Taare effect: Edgy parents rush children to clinics

MUMBAI: Rupa Awasthi, 31, sheepishly admits that the movie Taare Zameen Par has left her feeling “alarmed, overcautious, and panicky”. Every time Neil, her 10-year-old son, runs from the study table, the phrase, ‘learning disability’, assails her.

The film traces Ishaan Awasthi’s journey from being a spirited kid to a child whose confidence has been crushed because his parents and teachers are ignorant about dyslexia.

Unwilling to take the same route, the Bhayander resident has brought Neil all the way to Sion to the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital’s learning disability (LD) clinic on the advice of her family physician. “He shows no sign of any abnormality, but I want to be extra cautious,” says Awasthi.

Like Awasthi, many are rushing to their local paediatricians as well as the LD clinic at Sion hospital to clear even that tinge of doubt.

“There is a 5-10% increase in patient flow and we believe it’s because of the movie,” says Dr Sunil Karande, associate professor and acting in-charge of the clinic.

The clinic at Sion is the only one in the city to certify learning disability. It receives well over 300 applications in a month.

Given the growing patient flow, the waiting period to get a child diagnosed is already about four months, he says.

In the last one month, paediatricians have come across parents rushing to a doctor for the slightest dip in the child’s report card.

“Many parents have become aware while some are anxious, but it is good in a way. We have advised many to go to the LD clinic and get their fears dispelled,” says Dr Nitin K Shah, former president, Indian Academy of Paediatricians.