Krishnan Venkataraman was a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and balancing the educational complexities of a son with autism.
That diagnosis came when Venkataraman’s son, Arvind, was 3 years old.
“He was barely verbal by age 4, and it was mostly repetitive speech,” Venkataraman said. “By 5, there was no realistic expectation of him being able to read, write or be literate in any way. And he had behavioral challenges, too.”
About one in 50 children are diagnosed with autism in Canada each year and the number continues to grow.
At Arvind’s school in Ontario, his educational plans focused on behavior management. “There were some academics, but it wasn’t particularly intense,” he added.
While he thought the school was doing the best it could, given the circumstances, he began to look elsewhere for assistance.
“I was looking at other ways to support him, and I went online and started looking at what could help,” he said. “There were different options. And then I saw something called Kumon.”
“I started reading more about it,” he recalled. And he decided to take it a step further and inquire about becoming an instructor.
“I just said, ‘You know what? Let’s see,’” he said.
In training, he met other instructors who shared stories about how Kumon’s program worked and helped even the most challenged students.
“I know that neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to learn and change and be malleable, is tremendous,” he says. “I never thought this is what it could look like. I was hooked. The moment I saw all those things, I was like, ‘OK, we can do something for my son here.’”
Venkataraman became an instructor in 2011. When Arvind became a Kumon student at age 7, he could only sit still for about three minutes. School hadn’t become any easier for him. Now 20, Arvind works independently on his Kumon assignments and uses the skills he learned through the Kumon instruction.
“So now I can just give him his worksheets and go,” Venkataraman says. “He will write his start time, do the work, write his finish time and give it back to me for marking. Kumon transformed my child’s ability to read and make use of what he read.”
Venkataraman says he is grateful for what Kumon has done for his son and for what he has experienced as both a parent and instructor. “I didn’t know there was so much that could be done, and in such a systematic manner. It’s the change that happens in the students. You see it happening quickly and systematically. And there’s a cause-and-effect, like you can see your intervention making an impact.”