eLEXir began as a casual coding project between our co-founders, Krupa Venkatesan and Menaka Wijeratne, sparked by an interest to learn how to build an app others could actually use. Their personal experiences gave them a clear sense of the problem they wanted to solve.

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Krupa's connection to the project grew from her time volunteering as an assistant in her high school’s special education department, where she helped with daily lesson plans, homework, and course instruction. This experience showed her how meticulously each student’s education plan was tailored to their needs. Reflecting on her childhood in India --- where her school had no dedicated special education department --- she recognized how the absence of proper resources hindered students’ potential. Even after years of progress, this remains the reality for many marginalized communities. Combined with the growing shortage of qualified special education professionals, this became a driving force behind her decision to co-found eLEXir and work toward its mission.

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Menaka's connection to the cause originated during her time working at a local tutoring company that taught kids to code in a fun and ninja-themed way. One of the students she worked with had ADHD, and she saw him becoming frustrated with the long paragraphs of instructions included in the curriculum. But there was no support in place for kids with learning disabilities - no specialist or even someone trained to help. Although Menaka was able to help by spending time adapting the curriculum and her approach, she realized that this is the reality for many students with learning disabilities. Not every family has the resources to send children with learning disabilities to specialists, so it's vital that all education systems make space for different learning styles. Menaka has made that her personal mission with eLEXir.

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As the project took shape, its potential to make a real impact in our communities became clear, motivating them to continue developing eLEXir beyond the initial prototype. 

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