A World Health Organization (WHO) report (March, 2023) on disabilities revealed a staggering reality: over an estimated 1.3 billion people globally (one is six of us) live with some form of disability, facing significant challenges in accessing healthcare, education and employment opportunities.
The sheer magnitude of such a pervasive issue demands policy intervention at a scale which is simply unfathomable in the present scenario. In such a situation, tapping the efficacy of artificial intelligence (AI) can help mitigate the crisis.
Traditional teaching methods often fall short for such persons especially for non-verbal children or those with motor skill difficulties.
This landscape is dire but increasingly subject to change positively by incorporating innovative applications of technology, particularly the recent advancements in the field of AI.
Learning disabilities affect approximately 79.2 million individuals worldwide as per the study by UNICEF (2021) with dyslexia impacting 20 per cent of the American population alone as per the study by the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity (2016).
Another report by the National Cancer Institute (April 25, 2022), neurodivergence impacts 15-20 per cent of the world’s population, testing the conventional perspectives of neurological development.
Children with learning disorders usually struggle academically, especially in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), where intricate intellectual requirements hamper their progress.
The necessity to bring these youngsters into official educational systems is lucid, however, this needs to be combined with tutoring approaches that promote efficient communication and learning.
In India, children with disabilities (CwDs) comprise 1.7 per cent of the overall child population, totaling nearly eight million children.
Of these, around a per cent of children aged zero to four live with some form of disability, amounting to approximately 1.3 million children, according to UNESCO’s State of the Education Report (2019).
One of the most significant challenges in this group is learning disorders which disrupt a child’s educational journey and affect their ability to participate in the learning process fully.
Learning disorders in India include conditions like dyslexia (difficulty with reading), dysgraphia (difficulty with writing), and dyscalculia (difficulty with mathematics), among others.
These conditions create barriers that can prevent children from reaching their full potential in traditional educational settings.
AI can provide personalised learning experiences, enhance accessibility, and offer tailored interventions that meet the specific needs of dyslexic and other learning-impaired students. By leveraging AI, educators can help these children overcome their challenges, allowing them to engage more effectively with the learning process and achieve better educational outcomes.
This approach not only improves the learning experience for children with disabilities in India but also offers a more inclusive and equitable education system, where every child can succeed regardless of the obstacles they face.
The latest developments in AI are paving the way for unprecedented methods for aiding students with learning impairments.
AI innovations consist of a broad variety of tools—natural language processing, computer vision, and intelligent tutoring systems—that can customise educational experiences to a person’s requirements.
The specified developments facilitate instructors' overcoming the distinct limitations that students with learning disabilities experience, boosting their learning experiences and outcomes.
A notable emphasis in AI research has been on predictive and diagnostic tools, aimed at detecting learning disabilities for instance dyslexia initially. Nevertheless, there persists an urgent need to improve these individuals’ real learning experiences. The SAMR model (Substitute, Augment, Modify, Redefine) offers a design for unifying technology into education, demonstrating how the technology could shift over mere substitution to genuinely modify learning experiences.
By using AI efficiently, teachers might attain greater participation and accomplishments for students with disabilities.
Apart from learning disabilities, AI techniques are creating remarkable developments in aiding children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
Most of the kids with ASD look for comfort in predictable and structured surroundings, building discussions with computers and robots especially efficiently.
Social robots, for instance, ‘Milo’ and ‘NAO’, were executed in classrooms to educate emotional recognition and boost social skills, presenting impressive achievements in encouraging involvement among children who frequently battle with interpersonal exchanges.
To quote an instance, a research work carried out by the London Knowledge Lab disclosed that youngsters mingling with a quasi-autonomous digital guy called ‘Andy’ revealed advanced people skills, like shadowing other people’s gaze.
These revelations are developing an interface for deeper inventions in the therapy model, in which AI and smart machines can render on-the-spot reactions and facilitate social skills advancements.
The ability of AI and cyborg programs to alter treatment for kids with ASD is immense. By consolidating social robots into routine activities—to quote, academic rooms, and therapy classes — youngsters can acquire steady backing which adjusts to their tailored requirements.
The above-stated robots could check improvements, obtain information on social exchanges, and facilitate instructors to ascertain distinct strengths and weaknesses in social participation.
As the tech industry persists to advance, the belief is that individualized, AI-led care plans shall allow kids having ASD to fulfill developmental milestones more rapidly, aiding effortless shifts into the mainline academic backdrop. Initial engagement with these technologies could support these youngsters with the networking skills and assurance necessary for self-reliant living.
The confluence of AI and teaching bestows a potential edge for tackling the requirements of persons with impairments.
As cutting-edge tech tools endure to expand, they extend revitalized hope for enriching teaching effects and social cohesion for learners with learning impairments and ASD.
By giving priority to the reachability and efficient utilization of these applications, all of us can bring in a more equitable community wherein every one of us can succeed. The path to social inclusion is tangled, nevertheless, using proper applications and devotion, we can achieve massive progress in revolutionising lives for the well-being.
Dr. K. Srikanth is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Hospital Management at Brainware University, Kolkata while Rishi Pittala is a Research Associate at the Indian School of Business, Gachibowli
Views expressed are authors' own and do not necessarily reflect that of Down To Earth