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Sunny Abraham’s Journey

A Case Study on Dyslexia
Transformation from a troubled and introvert child to an outgoing, social and creative one.

5/21/2011
Nagpur Learning Centre
Catherine Joseph

Disclaimer: Some specifics been changed to protect the identity of the subject
and his family from any form of discrimination and biases.

This case study is for research and education purpose only and does not intend
to affect the subject(s) adversely. This document may not be used for any
purpose other than what is mentioned above.

The scope of this study is limited and does not represent a benchmarked end
to end study/solution. Solution results may vary from person to person.
 2 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

CONTENTS
Background Information .............................................................................................................................. 2

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2

History ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Family background....................................................................................................................................... 3

Problem diagnosis........................................................................................................................................ 3

Solution to the problem ............................................................................................................................... 5

Evaluation .................................................................................................................................................... 6

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 6

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Name Sunny Abraham

Age 12 Yrs
Occupation Student
Nationality Indian
Religion Christian

INTRODUCTION
It is believed that dyslexia can affect between 5 to 10 percent of a given population
although there have been no studies to indicate an accurate percentage. In this case study
we try to understand one such dyslexic, Sunny, a cute 12 yr old boy studying in 7 th Std. of St.
Xaviers School, Nagpur. We present you his transformation from a troubled and introvert
child to an outgoing, social and creative one.

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre

 3 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

HISTORY
According to The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Dyslexia is a brain-
based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read despite
having normal intelligence. It is caused by impairment in the brain's ability to translate
images received from the eyes or ears into understandable language.

FAMILY BACKGROUND
Sunny belongs to a lower middle class family and follows Christianity. His mother is
terminally ill and is suffering from cancer. His mother is a Hindu by birth while his father is a
Christian. His father did not have the heart to take care of them and washed his hands off by
abandoning Sunny and his mother and lives separately now .

Sunny’s grandfather takes care of him and his mother now.

PROBLEM DIAGNOSIS
It was diagnosed that suffers from dyslexia when he was in the 5th STD.

The diagnosis was on the following basis:

1. He could not copy numbers and letters from the board

2. Difficulty learning the alphabet or letters order
3. Difficulty learning to decode written words
4. Very poor spelling

As an example instead of ‘P’ he used to write ‘B’ instead of ‘Q’ he used to write ‘P’. He did
not understand what to copy so he copied everything from the board but according to his
convenience and understanding, which made no literal sense.

As the above symptoms relate to dyslexia, the teachers made an obvious conclusion.
Everyone was shocked to see that he dealing with a serious problem. However, the teachers
were not qualified to confirm this and hence suggested Sunny’s grandfather to go for a

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre

 4 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

further assessment by a psychologist or other health professional in order to actually

diagnose and confirm the disorder and recommend solutions.

They met the doctor who after confirmed that Sunny was suffering from dyslexia. The tests
administered were standardized and are considered highly reliable.

A standard battery of tests can include, but is not limited to, the following:

1. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III)

2. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC)

3. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

4. Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery

5. Peabody Individual Achievement Tests-Revised (PIAT)

6. Wechsler Individual Achievement Tests (WIAT)

7. Kaufman Tests of Educational Achievement (KTEA)

8. Bender Gestalt Test of Visual Motor Perception

9. Beery Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration

10. Motor-Free Visual Perception Test

11. Visual Aural Digit Span Test (VADS)

12. Test of Auditory Perception (TAPS)

13. Test of Visual Perception (TVPS)

14. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised

15. Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test

16. Test for Auditory Comprehension of Language

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre

 5 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

The grandfather had no option than to accept the fact of his grandson. Acceptance is the
first part of the solution. He was informed that such children need to be admitted in a
Dyslexia school where special care and therapy is given such as multi-sensory teaching
techniques, PDA for organization and memory problems, Slingerland Method, the Orton-
Gillingham Method, Project READ or systematic study of phonics. Jungle Memory Software
and Fast ForWord software are also used.

The downside of such schools is that they are extremely expensive and Sunny’s Grandpa
was an old man of limited resources with the additional responsibility of taking care of a
terminally ill daughter. Due to insufficient funds, Grandpa chose to keep him in the same
school. He appealed to the school authorities to still retain Sunny in the school and the
school was kind enough to grant permission and accommodate Sunny.

The teachers developed soft corner for him and decided to implement special learning and
evaluation system for Sunny through research. They found that a student with dyslexia
needs to learn systematic strategies to approach reading.

They no longer cared if he did not do well in conventional tests and instead taught him and
evaluated his performance through alternative tasks like:

1. Collect copies for the teachers

2. Prepare the display board
3. Art work
4. Create borders and corners.
5. Collect test papers
6. Recommended use of Google chrome plug-in CORTEXIT Text Dispersant: Reading
and Focus Enhancement Tool

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre

 6 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

EVALUATION
This method of task assignment and evaluation proved fruitful.
 He is in the 7th Standard now.
 He has consistently improved and excelled.
 His confidence level has grown tremendously
 Now he is very social and outgoing
 Very eager to help teachers and fellow students.
 Likes collecting pictures of cartoon characters, Barbie dolls and different types of
flowers.
 Is very creative
 Is liked by all and is popular, for the right reasons!

CONCLUSION
Dyslexic children are equally talented and are not failures, they just understand things
differently; creativity and innovation is something they excel at.

Children suffering from dyslexia should not be abandoned. They should be given a helping
hand, empathized, encouraged and motivated in the field that the child shows interest.

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre

7 Sunny Abraham’s Journey

Famous people with history of Dyslexia

Catherine Joseph | Nagpur Learning Centre