Harsh Songra- A child prodigy who Sheryl Sandberg mentioned in her post has been a victim of stigma related to development disorder in India

After being mentioned in a personal post by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, MyChild app developer Harsh Songra will be addressing an audience of thousands next month but this humble guy still says “I am not popular”. He started this journey nine years ago and is continuing with much greater zeal.

The app has been developed to help parents figure out possible development disorders their child might have in just 45 seconds. It has a current user base of 7000+ parents from 100 countries.

He is also the winner of mobile sparks by YourStory.

Harsh will address the TEDxGateway on December 5 in Mumbai. At TEDxGateway, TEDTalks video and live speakers discuss and debate to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. Attendees of TEDxGateway will include philanthropists, policymakers, industrialists, CXOs, entrepreneurs, creative heads, students, CEOs, scientists, artists, corporates and bureaucrats from across the nation.

This child prodigy talks about the ruthless education system, our society and his eureka moment, in a chat with Business Insider.

What difficulties you faced while making this app?

The biggest difficulty was to find out the right specialists. If you talk about development disorders, finding the correct specialist or the data is difficult especially in a country like India where there is never a record of the same.

Basically, the app asks parents questions in yes or no format, and based on that it tells the parents about the possible development disorder their child might be suffering from. It is 80 percent accurate now.

Then we tell them this is the type of specialist which they should visit.

What are you working on right now?

We are a team of around 10 people right now. We are trying to increase the efficiency. We are also trying to increase the usability and get more parents on the platform.

A few months ago, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg mentioned you in a post. How has life been after that? Did it change your life in any way?

I would say that this changed my life. People got to know a lot more about me. I started getting invitations from places to speak. But rather than being taken away by pride, I am just capitalising on them and trying to build a better product.

Your app detects possible developmental disorders in 45 seconds. But it took your parents nine years to detect your Dyspraxia. What were the difficulties you parents had to face?

My parents had to face the social stigma. Instead of helping me try to figure out what is wrong with me, the society made fun of me. So that was hurting my parents a lot at that moment. The teachers were not that supportive too. This is the sad truth of the society.

Besides, it was also difficult to find the right specialist for dyspraxia.

So I built this app and I am what I am today.

How were you treated by your teachers and classmates in school?

My parents were told by one of my high school teacher that their child should go and study in a school of the disabled. My parents were quite upset.

But last year I gave lecture in front of that teacher. No, it did not feel like revenge. I just felt happy.

What should be done to increase awareness about developmental disorders in India?

India does not have any data about developmental disorders anywhere, neither in paper or online. Parents should be made more aware about these issues right from the time they conceive the child.

What was your most memorable moment in life?

When I went to address Josh talks in Delhi University. It was really great experience to see hundreds of students getting inspired by what I have done. I felt proud of myself.

What was the most disheartening moment?

I haven’t seen any moment like that, yet.

What is your dream company where you want to work after MyChild?

I am working on my dream company right now. My dream is to have a mobile application that would be in the hands of every parent one day.

We are working towards getting the data, the insights and reducing the chances of delayed treatment. We will be launching our version soon in the coming months.

What is your expected target for this app?

We are trying 100,000-500,000 users till March.

Now that you are going out and addressing talks like Josh and TED and people are talking about you, how do you handle the popularity?

I am not popular. No one knows me. I am a normal kid. It’s just about the perception of how you are famous. I am honoured that Sheryl Sandberg mentioned me. But for me, I would consider myself famous when millions of parents would be using my app. That would be my Eureka moment.

(Image credits: under25.club)