Spastics Society of Karnataka
Yesterday, my class visited The Spastics Society of Karnataka..
Most of the children here are affected by Cerebral Palsy.
Intitally, I was scared.
Scared not of the kids I would meet, but of my reaction. Would I be able to sit there and pretend that everything is normal? That I don't see their disabilty? Could I pretend to be their friend for the time that I was there? Would they see through my pretence?
But I didn't have to deal with any of those questions when I got there. Why? Because what I saw wasn't a group of kids, completley helpless and weak who were depressed. Or unhappy. What I saw was a bunch of spunky kids who , for the time they were at school, seemed to love every moment of it, and who werent about to let such a horrible disorder like Cerebral Palsy stop them from living life to its fullest in whatever way they could manage.
For probably the first time in my life, I sat in a classroom with a group of kids who were just so happy to be there. To sit in that classroom and learn. To be able to go to school, and sit with their friends, and interact with a teacher, just like (and I cringe to use the word) normal kids would. It struck me that I, who goes to school everyday, never showed such joy. And it also made me think how simply I take for granted that I am able to get up and walk around, or lift a pen or a glass or be able to speak clearly.
The five kids that I interacted with were Avinash ( who was compleltey wheel-chair bound, and mostly unable to mve his body from neck downwards), Karthik ( also wheel chair bound and has speech impediments but I'll talk about him later), Padmini ( who needed to move with a walker, and has some speech impediments), Nivedita ( who could move around, but had speech impediments) and Shivakumar (who was able to move his hands and neck, but involuntarily and had speech impediments). All these kids were studying in the 10th grade, and were doing the NIOS syllabus. I spent 45 mins with them in their class while they were studying Science.
I hate Science. Positively abhor it. I dropped Physics and Chemistry in the 9th, and believe me, the day I had my last class of Biology in the 10th was the best day of my life ( oh wait no that would be Math). Anyway, I can't really tell you what exactley it is these kids were being taught, since it flew over my head, but amazed me to hear that these 5 kids had voluntarily taken the subject even though they weren't taking an exam in it since it wasn't part of their syllabus! And they seemed to be understand everything the teacher was teaching them!
One kid who really impressed me was Karthik. I couldn't really understand what he was saying at first, but it got easier. He absolutley loves Science and knew so much! Later, when a friend of mine and me conducted a short quiz for the kids, he answered every single science related question, and sometimes, I hadn't even completed the question!
After we spent some time with the kids, we met with the Director. One of the things that she said which really hit home the way society percieves these children was: "If you have any books or toys that you would like to give us, please do donate them. However, please do NOT give us books and clothes in bad condition. Would you wear something, or play with something that is completley damaged? How do you think these children will feel playing with a doll that has a broken hand, or head?"
I think she was very right in saying that. People mostly thoughtlessly donate utterly damaged toys saying its "for charity". What use is something if its NOT USEFUL??
However cliched it may sound, this visit really changed the way I viewed these children with dissabilities. I'm glad I didn't have to pretend. They don't want my sympathy. They don't want me to pretend that they're just like me, nor do they need my pity. They're just who they are, and if they are fine with it, then I will be too.
Most of the children here are affected by Cerebral Palsy.
Intitally, I was scared.
Scared not of the kids I would meet, but of my reaction. Would I be able to sit there and pretend that everything is normal? That I don't see their disabilty? Could I pretend to be their friend for the time that I was there? Would they see through my pretence?
But I didn't have to deal with any of those questions when I got there. Why? Because what I saw wasn't a group of kids, completley helpless and weak who were depressed. Or unhappy. What I saw was a bunch of spunky kids who , for the time they were at school, seemed to love every moment of it, and who werent about to let such a horrible disorder like Cerebral Palsy stop them from living life to its fullest in whatever way they could manage.
For probably the first time in my life, I sat in a classroom with a group of kids who were just so happy to be there. To sit in that classroom and learn. To be able to go to school, and sit with their friends, and interact with a teacher, just like (and I cringe to use the word) normal kids would. It struck me that I, who goes to school everyday, never showed such joy. And it also made me think how simply I take for granted that I am able to get up and walk around, or lift a pen or a glass or be able to speak clearly.
The five kids that I interacted with were Avinash ( who was compleltey wheel-chair bound, and mostly unable to mve his body from neck downwards), Karthik ( also wheel chair bound and has speech impediments but I'll talk about him later), Padmini ( who needed to move with a walker, and has some speech impediments), Nivedita ( who could move around, but had speech impediments) and Shivakumar (who was able to move his hands and neck, but involuntarily and had speech impediments). All these kids were studying in the 10th grade, and were doing the NIOS syllabus. I spent 45 mins with them in their class while they were studying Science.
I hate Science. Positively abhor it. I dropped Physics and Chemistry in the 9th, and believe me, the day I had my last class of Biology in the 10th was the best day of my life ( oh wait no that would be Math). Anyway, I can't really tell you what exactley it is these kids were being taught, since it flew over my head, but amazed me to hear that these 5 kids had voluntarily taken the subject even though they weren't taking an exam in it since it wasn't part of their syllabus! And they seemed to be understand everything the teacher was teaching them!
One kid who really impressed me was Karthik. I couldn't really understand what he was saying at first, but it got easier. He absolutley loves Science and knew so much! Later, when a friend of mine and me conducted a short quiz for the kids, he answered every single science related question, and sometimes, I hadn't even completed the question!
After we spent some time with the kids, we met with the Director. One of the things that she said which really hit home the way society percieves these children was: "If you have any books or toys that you would like to give us, please do donate them. However, please do NOT give us books and clothes in bad condition. Would you wear something, or play with something that is completley damaged? How do you think these children will feel playing with a doll that has a broken hand, or head?"
I think she was very right in saying that. People mostly thoughtlessly donate utterly damaged toys saying its "for charity". What use is something if its NOT USEFUL??
However cliched it may sound, this visit really changed the way I viewed these children with dissabilities. I'm glad I didn't have to pretend. They don't want my sympathy. They don't want me to pretend that they're just like me, nor do they need my pity. They're just who they are, and if they are fine with it, then I will be too.