World Autism Awareness Day

• “The theme for World Autism Awareness Day 2022 is ‘Inclusive Quality Education for All’

• LDExplained aims to help families, parents, and guardians of children with learning disabilities to better understand and manage the disabilities and equip themselves for a better future”

New Delhi, April 01, 2022:

Ahead of World Autism Awareness Day on April 2^nd, The LENS (Learning, Empowerment, Nutrition and Skill Development) Foundation has launched LDExplained, India’s first comprehensive resource website on learning disabilities among children and young adults. In keeping with the theme this year of ‘Inclusive Quality Education for All’ LDExplained aims to help children with Learning Disabilities and their wards navigate the education system armed with knowledge and awareness.

The pandemic times have been hard for everyone. Education was impacted significantly but for those with Autism and learning disabilities, it was devastating. Even before pandemic, Indian education system was not particularly well placed to support children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and those with learning disabilities. This, when an average class in a school has about four to five students with LD* and an estimated 1.7–2 million children are affected with ASD in India. This lack of support in schools and education community has left a lot of parents and their children in the lurch and their education journey has been hard and lonely.

This is where LDExplained comes in. A brainchild of Ketaki Agarwal, parent to an autistic teenager herself, who decided to help other parents and their children who have similar challenges. She has now launched LDExplained, an information resource portal where one can learn about the various Learning Disabilities, mental health issues, and strategies to manage them whilst keeping abreast with the latest research and methodologies developed nationally and globally. 

LDExplained is designed for all stakeholders right from the family of the affected child to the policymaker who needs to work together to help the child cope with learning disabilities. For a parent or a guardian of a child with special needs who wants to help them learn to manage their challenges and deal with the world better; or for an educator keen to upgrade skills to help their students learn better, LDExplained is an excellent repository of knowledge and information on various learning disabilities, mental health wellness & management. The website covers coping and improvement strategies as well as ways to keep abreast with the latest research and methodologies developed nationally and globally. 

Some of the key aspects of LDExplained include categorization of concepts of learning disabilities according to age brackets, the explanation of processes involved in identifying different types of learning disabilities, especially understanding early signs in children, discussion on rights of the affected child, policy support from school boards and local governments, networks, forums, support groups of parents of affected children, educators, and therapists. The website will also have a growing database of health professionals, counsellors, therapists, and educators who specialize in learning disabilities across India, etc. 

Speaking about LDExplained, Ketki Agarwal, Co-Founder & Trustee at LENS Foundation said, “The website has been a labor of love and we are thrilled to finally launch LDExplained. There has been a lot of confusion among parents and families about how to deal with children and young adults with special needs. Only if you are armed with the right amount of knowledge and information, you can handle it optimally for everyone involved.” 

She further adds, “We encourage everyone to spread the word so that we can help and support people and families to not only cope with the challenges but also to be able to add value to the child’s life and help them prepare for a positive and strong future.”

The website, helps readers understand concepts of learning disabilities, coping strategies, parents’ role, the contribution of schools, policy support et al. One can subscribe to the newsletter for timely updates on information, relevant media articles on day-to-day topics, etc. There is a blog section that has reading material, generic articles from across the globe on learning disabilities.

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