Shree came home yelling, Aju, Ajooo, where are you? I was preparing the backyard for that day’s cricket match. I thought he had some hot news about the temple festival coming up shortly.
Shree is my younger brother, studying in 5th grade. I am in 7th grade, in the same school.
I asked “Shree, what it is?” He was not getting his breath as he was running all the way.
I made him sit in our courtyard. He told he has to write a science project about the space, planets and stars. I told him to do the homework after our match. I knew he wants a little help with referring books.
Shree has lots of friends and is popular at school and among friends. He was the one who helped with the entire model making for the last month’s physics’ project. He is an active member of our science club. He enjoys discussions and videos in class. But when it comes to reading books, he quickly becomes discouraged. Shree gets panicky when teacher asks him to read aloud in class.
Though he likes to play cricket, when it comes to drill period, he tries to escape giving silly excuses. He gets punishments for not knowing his own left and right while marching. For that single reason he couldn’t join the school band.
Shree’s class teacher had suggested taking him to a clinical psychologist to find out the reason why a smart boy in class has difficulties when it comes to performance in exams. The psychologist after assessing him informed my parents that he has learning disability. We were told that learning disability is not a barrier for his talents and attainment of success in life and asked us to be encouraging and supportive. Now Shree is getting special care in the classroom as suggested by the psychologist and is also being attended by a special educator after school hours. I now know Shree will do better when he feels he is smart as he is worth a lot!