{"id":55732,"date":"2026-09-17T18:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/dyslexia-symptoms-in-children-often-mistaken-for-laziness-says-indore-based-child-psychologist-dr-vini-heres-what-parents-should-know-before-exam-season\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T18:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T13:07:33","slug":"dyslexia-symptoms-in-children-often-mistaken-for-laziness-says-indore-based-child-psychologist-dr-vini-heres-what-parents-should-know-before-exam-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/2026\/09\/17\/dyslexia-symptoms-in-children-often-mistaken-for-laziness-says-indore-based-child-psychologist-dr-vini-heres-what-parents-should-know-before-exam-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyslexia Symptoms in Children Often Mistaken for Laziness, Says Indore based Child Psychologist Dr Vini \u2014 Here\u2019s What Parents Should Know Before Exam Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 17: <\/strong>As children move through another academic year of unit tests, term exams, and eventually board exams, child psychologists across India are seeing a familiar pattern: a bright, otherwise capable child who struggles to read fluently, reverses letters, avoids reading aloud, or takes disproportionately long to finish written work \u2014 and is labelled careless, lazy, or simply \u201cnot trying hard enough.\u201d Experts say a significant share of these children are living with dyslexia, an undiagnosed specific learning disability (SLD) that has nothing to do with intelligence or effort.<\/p>\n

How Common Is Dyslexia Among Indian School Children?<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Multiple Indian studies place the prevalence of dyslexia among school-going children between roughly 6% and\u00a011%, with pooled meta-analysis data putting overall specific learning disability rates near 10\u201311% of the school-age population \u2014 meaning most classrooms of 30\u201340 students are statistically likely to include at least two or three children affected by some\u00a0form of SLD. Among these, dyslexia is consistently found to be the most common subtype, ahead of dysgraphia (writing) and dyscalculia (mathematical difficulty). A 2023 nationwide review found an average gap of nearly four years between the point a mother\u00a0first suspects\u00a0something is wrong and the child actually receiving a formal diagnosis \u2014 a delay experts say directly costs children years of confidence and academic ground that\u2019s hard to recover later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragedy isn\u2019t the condition itself \u2014 it\u2019s the years lost before anyone names it correctly,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Vini\u00a0Jhariya, Clinical & Child Psychologist in Indore and founder of\u00a0Urjasvini\u00a0Child Development Centre, who has worked with children presenting learning difficulties for over a decade. \u201cA child who is struggling to decode words is often working twice as hard as their classmates just to keep up \u2014 and instead of support, they get told to concentrate more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why Do Teachers and Parents Miss the Early Signs of Dyslexia?<\/strong> Part of that delay, research suggests, starts in the classroom itself. Indian school-based studies have found that as many as seven in ten teachers remain unaware of specific learning disabilities until they undergo targeted training \u2014 meaning the adults best placed to catch early warning signs are often the least equipped to recognise them. This is despite the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017 explicitly recommending that all children be screened for SLD indicators by age 8 or Class III, whichever comes first.<\/p>\n

What Are the Early Signs of Dyslexia in Children? <\/strong>Dr.\u00a0Jhariya<\/u><\/a>\u00a0said the signs are frequently visible years before a formal diagnosis: difficulty matching letters to\u00a0sounds in early primary years, slow and effortful reading by class 3\u20134, spelling that doesn\u2019t match how hard a child studies, and a growing reluctance to read aloud or attempt written work \u2014 a pattern that shows up in every exam a child sits, not just the\u00a0ones at the end of school. \u201cParents often describe it as the child being \u2018smart in conversation but somehow blank on paper.\u2019 That gap between spoken ability and written performance shows up test after test, long before anyone connects the dots,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

CBSE Exam Concessions for Dyslexia: What Parents Should Know<\/strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>What\u00a0makes the issue particularly urgent in the Indian schooling context is a lesser-known provision: the CBSE has, since a formal 2018 circular consolidating earlier rules, extended specific examination concessions to students with recognised benchmark disabilities under\u00a0the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 \u2014 a category that explicitly includes dyslexia. These concessions include additional time (up to an extra hour in a three-hour paper), the use of a scribe, and in many cases exemption from a third language\u00a0paper, along with spelling and language-specific relaxations during evaluation \u2014 provisions that apply specifically at the board exam stage, which is why early identification matters long before a child reaches Class IX or XI.<\/p>\n

The catch, according to\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Jhariya, is timing and awareness. \u201cThese concessions have to be applied for through the school, backed by a certificate from a recognised assessor,\u00a0and the disability category typically needs to be registered when the child enrols for board exams. Given how long it already takes families to reach a diagnosis, many don\u2019t find out their child even qualifies until it\u2019s too late in that window,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When Should a Child Be Tested for Dyslexia?<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Early identification,\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Jhariya\u00a0said, changes the trajectory entirely \u2014 not just for exam accommodations, but for the child\u2019s confidence and long-term relationship with learning. \u201cIf we catch this at age 6 or\u00a07, the work is simple: build the skill and keep the child\u2019s confidence intact. If we wait until the child is 15, we\u2019re not just teaching reading anymore \u2014 we\u2019re also trying to undo years of that child quietly believing they\u2019re not smart enough,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr.\u00a0Jhariya, who has assessed and supported over 5,000 children through\u00a0Urjasvini\u2019s\u00a0integrated model of assessment, therapy, and special education, recommends that any child showing a persistent gap between verbal ability and reading\/writing performance \u2014 visible across everyday classwork and exams alike, not just at board level \u2014 be taken for a structured psychological and educational assessment rather than being placed in extra tuition alone. \u201cMore tuition doesn\u2019t fix a processing difference. It usually just adds more hours of frustration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

With exam season a recurring part of every academic year, experts are urging parents and schools to treat early dyslexia testing not as an afterthought, but as a step that protects both a child\u2019s learning and, when it matters, their academic rights.<\/p>\n

Dyslexia Test Names in India: How Is Specific Learning Disability (SLD) Diagnosed?<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>A dyslexia diagnosis is not based on classroom performance alone \u2014 it requires a structured psychological and educational assessment conducted by a qualified professional using standardised tools, often a mix of Indian-normed and internationally validated instruments:<\/p>\n

NIMHANS Index for Specific Learning Disabilities \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0a widely used Indian screening battery developed by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, assessing reading, writing, and arithmetic separately.<\/p>\n

DST-J (Dyslexia Screening Test \u2013 Junior) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0a standardised tool used to flag dyslexia risk in younger school-age children.<\/p>\n

MISIC (Malin\u2019s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0an IQ assessment adapted for the Indian population, used to rule out intellectual disability as the underlying cause.<\/p>\n

WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0an internationally recognised cognitive assessment used alongside Indian-normed tools for a fuller cognitive profile.<\/p>\n

WRAT (Wide Range Achievement Test) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0an internationally standardised measure of reading, spelling, and math skills, widely used to benchmark academic achievement against age norms.<\/p>\n

WIAT (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0a comprehensive, internationally validated battery assessing reading, writing, and language skills in detail.<\/p>\n

Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0an internationally used battery assessing academic skills alongside cognitive processing, often used in comprehensive SLD evaluations.<\/p>\n

CTOPP-2 (Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing) \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0an internationally standardised test specifically measuring phonological skills, a core deficit area in dyslexia.<\/p>\n

DSM-5 clinical criteria \u2014<\/strong>\u00a0the diagnostic framework used to formally classify Specific Learning Disorder once test results and clinical history are reviewed together.<\/p>\n

A certified diagnosis from a recognised institute or RCI-registered professional is what schools\u00a0require\u00a0to process CBSE\u2019s exam concessions \u2014 making dyslexia testing not just clinical, but procedurally necessary for accessing a child\u2019s legal entitlements.<\/p>\n

Dr. Vini\u00a0Jhariya\u00a0is an RCI-registered Clinical and Child Psychologist\u00a0and is a\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>TEDx Speaker<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a>\u00a0with over a decade of experience\u00a0in her\u00a0field\u00a0. <\/strong><\/em>She<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a>\u00a0is\u00a0Founder of\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Urjasvini\u00a0Child Development\u00a0Center<\/strong><\/em><\/u><\/a>, Indore. Hitesh\u00a0Jhariya\u00a0is a Clinical Psychologist (Associate) and Co-Founder of\u00a0Urjasvini\u00a0Child Development\u00a0Center, Indore. Their work includes psychological assessment, IQ and cognitive testing, developmental and behavioural evaluation, learning difficulties and multidisciplinary child intervention.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], September 17: As children move through another academic year of unit tests, term exams, and eventually board exams, child psychologists across India are seeing a familiar pattern: a bright, otherwise capable child who struggles to read fluently, reverses letters, avoids reading aloud, or takes disproportionately long to finish written work \u2014…<\/p>\n

Read More “Dyslexia Symptoms in Children Often Mistaken for Laziness, Says Indore based Child Psychologist Dr Vini \u2014 Here\u2019s What Parents Should Know Before Exam Season”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[634],"class_list":["post-55732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsindia.co.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}