Ayushi Rastogi
School of Communication, Media and Film

Maya’s Golden Cap – Are you ‘game’ to defeat Dyslexia?
From speechless emotions to expressions, from confusions to comprehensions, from shying away to confident performances – this thesis project is a brilliant tool and a hope to numerous dyslexic children.

Ayushi Rastogi, an Undergraduate student of Communication Design at Pearl Academy’s New Delhi campus comes from a family of artists, designers and activists. This has helped to develop her aesthetic sense and values early in life. She is poised to embark on a career in Communication Design but the journey has not been without pain. Her choice of topic for her Final Project has been influenced by a personal set-back in childhood when she was ‘diagnosed’ as Dyslexic.

As she grew up, she understood her condition but made a firm resolve of working towards the progress of dyslexic children in a pleasing and inviting manner. She found her calling in the Communication Design Course at Pearl Academy. Her strong need to change the general perception towards Dyslexics culminated in her choice for her Final Topic – designing a board game for dyslexic children, which is both economical and practical. “I was very clear that I wanted to work with dyslexia as a topic but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. My mentors at Pearl let me take it up and encouraged me to research and develop my project. They guided me at each step to help me come up with a final idea which was my game!” says an elated Ayushi.

To achieve what she had set out for herself, Ayushi attended therapy sessions with dyslexic children at Fortis Hospital in Gurgaon. Her first set of observations was – dyslexic children did not like to attend therapy, sessions were not affordable to children from modest families, development of a feeling of inferiority or behavioural problems in children, neglected talents and capabilities.

The board game ‘Maya’s Golden Cap’ is played by 2 players and emphasizes on positive affirmation boosting a dyslexic child’s ability to tackle basic problems independently. Moreover it is economical, portable and interactive.

Ayushi is working towards removing the stigma and the label of ‘learning disabled’ from young minds and from the society. She knows that it will be long and arduous in the beginning but that does not daunt her from her commitment to create a better future for the dyslexics and for the nation.

Winner – ‘Best Academic Growth’ Academic Award

Mentor
Shweta Mohapatra