Saksham, my cousin, was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a child. His inability to talk, my aunt’s tearful face, and my uncle’s closed-off expression are all I remember from the months following the diagnosis.
Being close to Saksham, I wanted to help, not only him but all the others facing similar challenges.
As a first step, I reached out to professional psychologists and also consulted faculty at Advitya, an NGO that provides vocational training for people with disabilities. I also spent time speaking with the guardians of the enrolled students to gauge their daily struggles and gaps in support.
Building on these conversations, I developed We R Saksham (We All Are Capable), a gamified digital tool designed to make learning accessible, fun, and effective for young children with learning disabilities.
The application features seven categories of games and puzzles like crosswords, audio stories, and jigsaws with varying levels of difficulty to help children expand their grasp of reading, spelling, and cognitive skills. While building the app,
I paid attention to details like curated colour schemes and incorporated Bionic Text, a feature recommended by psychologists to improve readability.
Numerous challenges faced during development, from creating my developer ID, which necessitates 18+ years of age criteria, creating the logic and codes for each game, to figuring out voice to be used for audio stories and selecting the right stories, as well as identifying turning points for interactive stories, tested my perseverance.
Developed by leveraging multiple technologies like React Native, .NET, SQL Database, and Azure, the app made me learn various facets of technology. Everything was new to me! However, my determination and support of my network ecosystem helped me stay the course.
After launching We R Saksham in early 2024, to my surprise, the app appealed to a much broader audience than I anticipated. Kids aged 5-12 found it just as engaging. I also organised workshops across 30 schools and three NGOs to increase its awareness.
The app's impact soon earned the attention of the Akanksha Foundation, a leading non-profit in the field of education, which has adopted it as part of their curriculum.
The app has achieved over 3,500 downloads. Further, recommendation of the app in Manthan (the Government of India’s leading digital platform for research and innovation) and by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) underscores the potential of the app to transform how children with learning difficulties approach their education.
With this initiative, I wish to set an example of how young minds can harness technology to address critical societal needs. I wish to not only help children with learning disabilities but also pave the way for more inclusive education across India.
(Ahana Dalmia is a Class XII student at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai. She has organised workshops in 30+ schools and three NGOs across India. Her app, We R Saksham has also been recommended by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People and Manthan (Government of India) on their websites.)
