Novelty on the menu

Writer’s Café, a restaurant-cum-bookstore on Peter’s Road, Gopalapuram, will offer its diners, a unique experience from April 7 to May 7. On the face of it, it looks wacky.

The food items listed on the menu card will be misspelt. After diners have exchanged quizzical looks, the regular menu card with correct spellings, will be handed to them.

Madras Dyslexia Association (MDA) has designed the menu card with misspelt names of food to raise awareness about the world of dyslexics.

Though pockmarked with spelling errors, this card shows how dyslexics process scripts and phonetics.

MDA has tied up with Writer’s Café for this month-long awareness drive. Help desks at the restaurant will be manned by special educators. MDA will display books from its library, which visitors can browse through but not borrow; and put up its workbooks for sale.

On April 27 (from 5 p.m.), excerpts from a book about a boy living with dyslexia will be read out, and the story narrated to children.

“Through this initiative, we are presenting the facts about dyslexia. Dyslexia is not mental retardation; and even intelligent people can be dyslexic. Many do not know that persons with dyslexia are good at finding out-of-the-box solutions to complex problems, but will struggle with simpler problems. And, dyslexia cannot be cured. For, it is not a disease but a condition. However, with intervention at an early age, a person with dyslexia can be brought into the mainstream,” says Rashmi Wankhede, a special educator at Madras Dyslexia Association.

Madras Dyslexia Association invites children, parents, teachers and corporate firms to Writer's Cafe and get to know more about dyslexia.

For details, contact Rashmi Wankhede at 94425 56441.