in words (phonemic awareness) ,
Difficulty distinguishing different sounds in words (phonological
processing), Difficulty in learning the sounds of letters (phonics),
Difficulty remembering names and shapes of letters, or naming letters
rapidly, Transposing the order of letters when reading or spelling,
Misreading or omitting common short words “Stumbles” through longer
words, Poor reading comprehension during oral or silent reading, often
because words are not accurately read Slow, laborious oral reading.

Written Language
Difficulty putting ideas on paper, Many spelling mistakes, May do well on
weekly spelling tests, but may have spelling mistakes in daily work, Difficulty
proofreading, other common symptoms that occur with dyslexia, Difficulty
naming colours, objects, and letters rapidly, in a sequence (RAN: Rapid
Automat zed Naming), Weak memory for lists, directions, or facts, Needs to
see or hear concepts many times to learn them, Distracted by visual or
auditory stimuli, Downward trend in achievement test scores or school
performance, Inconsistent school work. Teacher says, “If only she would try
harder,” or “He’s lazy.” Relatives may have similar problems (international
dyslexia association 2013).

Dyslexia is not due to either lack of intelligence or desire to learn; with

appropriate teaching methods, students with dyslexia can learn successfully.
Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels. People
with dyslexia can be very bright. They are often capable or even gifted in areas
such as art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics,
music, physics, sales, and sports.

B- SDysgraphia

The main goal of handwriting is to leave a written trace on paper.

Handwriting is an essential way of communication that enables the
expression, recording, and transmission of ideas of students throughout
their educational careers (Dennis & Swinth, 2001; Hamstra-Bletz & Blote,
1993; Tseng & Cermak, 1993). Elementary school children typically spend
up to 50% of the school day engaged in writing tasks, some of which are
performed under time constraints (Amundson & Weil, 1996; McHale &
Cermak , 1992; Tseng & Chow, 2000). A child’s ability to write legibly, as
well as quickly and efficiently, enables him or her to achieve both
functional written communication and academic advancement
Writing is a skill highly valued in our society, even in a time of computers
and technology. In the past, handwriting was prized because it was a
primary form of communication; people needed to get notes to others that
were legible (Ediger, 2002). Now that typewriters and computers are used
to communicate between people, handwriting has become a rare form of
communication. However, handwriting is still a critical skill and needed
for many reasons that people might not readily recognize.

Writing is a hard task for many students. These students may avoid writing
tasks or become frustrated during writing activities. They also have trouble
writing clearly because they don’t understand the information as they put it
on the page. Students with poor handwriting may have inconsistent spacing
between letters and words, inconsistent letter formation, and/or a mixture
of lowercase and uppercase letters. Students with poor handwriting and
complexity expressing them through writing may have a learning disability
called dysgraphia.
The term Dysgraphia is not widely used in schools. One reason is that

handwriting difficulties can be included under the label of learning

disabilities. Another reason is that there is no consensus in the field on

one definition or identification process for dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities.

Specifically, the disorder causes a person's writing to be distorted or

incorrect. In children, the disorder generally emerges when they are first

introduced to writing. They make inappropriately sized and spaced letters,

or write wrong or misspelled words, despite thorough instruction. Children

with the disorder may have other learning disabilities; however, they

usually have no social or other academic problems. Cases of dysgraphia in

adults generally occur after some trauma. In addition to poor handwriting,

dysgraphia is characterized by wrong or odd spelling, and production of

words that are not correct. The cause of the disorder is unknown, but in

adults, it is usually associated with damage to the parietal lobe of the

brain.

Definitions of Dysgraphia-
Dysgraphia at this time is a generic prognosis for a handwriting disability.
In Colman’s Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (2003) dysgraphia is
defined as the inability to write correctly, resulting from a neurological or
other disorder. From Greek dys – bad or abnormal + graphein – to write +
ia – indicating a condition or quality (p.225).

According to DSM IV (1994), Disorders of written expression are defined

as a combination of difficulties in an individual’s ability to compose
written text that are manifested by illegible handwriting, letter shape
distortions, diffluent writing, spelling errors and difficulty in written
expression of ideas that cannot be attributed to disabilities in reading or
oral expression.

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects writing abilities. It

can manifest itself as difficulties with spelling, handwriting and expressing
thoughts on paper (National Centre for Learning Disabled, 2009). The
International Dyslexia Association (2009) defined dysgraphia as “a
specific learning disability that affects how easily children acquire written
language and how well they use written language to express their
thoughts” (p. 1).
Handwriting difficulty or dysgraphia was defined by Hamstra-Bletz &
Blote (1993) as a disturbance or difficulty in the production of written
language that is related to the mechanics of writing. It has also been
referred to as a specific learning disability (Brown, 1981).

Hamstra-Blotz and Blote (1993) conceded with Lerner (1983) that

dysgraphia is a written-language disorder. Hamstra-Blotz and Blote (1993)
further determined that the written language disorder involves mechanical
writing skills. It manifests itself in poor writing performance in children of
at least average intelligence who do not have a distinct neurological
disability and /or an overt perceptual-motor handicap. In addition,
Hamstra-Blotz and Blote (1993) advocated that the disorder appears even
after a student has had proper instruction in handwriting, thus, it is not an
acquired disability, but a writing disability manifesting itself in poor-
quality script. They believed dysgraphia is a disability that can or cannot
occur in the presence of other disabilities, like dyslexia or dyscalculia.

“Dysgraphia is a Greek word. The base word graph refers both to the
hand’s function in writing and to the letters formed by the hand. The prefix
‘dys’ indicates that there is impairment. ‘Graph’ refers to producing letter
forms by hand. The suffix ‘ia’ refers to having a condition. Thus,
dysgraphia is the condition of impaired letter writing by hand, that is,
disabled handwriting and sometimes spelling” (The International Dyslexia
Association, 2008, p. 1).

Richards (1999) defines dysgraphia as a problem with expressing thoughts

in a written form. Meese (2001) describes dysgraphia as handwriting
problems, specifically, a partial inability to remember how to make
certain alphabet or arithmetic symbols.
Dysgraphia defined by Levine (1994, 2001,2002) is simply difficulty with
handwriting. Levine narrows the disorder down to fine motor problems
that affect only handwriting. Under Levine’s definition, dysgraphia would
be addressed through physical therapy by correcting the holding position
of the pencil. According to Berninger and Amtmann (2003) dysgraphia
takes on a broader meaning than just poor handwriting due to fine motor
skills: dysgraphia includes handwriting and poor spelling. Berninger,
Rutberg, Abbott, Garcia, Anderson-Youngstrom, Brooks, and Fulton
(2006) defined dysgraphia as having two skills impeded either singly or
dually: only handwriting may be affected, or only spelling may be affected,
or both handwriting and spelling may be affected. Berninger et al., (2006)
asserts that all dyslexics have dysgraphia. The common element between
dyslexia and dysgraphia is poor spelling. One explanation for possibly
linking poor spelling to dysgraphia and dyslexia comes from the idea that
the retrieval of letter symbols from visual memory, typically weak in
dyslexics, presents itself as a motor deterrent to rapid, automatic
production of alphabet letters for the dysgraphic, thus producing poor
spellers in both cases (Berninger et al., 2006). Automatic production of
alphabet letters is a lower-order writing skill that is most important in the
beginning stages of writing (Berninger, Mizokowa & Bragg, 1991). For
dysgraphic students, spelling may or may not be affected therefore making
it possible for dysgraphics whose handwriting only is impaired not to have
dyslexia (Berninger et al., 2006).

It is possible for a student to have dysgraphia without showing evidence of

any other learning disability. On the other hand, Regina G. Richards
(1999) stated that “dysgraphia is an inefficiency which seldom exists in
isolation or without other symptoms of learning problems. It is most
commonly related to learning problems within the sphere of written
language and is frequently associated with dyslexia” (p. 73).
Dysgraphia is an LD; in which children with normal intelligence have
difficulties in writing by hand and visual motor deficiency. Dysgraphic
children may have difficulty in required speed of writing and doing
homework needs continuous long hours that results in unreadable
handwriting (Rosenblum and Aloni, Josman; 2010). Dysgraphia may stem
from neurological damage (Del Castillo, et al, 2010) and organizational
ability deficits (Rosenblum and Aloni, Josman; 2010).

Does Dysgraphia Occur Alone or With Other Specific Learning

Disabilities?
It is possible for a student to have dysgraphia without showing evidence of
any other learning disability. On the other hand, Regina G. Richards
(1999) stated that “dysgraphia is an inefficiency which seldom exists in
isolation or without other symptoms of learning problems. It is most
commonly related to learning problems within the sphere of written
language and is frequently associated with dyslexia” (p. 73).

A student with dyslexia can also have dysgraphia, but a student that has
dysgraphia does not always have dyslexia. Students with dyslexia or oral
and written language learning disabilities usually have spelling problems
but they may or may not have dysgraphia. (Berninger & Wolf, 2009, p. xi).
Students with difficulties in handwriting may also have difficulties with
spelling. Occasionally, children with spelling problems do not have
handwriting or reading problems. “It is important to remember that not all
reading and writing problems are the results of dyslexia, oral and written
language learning disabilities, and/or dysgraphia” (Berninger & Wolf,
2009, p. xi).
Students with dysgraphia often have problems with sequencing. Studies
indicate that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing
letters and numbers, writing words backwards, writing letters out of order
and very sloppy handwriting) seems to be related to sequential and rational
information processing. These students often have difficulty writing letters
and words in sequence. Students may be uncertain about what they hear
and thus have difficulty in learning to spell and write words” (Berninger &
Wolf, 2009, p. 32).

Types of Dysgraphia

There are five types of dysgraphia, but it is not uncommon for an

individual to be affected by more than one type.

Dyslexic dysgraphia
Students with Dyslexic Dysgraphia spontaneously have illegible writing, but their
copied work is legible. Students with Dyslexic Dysgraphia have poor spelling
skills. Normal finger tapping speed is common, and the individual may not have
Dyslexia, but they sometimes occur at the same time.

Motor Dysgraphia-
Motor Dysgraphia occurs due to poor fine motor skills, dexterity, low muscle tone,
or unspecified clumsiness. Written work is often poor to illegible, both when
copied and original. Letter formation can be done well through extreme effort and
long time. Poor grip on writing instrument results in slanted writing, but spelling is
not impaired. Finger tapping speeds are below average.

Spatial Dysgraphia –
Spatial Dysgraphia occurs because the student does not understand spacing. The
writing is sometimes illegible, both copied and original, but finger tapping and
spelling is normal and unimpaired. Students with Spatial Dysgraphia struggle to
keep writing on lines and spacing between words.

Phonological Dysgraphia-
Phonological dysgraphia is poor writing and spelling when encountering unfamiliar
and irregular words. Phonemes are not able to be memorized, which makes
decoding through blending difficult for students with Phonological Dysgraphia.

Lexical Dysgraphia
Characteristics of Lexical Dysgraphia include normal spelling ability when sound
to letter patterns is present with misspellings of irregular words. This is most
common in English and French, because the languages are less phonetic in
comparison to other languages. This form of dysgraphia is rare. (Handwriting
Problem Solutions-Dysgraphia, 2015).

Characteristics:
signs and symptoms:

 Students write with a mixture of upper and lower case letters

 Letters and numbers are irregular in shape and size
 Students leave many letters unfinished
 Communicating through writing is difficult
 Struggle to grip writing utensil/odd grip
 Some students create many spelling errors
 Abnormal speed of writing (slow or fast)
 Talks to self while writing
 Illegible writing
 Does not enjoy writing tasks
 Stress and frustration with writing tasks
 Physical pain from writing
 Poor use of lines and spaces. (Dysgraphia, 2015)

Diagnosis:
Dysgraphia is best diagnosed by a Neuropsychologist, but can be identified
through observations of professionals, such as Occupational Therapists and
School Psychologists. It's not important to diagnose between the five types
of dysgraphia to create accommodations and modifications. It is common
for students to have a combination of the five types of
dysgraphia (Handwriting Problem Solutions-Dysgraphia, 2015).

Causes:
Ronald D. Davis in his book “The Gift of Learning” (2003), states that
there are seven causes of handwriting problems with Dysgraphia:

 brain damage
 physical illness or deformity
 intentionally poor penmanship
 no or inadequate instruction
 disorientation
 multiple mental images
 inadequate natural orientation

Some individuals with dysgraphia struggle with fine-motor coordination,

but others have physical tremors that create the writing deficit. Most often,
though, multiple things coordinate to form dysgraphia. Many experts
believe that dysgraphia "involves a dysfunction in the interaction between
two main brain systems that allows a person to translate metal into written
language," meaning that the students struggle with sound to symbol
memory (Deuel, 2011).

Characteristics of Dysgraphia of younger students according to

Richard, (1999)-
“Specific symptoms which may be noted include:
• Cramped fingers on writing tool
• Odd wrist, body, and paper positions
• Excessive erasures
• Mixture of upper and lowercase letters
• Inconsistent letter formations and slant
• Irregular letter sizes and shapes
• Unfinished cursive letters
• Misuse of line and margin
• Poor organization on the page”

Characteristics of Dysgraphia of Older Students

• Rate and legibility could be affected. “Specific symptoms which may be
noted include:
1. Inefficient speed of copying
2. Decreased speed of writing
3. Excessive speed when writing
4. General illegibility
• Inattentiveness about details when writing
• Frequent need for verbal cues and use of sub-vocalizing
• Heavy reliance on vision to monitor what the hand is doing during
writing
• Slow implementation of verbal directions that involve sequencing and
planning”.

The problem is manifested in the inadequate performance of handwriting

among children who are of at least average intelligence and who have not
been identified as having any obvious neurological problems. Teachers
have estimated that 11-12% of female students and 21-32% of male
students have handwriting difficulties (Rubin & Henderson, 1982; Smits-
Engelsman, Van Galen & Michels, 1995). Dysgraphia or poor handwriting
is a common complaint among children and adults with learning
disabilities, appearing with or without other academic difficulties (Cratty,
1994; Johnson, 1995; Waber & Bernstein, 1994), as well as in children
diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DSM-4, American
Psychiatric Association (APA), 1994), children defined by their teachers as
clumsy (Laszlo, 1990; Laszlo, Bairstow, & Bartip, 1988) and children
diagnosed with developmental right-hemisphere syndrome (Gross-Tsur,
Shalev, Manor & Amir, 1995). In fact, Cratty (1994) found that 30-40% of
the surveyed children with learning disabilities had handwriting
difficulties. In India dysgraphia has been reported to be 14% of evaluated
children. (Madhuri Kulkarni, 2006).

There are not many studies about dysgraphia, so the prevalence of this learning
disability is unknown. According to book, “prevalence of dysgraphia” is estimated
at 5-20% of all students having some type of writing deficit (Reynolds, 2007)
In the Paediatric News journal of April 2008, it was stated that the "prevalence of
dysgraphia is unknown, but is likely under identified."

Another study done in 2011 discussed the variance of prevalence rates in the
Elementary school ranging from 5-33%. It stated that writing disorders decreased
as the age of the student increased. It was estimated that in the beginning of second
grade, 37% of students had a form of dysgraphia which decreased to 17% at the
end of the year. This further decreased as the students progressed to third grade and
on (Overveide, 2011).

Unfortunately, many students struggle in school because of dysgraphia, a

problem with expressing thoughts in written form. Thus Dysgraphia can
have a negative impact on the success of a child in school. Many children
with dysgraphia are not able to keep up with written assignments, cannot
put coherent thoughts together on paper, or write legibly. This disability
needs to be recognized and remediated before it creates long lasting
negative consequences for the child.
Dysgraphia is not a disease, but it is a life-long challenge. Having a
learning disability like dysgraphia doesn’t mean a person will be kept from
reaching their goals in life. Many adults with dysgraphia lead happy,
successful lives by finding ways to work through and around their
challenges. It can actually make them stronger people in the long run.
Remember that it’s never too late to find help for dysgraphia, even as an
adult and getting that support can make a world of difference.

The treatment of dysgraphia can be elusive. Many instructional strategies

have been proposed to help students with dysgraphia, but only some have
empirical evidence to support them. So researcher thinks that psycho yogic
package can be very helpful techniques for learning disabled children.
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